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Best Books This Month – November 2024

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. Chris Haughton’s The History of Information offers a unique and engaging perspective on the evolution of human communication, from the earliest cave paintings to the digital age. The review panel highly recommended this as a beautiful children’s gift book that Upper KS2 readers will enjoy exploring, Also for older primary children, Eilish Fisher and Dermot Flynn’s captivating fantasy verse poem, Fia and the Last Snow Deer, is a must-read. With its stunning world-building and unforgettable characters, this book is sure to transport readers to a magical realm and will capture children who have enjoyed the recent popularity of children’s verse novels like The Final Year.

For younger readers, Monica Saigal and Abeeha Tariq’s Papa’s Butter Chicken is a heartwarming tale of family, food, and sharing, celebrating cultural diversity and encouraging young readers to appreciate the simple pleasures in life. The review panel enjoyed this heartwarming picture book so much that it has earned a place on our brand-new Community Themed Booklist. Emily Gravett’s Bothered by Bugs is a fun and informative look at the importance of insects in our ecosystem and is a must-read for those who have previously enjoyed Emily Gravett’s witty and detailed picturebook offerings. For a dose of giggles at storytime, Seb Davey and Alex Willmore’s Donut Touch! is a hilarious and interactive story about sharing and friendship, perfect for younger readers.

As darker November evenings draw in, snuggle up in the warmth of a story from our Review Panel’s top new children’s books for you to read in November 2024.

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The History of Information

Chris Haughton

Non-fiction

The History of Information by Chris Haughton gives the reader a fascinating insight into the evolution of information right from the start of human existence. Starting with the very first languages, cave paintings and taking us right through to Artificial Intelligence, there is such a lot of information to find and enjoy.

The sections of the book look at each major advancement in communication, from writing, drawing and printing through to the more modern information-sharing changes over the past one hundred years.

Whilst there are lots of fun facts, the book also does not shy away from presenting children with some of the more dangerous aspects of information; there are pages on propaganda as well as a thought-provoking section which looks at ‘Big Tech’ and how information can be used to control society.

Chris Haughton’s unique illustration style works well to give the book an enjoyably modern feel.

Papa’s Butter Chicken

Abeeha Tariq & Monica Saigal

Picturebook

This simple story, of a favourite dish first eaten in India and later recreated to perfection by Monica’s father, is as much a delight to the eye as butter chicken is to all those who share it (Cousin Anya, Uncle Jai, Grandma, Jiya and Hadi, and the neighbours too). And it’s not sickly sweet: Anya struggles, as would many, young or old, with the prospect of sharing: she wanted to keep what was so special between her and Papa. But it becomes clear to her and us that “beautiful things do happen when you share food like this.”

Hospitality doesn’t diminish the experience; it enhances it, like spices in a pan. Each guest adds a new flavour to the mix; each has something to bring to the occasion.

A heartwarming and celebratory tale which could well prompt other children to delve into their own family’s culinary and/or cultural history. There could well be some lively discussion around food and family life as a result.

Bothered by Bugs

Emily Gravett

Picturebook

This is a fabulous book. The environmental message about the role of bugs in nature’s ecosystem is clear, creatively told and one that is desperately needed. Many children do not like bugs and creepy crawlies and some think nothing of squishing them if they come too close.

The end pages of this book are a good starting point for discussion with children – they are full of beautiful fruit pudding recipes that appear annotated in pen by the badger in the story. Teachers can ask children why they think these end pages have fruit recipes when the front cover of the book indicates it is all about bugs. By the end of the book, children will be clear of the importance of bugs in pollinating plants and allowing plants to grow and bear fruit that we can then eat and include in amazing desserts.

The illustrations in the book afford great discussion about the wildlife in the story and the interdependence of each with the environment. If you lift the book jacket, the inside is filled with pictures of different insects – all carefully drawn and labelled demonstrating the huge variety of bugs we have. If you the jacket off completely children will be amazed by the ‘second book cover’ that has a different book title altogether with the title ‘How to Cook Fruit: A Culinary Badger’s Guide to Preparing Gruit’ and you can see badger reading this book on the first page of the story. This can prompt lots of discussion about why the author decided to do this.

This is a fabulous book, for the story, the discussion it prompts about the environment and insects and also a consideration of the role of Emily Gravett’s choices about the layout and design of the book. A must!

Donut Touch!

Alex Willmore & Seb Davey

Picturebook

Mikey the Dinosaur absolutely does not want to share his donuts, but they keep going missing and he cannot work out where they’re disappearing to. He suspects and then challenges the reader – Did you steal them? Can you turn the page without touching the donuts? Or the crumbs? Or the frosting? Whose shadow is that in the background, anyway?

Poor old Mikey goes through all the emotions until he finally figures out all his friends have been sneaking the donuts…it wasn’t you after all! So you can share his last donut (and another plateful, if you’re lucky!).

Donut Touch is a delightful read-aloud suitable for EYFS and KS1 classes, and would be brilliant shared between parent and child. Lots to giggle at with the opportunity to make silly faces and voices; but with a nice message about not jumping to conclusions and how nice it is to share. Highly recommended. Cheerfully illustrated without being garish, I think this will be a firm favourite for story times.

Fia and the Last Snow Deer

Dermot Flynn & Eilish Fisher

Chapter book, Poetry

Fia lives in what feels like permanent winter. Her people haven’t seen or felt the warmth and light of the sun for several years, since the snow deer left.

Only one snow deer, Solas, remains. Born at the same time as Fia, Fia has sworn to protect her. Now Fia’s people are starving and their eyes are turning to the remaining snow deer. There is only one hope – for Fia to go on a treacherous journey across the frozen wastes to find the Deer Mother and fulfil the prophecy written about her long before she was born. Accompanied only by her beloved snow deer and her (sometimes irritating) cousin, Mish, the adventuresome trio strives to make it to the Deer Mother before it’s too late, knowing that sacrifices will need to be made along the way.

Beautifully told in the form of verse, with enchanting illustrations, this is a tale like no other I have read. It would make a fantastic wintry class read-aloud story as well as being used as a base for inspiring writing.

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Many thanks to our review panel members Caroline Wood, Jane Carter, Caroline Waldron, Claire Coates and Jane Rew for reviewing this month’s selection.