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Non-fictionPicturebook

This richly illustrated concertina book takes the reader from the top of a mountain spring, through varying landscapes, and follows a river’s journey from its source to the sea. With a focus on the important role waterways play in human and environmental survival, The River That Flows Beside Me explores the changing landscapes along a river’s journey and the habits and ecosystems that call the river their home.

A follow-up to The Street Beneath My Feet, The Skies Above My Eyes and The Sea Below My Toes, this visually stunning book finds the river in the rocky peaks, and tracks it as it winds its way through coniferous forest, gushes through v-shaped valleys, and roars down magnificent waterfalls. Further downstream, readers will journey with the river past beaver dams, floodplains, oxbow lakes, paddle-boarders, bridges and more.

On your journey, meet the animals that call the river home, including:
White-tailed deer
Grizzly bears
Otter
Smallmouth bass
Dragonflies
With a primary focus on the river’s ecosystems, wildlife and geological processesThe River That Flows Beside Me also explores the way that humans interact with the river landscape, using it both to survive and also to enjoy. The beauty and variety of river landscapes are bought to life by Jo Empson’s rich illustrations.

This book is part of the Look Closer series, a set of concertina books that help teach us about the mysteries and wonders that are found in the world around us.

Picturebook

Who’s ever heard of a penguin that doesn’t like the cold? Surrounded by the same old snow day in day out and always bloomin’ freezing, Clive Penguin wishes he was somewhere else. SOMEONE else. But, with an epic discovery just around the corner, the solution might be easier than he thinks . . .

From real life polar-exploring adventurer Huw Lewis Jones and award-winning illustrator Ben Sanders comes a quirky story about getting what you need, rather than what you want. Readers will hoot with laughter at the hilariously deadpan Clive Penguin – a unique voice that’s perfect for fans of Jon Klassen, Oliver Jeffers and Morag Hood. Featuring edgy illustrations complete with orange neon ink. Oh, and penguins.

Chapter book

The GIGANTIC magical new adventure from Ben Miller, the bestselling author of The Night We Got Stuck in a Story.

Marcus has just started Merlin’s, a very unusual school…

He doesn’t like it and is doing everything he can to get into big trouble and be sent home. When a midnight prank accidentally wakes a sleeping giant called Crom, things take a turn for the magical.

But there are other giants on the move, bigger and angrier than Crom. Realising that Merlin’s and the whole country are in danger, it’s a race against time for the two new firneds to find the magic of their own bravery.

Chapter book

The brand new must-read middle-grade novel from the author of super-spookyCrater Lake. Perfect for 9+ fans of R.L.Stine’s Goosebumps and Stranger Things!

It’s summer term and time for a school trip with a difference! Year 8 are on a boat off the coast of France, learning about ocean life. But things are about to get WEIRD . . .

Who is the creepy man on board the ship? And what IS the vast, shadowy creature seen lurking at the bottom of the ocean?

When the ship is sunk Club Loser realise that they are the only ones who can save the day, and their classmates. Can they outwit and defeat a giant, deadly sea monster from the depths? It’s a fight for survival and if they fail, Club Loser will find themselves in a watery grave . . .

Chapter book

Celebrating cricket, Windrush families & girls in sport.

Kerry-Ann loves cricket – of course she does! Her Jamaican grandpa taught her to play as soon as she could hold a bat. Whenever she can, Kerry-Ann heads to the local club for a match with her friends.

But now some of the club’s elite cricketers want to keep the ground for themselves – and keep out Kerry-Ann and her team. So Kerry-Ann devises a daring plan to beat the bullies – and she’s about to gain inspiration from a very unexpected place.

In this time-slip tale with a touch of magic, Kerry-Ann finds out about the obstacles that her grandparents faced when they first arrived in England as part of the Windrush generation…and how she must follow in their footsteps to fight for fair play, and to keep enjoying the game that both she and her grandparents love.

A celebration of family, friendship, cricket, British Caribbean culture, Black British history and women’s sport.

Non-fictionPicturebook

Count along in celebration of Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, in this luminous picture book from bestselling mother-son duo Surishtha and Kabir Sehgal.

Count up to ten and back down again to the tune of “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” while learning about the traditions that make Diwali a fun-filled festival! Celebrated during autumn harvest, Diwali symbolizes the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. From sweet treats to intricate henna designs to exciting firework displays, kids will delight in this vibrant glimpse into the Festival of Lights.

Chapter book

The third story in the heart-warming, inclusive and funny Dream Team series about three big F’s: friends, football and following your dreams!

Hey! My name’s Naomie Osei, but my friends call me Mensa, cos I’m supposed to be the clever one among my friends, the Fabulous Four. Normally I’m the one with all the answers, but right now I’m struggling to figure out our future.

I mean, how do I break it to my friends that I might not be going to the same high school as them next term? Is my sax-playing good enough for the big solo at the Midsummer Concert? And can Bramrock’s top girl’s football team, the Dreamers, save our library from closing?

Since I can’t tell the future, I kind of want to press pause and stay in the present a bit longer. But as that’s impossible, I suppose I’ll have to do what I’m best at and work out the solution . . .

Picturebook

A thought-provoking picture book inspired by the idea that there is beauty to be cherished in imperfection.

What is imperfectly perfect?

It’s a flower growing from a cracked pavement.
It’s the memory of a happy time, etched in a wrinkled smile.
It’s taking something broken, mending it with love,
and making something new. Something unique.
Beautiful. And imperfectly perfect.

A story that cherishes beauty in imperfection.

With a lyrical, meditative text from Perry Emerson and stunning illustrations from the wonderful Hoang Giang (The Christmas Department Store) this book explores what it means to be perfect through the eyes of a little girl at a tumultuous time in her relationship with her older brother. With a powerful message that lingers beyond the final page, Imperfectly Perfect encourages readers to embrace imperfection, whether in physical objects or in a more metaphorical way, as part of the unique beauty of the world around us. This uplifting picture book is the ideal companion for readers of The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires, What Do You See When You Look at a Tree? by Emma Carlisles and The Station Cat by Stephen Hogtun.

Picturebook

An empowering retelling of Little Red Riding Hood about challenging the traditional narratives we are told, with a confident, autistic character at its heart.

Gina Kaminski is here to tell you three facts.

1 – Little Red Riding Hood is full of BIG mistakes.
2 – She is off to fairy tale land to fix them.
3 – She WILL save the wolf.

Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? Certainly not Gina as she takes the narrative lead and tells the story in her own distinctive way. With fantastic illustrations from Francis Martin, and an innovative use of pictorial emoji language, this is the ideal book to empower every child to be the hero of their own story. Fans of Little Red by Bethan Woollvin, Luna Loves Dance by Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers and Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola will love Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf.

Poetry

See that tall, skinny kid with the ball in his hand

sayin see ya later to his mate?

That’s me:

Nathan Wilder

Nate.

10 years old

and a week away from the end of Year 5.

Life can be tough in your last year of primary school. Tests to take, preparing for the change to high school. Nate is ready for it all, knowing his best friend PS is at his side – they’ve been inseparable since Nursery.

But when they are put in two different classes and PS finds a new friend in Turner, the school bully, Nate’s world turns upside-down. As he struggles to make sense of this and forge new friendships, he’s dealt another blow when his youngest brother, Dylan is rushed into hospital.

His new teacher, Mr Joshua, sees a spark inside of Nate that’s lit by his love of reading and writing and shows him how to use this to process what’s going on. But with so much working against him, and anger rising inside him, will this be enough?

A powerful and lyrical story about finding your place in the world and the people that matter within it.

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