Recommended Reads for KS1 (Infant)

Evie is desperate for a dog. She finds a dog that she absolutely loves – Mr Long Dog. Evie’s parents tell Evie, if she can guess how long he is, then she can keep him. Evie spends the rest of the book comparing Mr Long Dog’s length to other things. By the time she thinks she knows how long he is, someone else has taken him home, but the story doesn’t end there.

This book is a wonderful picture book that you could discuss with younger children (EYFS or KS1). The use of the word ‘long’ is repeated throughout the book. This is a great teaching point – how one word can have many different meanings, as well as a way into maths lessons about length and measure.

The book is full of bright and vibrant pictures to tell Evie’s story, except when Mr Long Dog is gone and the pictures become dark, reflecting Evie’s emotions.

A fun dog-themed story for pet lovers and language lovers alike!

A popular transport-themed book with oodles of funny things for children to spot and choose between.

Each page is themed around a different type of transport, from buses and trucks to emergency vehicles and rockets, and displays an array of different cartoon examples, while the reader is asked to choose which one they would ride. Added details make the act of choosing on each page fun. On the trains page, for example, a steam train is filled with animals eating spaghetti and doughnuts, while an Elf Express is taking Lego to Santa’s workshop, and a slick intercity train driven by a sloth has a swimming pool carriage but also a wolf disguised in grandma’s clothing.

Children who like ‘You Choose’ style books will enjoy poring over this over and over again, as will transport lovers and fans of funny animal characters. It’s a great book for getting children talking and interacting, or for poring over independently and spotting something new each time.

Godfrey the Frog is a joyful story which teaches children the importance of accepting themselves and being happy with who they are.

Change happens – sometimes quickly, sometimes seemingly not at all. At the beginning of the story, Godfrey transforms from a small egg to developing ‘a pair of lovely arms’ and growing a ‘long, sticky tongue’. Finally, he transforms into a frog. He imagines how his frog-like state may change, creating many images to make a young reader giggle with glee.

Readers see the seasons change around him, but to Godfrey’s frustration, he remains a frog throughout. Godfrey begins to compare himself to the other animals around him – even the snail has a stunning shell and the deer has amazing antlers!

After wishing to be different, he slowly but surely learns that being a frog isn’t so bad after all, teaching children an important life lesson about self-acceptance.

The story concludes with a step-by-step diagram of how a tiny little egg transforms into a frog. A perfect way to teach little ones about life cycles.

What a great read! This is a superb book to share with one child or a whole class. The inside cover alone is a delight – crammed with emojis showing an array of emotions which children can share and talk about.

The story is written in an informal style and follows a young neurodivergent girl, Gina, as she journeys through the story of Red Riding Hood, fixing mistakes and recounting the facts.

Craig Barr-Martin weaves into the narrative simple everyday strategies that Gina and her supporting adults utilise –  the use of charts to show how she feels, the making of lists to keep her organised and the importance of familiar items when she goes on a journey.

The first reading is fun, the second builds further understanding and the third reveals even more about the way we all think and feel.

Find more fun twists on fairy tales on our new Fairy Tales and Traditional Stories booklist.

Rachel Bright and Jim Field deliver another triumph with The Pandas Who Promised, part of their highly successful series that began with The Lion Inside.

This rhyming, animal story is an absolute joy to read aloud, and it beautifully explores the vital importance of keeping promises, building trust and staying safe. Family bonds are explored, and most children will relate to one or other of the panda cubs, with Popo wishing to stay safe in his family nest and Ketu itching to explore and seek adventure.

Animal lovers will be drawn to this story, and it is likely to spark an interest in finding out more about red pandas and their mountainside habitat.

Baroness Floella Benjamin offers her own story of the 6000-mile journey from Trinidad to England, told for the youngest children in a picture book called Coming to England – An Inspiring True Story About the Windrush Generation.

The story explores and celebrates what it means to be a British person with Black Caribbean heritage, as well as opening doors to learning about the impact of Operation Windrush and experiences of racism. Speaking about the background to the book, Baroness Floella says,”Britain has always been a nation that’s evolved due to different races coming in, from as far back as you can go. I hope Coming to England makes people of colour feel worthy, appreciated and that they belong and that it makes white people say, ‘That could be me, what would it be like if I moved somewhere else?’.”

A lovely story to read at storytime, with delightful pictures that enhance the story and engage younger children. This is a really lovely, simple, warm book about what it feels like to be different or feel bullied. Through the story, Stanley is encouraged to talk to his dad, to express how he feels through art and not to want to be invisible.

We love this primary picturebook about a tiny spark discovering its place. As Little Glow observes various festivals and celebrations, it witnesses diverse traditions and finds itself able to join in radiating light and community joy.

This book offers wonderful classroom opportunities for exploring community festivals and celebrations, especially celebrations of light. The warm narrative and luminous illustrations lean into different traditions positively and encourage discussions about community and belonging.

Richard O’Neill’s The Can Caravan is a heartwarming celebration of traveller community spirit, inter-generational bonds and homes of different shapes and sizes.

When young Janie’s elderly friend faces losing her home, empathetic Janie devises a plan to build her a new caravan, with a little help from her friends.

This story wonderfully highlights the joy of working together and the power of community action. It subtly champions sustainability and resourcefulness, making it a lovely tale of unity and kindness for children.

Children learning about houses and homes or community values will enjoy this inclusive and uplifting picturebook.

It is rare to find a book which gives a completely different and exciting perspective on a historical figure, particularly those aimed at younger readers, so ‘Darwin’s Super-Pooping Worm Spectacular’ is a particularly delightful read.

As the title suggests, the book tells the story of Darwin’s investigations into the humble earthworm. It is clear that the author, Polly Owen, has discovered her passion for this topic as it is written with such an enthusiastic tone; by the end of page one, the reader is already convinced that earthworms are completely awesome!

The book recounts the range of experiments that Darwin is believed to have tried to uncover the mysteries of earthworm senses, from hearing, sight and taste. It is written in a very accessible style, with lots of humour. There is a worm on each double-page spread which gives a little more context and brings the reader back to the historical facts within the story. These small speech bubbles also direct the reader to some of the scientific vocabulary, useful to gather if using the book as a stimulus for writing projects or science discussions.

If you are looking to add a book that is charming, insightful and has more than a few poo-based jokes, then this would be a perfect choice! Key Stage Two children will enjoy the book as much as their Key Stage One peers.

Leo and the Octopus is a wonderfully empathetic picture book about Leo, a boy who feels different from his classmates and struggles with overwhelming classroom noise.

Leo’s world shifts when he meets Maya, a colour-changing Giant Pacific Octopus, and their unlikely friendship blossoms beneath the waves. This gentle narrative beautifully captures the profound connection between a boy seeking understanding and a creature who accepts him just as he is.

Chris Nixon’s illustrations are intelligent and evocative, setting sections bustling with pattern and colour against the white space that often surrounds Leo – complementing the story’s sensitive exploration of feelings of disconnection and learning bout different perspectives.

With themes of nature, connection and neurodiversity, this book is invaluable for children who may feel like Leo, assuring them they are not alone, while also a tool to develop greater empathy and understanding in all young readers about different ways of experiencing the world.

‘If I were Prime Minister…’ is a feel-good story which looks at how our country is run through the eyes of a kind, thoughtful and playful child.

The story follows a young child’s imagination and their desires for the community and country that they live in. They go through numerous wishes, including changing the sea to water that swallows plastic, making sure everyone has at least two friends, that every garden has a swimming pool and that woolly jumpers would not feel itchy. The real question is, ‘What would you do if you were Prime Minister or Team Captain?’

This feel-good picture book is a beautifully illustrated story which gets the reader thinking about what they would change if they were in charge. It covers major socio-political themes including the environment, education and immigration in a child-friendly way. The designs of the pages are playful and eye-catching with an easy-to-read font with the words strewn around pictures, making it fun to read and keeping big themes light-hearted to encourage creative and imaginative thinking.

A lyrical, gentle and beautifully told story to help children name, understand and navigate a whole range feelings.

Ravi, like all of us, experiences the full spectrum of emotions from happy, silly and excited through to impatient or angry – and he beautifully articulates how confusing feelings can be as a young child, as sometimes he’s not sure why he feels a certain way or how he will feel next! After an angry outburst, Dad supports Ravi by gazing at the constellations in the night sky and they create their own shapes associated with different memories and feelings – the shape of happiness for Ravi being an astronaut chasing the moon, silliness is playing with the dog and gentleness is a soft hug. Other emotions are then represented allowing Ravi to describe why he was angry after an unkind incident at school, and Dad shows that with time and patience he can feel and work through these challenging experiences.

The link between constellations as an ancient guide and emotions as a guide to our actions is a deep and powerful theme within the story. The themes align with the PSHE curriculum and support the teaching of emotional literacy and developing empathy. This is such a beautiful and heartfelt story, and a really unique way to think about our emotions. It is great to see such a supportive father-son relationship represented too.

In this short, illustrated chapter book, Pedro is an endearing main character. His longing to have an adventure, and the obstacles to achieving that, will strike a chord with many KS1 children. They will be cheering him on, through danger and disappointment, to his enrolment as a fully signed-up member of the Adventuremice team.

 Dino Dad by children’s TV presenter Andy Day is a roaringly appealing chapter book for KS1.

Voiced by the spirited Ruby Roo, the story reveals her dad’s secret role as a “POOPA” (Protector of our Prehistoric Allies) when her sister vanishes.

This book is a fantastic illustrated chapter book for younger children, blending exciting family adventures with fascinating dinosaur facts. Ruby’s journey to a hidden island where she discovers transformation powers makes it a hugely entertaining start to a fun new series that’s sure to be a firm favourite.

For more information, head to our guest blog post from Andy Day, all about Dino Dad and the world of children’s books.

‘The Super Skeleton’ is an engaging and accessible non-fiction book that’s perfect for younger children learning about the human body. While many books on the subject are often aimed at older readers, this book presents the fascinating world of skeletons in a way that’s simple, fun, and easy to understand for primary school children.

The book is a fantastic resource for the human body topic, offering clear, colourful pictures and diagrams that bring the skeleton to life. The simple yet effective text introduces key scientific vocabulary, helping young learners build their knowledge in an approachable way. Brief definitions of important terms on some pages further enhance the learning experience, making this a great resource for reinforcing core concepts.

Overall, ‘The Super Skeleton’ is a wonderful, child-friendly introduction to the world of bones and bodies, making it an ideal choice for teachers and parents looking to introduce children to science in a fun and informative way.

We highly recommend DK’s ‘My Very Important Encyclopedia’ series, which also features volumes on dinosaurs, oceans and sport. It is not easy to find comprehensive non-fiction books that are suitable for the younger age range, but the spacious pages, simplified text and high ratio of images (both photographs and illustrations) make this is a brilliant choice for Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 children.

Each page in this animal book features a different animal, giving information in simple language with bright colours, speech bubbles and text boxes to break up the information into bite-sized chunks.  It feels like a real encyclopedia, but is perfectly pitched for the youngest readers without having any overwhelming chunks of text or overly complicated diagrams.

This absolutely super young non-fiction series will become a go-to for animal-loving children who are curious to learn more.

Meet the Microbes is a captivating insight into the tiny creatures that live under our noses and have a massive impact on our lives despite only being visible through a powerful microscope. Through the colourful and lively pages, children will meet a succession of cartoon microbes and learn all about them. They will learn about where they can be found and how they multiply; how they survive in the most extreme of conditions; the jobs that they do and how they might be beneficial to our future.

By the end of the book, they will have reached an understanding that microbes can be both good and bad for our bodies and how we can avoid spreading the less desirable ones. They will be fascinated to find out that mould is formed from microbes and that some of their favourite foods such as yoghurt, fluffy bread and cheese would not exist without them. The language is accessible to younger readers and concepts are explained clearly.

This book would be an excellent accompaniment to science topics on human bodies or just a great addition to the non-fiction, reading for pleasure offer in the school library.

This is an unusual illustrated non-fiction book all about food and eating around the world. This book goes beyond the usual sections one might expect to find in a non-fiction book about food. There are pages about eating utensils, smelly food, specific foods such as bananas and noodles and spices. Each page uses rich descriptive language and manages to conjure up the smells, tastes and sights of unusual food from around the world.

What is particularly useful are the handy phonetic pronunciation guides for each food. The list of different countries covered is diverse and includes countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Peru and Albania. Helpfully, at the end of the book, there is a world map with all of the 69 countries mentioned highlighted.

The book is simply illustrated with bold and clear pictures of the food and of children eating and enjoying food. On the final pages, there is mention of climate change and how food will change in the future, including some interesting insect-eating illustrations here.

The language will appeal to children in KS1, being both engaging but also clear and informative. The book provides interesting general facts, such as how many varieties of rice there are, but also unusual and specific examples that illustrate the general facts, including a variety of rice dishes from around the world.