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Best Books This Month – March 2025

It’s easy to feel lost in the flood of so many new children’s books available. Each month, our Review Panel reads scores of new books and we highlight five of our recently published favourites.

This month, our panel of experienced teachers, librarians and children’s book experts has carefully selected five outstanding titles for you to read, and there is real variety in this collection, featuring characters that children will love to read about. There’s Mr Norton and his menagerie of animals in the joyous picturebook Mr Norton’s New Hat – a simple story for readers in EYFS and KS1 with a powerful message of kindness and acceptance, while for older readers in KS2, there’s Monday the 16th, an unlikely hero who must prove his worth against the fearsome monsters in Grumpfort. Our reviewer also loved the wannabe detective main character in The Mizzy Mysteries, who’s hoping to solve her very first mystery!

Themes of family and friendship run through the remaining two picks: The Adventures of Rap Kid, written in a highly relatable style for independent reading; and Cafe Chaos, a vibrantly illustrated and entertaining story that will appeal to readers who are embarking on the transition to secondary school.

Discover our Review Panel’s top new children’s books for you to read in March 2025.

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The Adventures of Rap Kid

MC Grammar

Chapter book

Z – short for Zero, since he speaks no words at school – is bullied and teased, and doesn’t really fit in; his passion for rapping means that he finds it difficult to talk without rhyming his words and this can lead him into trouble. Then Mr G, a teacher who seems to understand Z, introduces him to beatboxing new pupil Essef – SFX for short – who also prefers not to speak, relying instead on pointing to phrases on her decorative jacket badges. The two quickly bond, especially as Mr G wants them to audition as a duo for the upcoming famous Rap Rumble competition but there is always the shadow of Bully Boy – Z’s nemesis – hanging over them.

The book has a straightforward storyline and much of the narrative is taken up with Z talking to you, the reader, who he terms ‘my G’. There is plenty of child-level humour – for example the main character picks his nose and flicks it at someone and there is some toilet humour.

This book has themes of friendship, acceptance and bullying. It has a main character wearing a hijab, featuring different family dynamics (parents separated), and states that other kinds of families are ‘cool’.

Written by ex-primary teacher turned viral video celebrity MC Grammar, this is the kind of book that many children will love to pick up – even those who are not usually drawn to chapter books. Funny and entertaining, but also thought-provoking, this story works independently or aloud. In terms of reading the story aloud – the book is full of street words e.g. sick, bro/bruh, garms, barz, and would be brilliant if read by an adult reader happy to embrace the street vernacular. The story also encourages literacy and reading in one of the latter chapters as potential rappers must have a great vocabulary to find the words to create rhymes about their interests. There are many pages where you can fill in your own rapping ideas and a section with hints and tips for writing your rap.

The Mizzy Mysteries: A Skeleton in the Closet

Claire Hatcher-Smith

Chapter book

Mizzy is a feisty, nearly 13-year-old girl who just happens to have Down Syndrome. She wants to be a marvellous detective, although her family think she’s more like her dad’s (Great) Aunt Jane, the village busybody. To date, she hasn’t solved a single mystery, although that might change when the holidays start. During the holidays, Mizzy stumbles upon Great Aunt Jane’s missing diaries. It transpires that somebody poisoned the old relative, and she didn’t just die in her sleep. What ensues is a comedy-style investigation to rule out relatives.

Mizzy reminded me of a young Miss Marple. Mizzy talks about how her Down Syndrome affects her (spelling, lack of direction), and this book could be used to teach empathy and awareness.

An interesting mystery that made me laugh out loud at times. I would recommend this book to fans of Melissa Savage, Enid Blyton and Lauren Child.

Grumpfort

Jamie Hammond

Chapter book

A rollicking KS2 adventure full of surprises and suspense, with drawings and monster fact files along the way. Themes of friendship and bravery emerge, as well as deception and control that will be familiar to readers of The Middler (Kirsty Applebaum).

This is a fabulous book about friendship, monster hunting and sausage rolls!

Hilarious, heartfelt, fun, adventurous and inspiring!

Mr Norton’s New Hat

Corey Egbert & Huw Lewis Jones

Picturebook

This is a delightful book – both the story and the illustrations are joyous. While the story is a simple one, it gives a powerful message of kindness and acceptance.

Mr Norton, the book’s main character, is endlessly patient as each part of his person and home is taken over by a variety of animals. The language is gentle and engaging, with the use of alliterative descriptions of the animals that find their way into Mr Norton’s clothing, bike and home. The cumulative storytelling will encourage children to join in, with each page adding a new creature to the list of creatures that inhabit Mr Norton’s life. The story would welcome children’s predictions of what might next appear and where it might decide to take up residence!

Corey Egbert’s illustrations capture so well the emotions of Mr Norton and the many animals and birds in the story – I particularly liked the ‘selection of stoats in his satchel’! Each page is used differently by the illustrator, either filling the page with detail or using the white spaces around the images to emphasise the clear drawings with muted and subtle colours. It is a super addition to any bookshelf.

Cafe Chaos: My Family Is Not a Piece of Cake

Catherine Wilkins & Katie Abey

Chapter book

Cafe Chaos: My Family is Not a Piece of Cake is a fun, entertaining story which was exciting to read throughout. The book uses fun illustrations and fonts throughout the book, which makes the story seem like a diary and enables readers to relate to the characters.

The story follows Hope Crumble, who is about to start Year 7, The troubles and problems Hope runs into are very relatable, and there is a good variety of different characters, who all make the story more interesting. The small details, such as little splatters on the paper and the whisk next to each page number, help to draw together the story and themes. There are themes of friendships, families, the pressures of running a business and navigating the age where you are trying to find your own identity.

This book would be perfect to share with Year 6s or 7s to help transition into a new school and will appeal to fans of Lottie Brooks..

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Many thanks to our review panel members Reba Khatun, Jane Carter, Sally Etheridge, Anna Sterling and Danielle Males for reviewing this month’s selection.