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Best Children’s Books of 2023

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Books of the Year 2023

books of the year 2023We love to hear which books are most popular among our community of primary teachers, TAs, librarians, authors and children’s book lovers.

Our Review Panel searched for the top children’s books published in the last year. We looked for the best classroom read-alouds, the most popular books with children and the best books to support the school curriculum.

Browse the SHORTLISTED books in each category below – perfect for topping up your library with the best new children’s books from the past year!


See your winners!

Members of the BooksForTopics website have voted for their favourites to find the winners of the Books of the Year 2023. Voting is now closed – Click here to see the winning books!

 

 

 

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Upper KS2 (Age 9-11): Best Class Read-Aloud

Greenwild
Impossible Creatures
Xanthe & the Ruby Crown
The Final Year
Crookhaven: The School for Thieves

Upper KS2 (Age 9-11): Best Children's Favourite

Finding Bear
The Wonder Brothers
SCRAP
The Ice Children
The Boy Who Made Monsters

Upper KS2 (Age 9-11): Best Curriculum Support

Portraits and Poison
Rivet Boy
Operation Banana
Human 2.0: A Celebration of Human Bionics
Vita & the Gladiator

Lower KS2 (Age 7-9): Best Class Read-Aloud

Interdimensional Explorers
The Taming of the Cat
The Boy Who Saved a Bear
Oscar's Lion
Keisha Jones Takes on the World

Lower KS2 (Age 7-9): Best Children's Favourite

Agents of S.U.I.T.
Harley Hitch and the Fossil Mystery
Pizazz vs The Future
A Spoonful of Spying (Alice Eclair)
The Glass Slipper Academy

Lower KS2 (Age 7-9): Best Curriculum Support

Rivers: An incredible journey from source to sea
Can You Get Rainbows in Space?
The Boy Who Stole the Pharaoh's Lunch
Ancestory
My Family and Other Romans

KS1 (Age 5-7): Best Class Read-Aloud

Faruq and the Wiri Wiri
Wish Upon A Star
The Kindest Red: A Story of Hijab and Friendship
The Panda's Child
A Whale of a Time: A Funny Poem for Every Day of the Year

KS1 (Age 5-7): Best Children's Favourite

Press Start! Game On, Super Rabbit Boy!
Adventuremice: Otter Chaos
Emerald and the Ocean Parade
Tiny, the Secret Adventurer
Marv and the Killer Plants

KS1 (Age 5-7): Best Curriculum Support

That's Mathematics
Little, Brown Nut
The Emerald Forest
Darwin's Super-Pooping Worm Spectacular
Henri and the Machine

EYFS (Age 3-5): Best Class Read-Aloud

Mama's Sleeping Scarf
Mavis the Bravest
BIG
Nabil Steals a Penguin
Victor, the Wolf with Worries

EYFS (Age 3-5): Best Children's Favourite

Gigantic
Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: Train Trouble
Sammy Striker and the Football Cup
Clive Penguin
Let's Stick Together

EYFS (Age 3-5): Best Curriculum Support

Meet The Weather
Rubbish?: Don't Throw It Away!
The Girl Who LOVES Bugs
Amy Gets Eaten
If I Were Prime Minister

Buy from Amazon

Visit our booklists on Amazon

Buy from BookShop.org

Support independent bookshops

See your winners!

Members of the BooksForTopics website have voted for their favourites to find the winners of the Books of the Year 2023.

Click here to see the winning books!

books of the year winners

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Your Review

Stone Girl Bone Girl

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Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:

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Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?

Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?

Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?

yes

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