London Topic Booklist

A collection of four stories featuring Paddington Bear in London. Paddington Bear had travelled all the way from Darkest Peru when the Brown family first met him on Paddington station. Since then their lives have never been quite the same… for ordinary things become quite extraordinary when a bear called Paddington is around.

The Daisy and the Trouble With… books by Kes Gray are a hit with younger readers getting to grips with the independent reading of chapter books. Children enjoy the funny, illustrated adventures recounting the ups and downs of Daisy’s life as she gives her take on visits to the zoo, going on holiday, having a birthday or taking part in sports day. Mishaps seem to follow Daisy wherever she goes and she finds herself in plenty of sticky situations to sort out. Kes Gray’s line illustrations add a familiar warmth and humour to these popular chapter books.

In this story, Daisy visits London with her grandparents, who are keen to see the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. Daisy, on the other hand, is mostly interested in seeking out pigeons.

A super loveable series for Year 2 and beyond.

Callie and Bo are best friends. Together they have set up SPUD – the Super Perceptive Undercover Detectives. With the help of Callie’s pet Mynah bird, Bo, this is the second case the girls are hoping to solve. Bo’s special talent is that he can talk, communicating with Callie through her “slugs” (hearing aids) and the three are a great team.

On a school trip to the Tower of London, Bo stows away in Callie’s rucksack and the adventure begins. Two people are acting suspiciously and SPUD are on a mission to solve the case of the theft of precious gold coins from one of the exhibits. Bo’s ability to communicate with both his human friends and the ravens who guard the Tower allow them to get right into the investigation. As the story unfolds, the investigation takes them all over the museum as they chase their suspects. They even get to work with real detectives!

The author, Karen Owen, has been partially deaf since childhood and uses this series to bring relatable characters that children with hearing loss can identify with. In the character of Callie, this is very much a superpower rather than a disability.The black and white illustrations by Louise Forshaw are a great addition to the story.

This is a fun, easy read and a good introduction to the detective genre for readers aged 6+.

This book is an entertaining early chapter book about a group of action-seeking rabbits who guard London and live in a burrow underneath Buckingham Palace.

Part of a series but also good as a standalone, this story plunges readers into the thrilling world of Shylo Tawny-Tail, the once-shy country rabbit now a proud member of the Royal Rabbits of London. This new adventure sees the Ratzis, a formidable gang of hundreds of large, smelly rats led by the mysterious Papa Ratzi, aiming for global chaos involving the royal family.

Delivering a fast-paced, engaging plot, this fun and accessible book is packed with suspense, humour and daring escapades as Shylo and the Royal Rabbits of London race against time to save the day. This is a fun and exciting series that will keep young readers hooked.

Bringing the Fire of London topic – often studied in KS1 – to life for an older audience, The Great Phoenix of London is an exciting new historical fiction book suitable for 9-11 year olds. I really love the way that the author takes a historical event and turns it into such an entertaining story, all the while keeping the historical facts intact. I liked the added extracts from Samuel Pepys’ diary that were added to the beginning of each chapter, recalling the Great Fire of London and the atmosphere of the time.

The young characters in this story were fantastic. The way they took care of each other and the phoenix was endearing. The emotions of the event were accurately displayed through the characters and their actions as they tried to get to safety from the fire. The phoenix becomes a symbol for the rebuilding of London after the fire, as it also rises from the ashes.

A really enjoyable read, perfect for the classroom.

Ted and his sister Kat watch their cousin Salim climb aboard the London Eye. But when his pod returns to the ground and the doors open, Salim has completely vanished. Where could Salim have gone? Has he been kidnapped — or worse? With the police baffled by his disappearance, it’s down to Ted to use his unique abilities to solve the mystery — following a trail of clues that lead across London, with Kat’s help. Starring a brilliant young detective, Siobhan Dowd’s ‘howdunnit’ is a real classic, which will keep you gripped from beginning to end.

Life on the Thames is full of beautifully intricate watercolour style drawings and interesting information. Following the River Thames from its source, the information is written in a story-like way which makes for a fascinating read. Each page contains drawings and facts. The book also includes information about the environmental challenges that the River Thames continues to face.

This book would be perfect to use when looking at a river topic in Geography, or to find out facts about different species of animals or plants. The illustrations are exquisite and so wonderfully drawn they help to bind all the information together. You feel as if you are going on a journey through the winding course of the river every time you read it.

This is a great book about London for children. It encompasses a myriad of features of the capital, such as famous landmarks, tourist attractions and cultural aspects of the city. The illustrations are appealing and complement the brief text. However, there is a lot of information contained in the book. It covers events, such as Chinese New Year celebrations, cultural hubs such as Camden and Greenwich, as well as famous shops. Its historical coverage includes Hampton Court, where it explains about Henry VIII and his wives, as well as the Tower of London and other key historical landmarks.

Published in 2017,  it still mentions the Queen living at Buckingham Palace, but that is only a minor point. Any school doing a local study on London would value this book, which gives a good overview of the capital.

This is a stunning hardback book with Laura Carlin’s beautiful illustrations under the dust jacket as well. The contents page at the beginning means you can skip to a particular period of interest or just enjoy a chronological journey through London’s history. There is just a small amount of text on each page, making it accessible for children and it also allows the illustrations to take centre stage.

I enjoyed taking my time to look at the details in the illustrations. I like that as well as the author’s words, there are quotes and poems throughout the book adding additional information to the pages. There are also some extra notes at the back of the book related to some of the people and events mentioned throughout the book.

The language used within the book makes it suitable for children and it includes lots of events and time periods that children may recognise from learning about in school, including the Great Fire of London, suffragettes and WWII.

A really lovely and interesting book to have in a non-fiction collection.

Part of the ‘Find Tom in Time’ series, ‘Shakespeare’s London’ is a brilliant book for introducing young readers to Shakespeare’s historical context.

Each double-page spread is a ‘Where’s Wally’ style image in which Tom, his Grandma, and his cat are hidden for children to find, along with various other characters and happenings listed in a ‘Can you Spot?’ box on each picture. Tom visits the Belle Sauvage Inn, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, and, of course, the Globe, among other places, and each location plays its part in the story of Tom’s day and has its own two-page picture.

Peppered across the busy illustrations are also fascinating facts – did you know that the Tower of London housed a Menagerie of exotic animals from across the world, or that builders once used St Paul’s Cathedral as a shortcut, carrying their heavy loads right through its centre?

This is an excellent choice for a school library, combining fun with learning, and a great book to have in the classroom during a topic on Shakespeare.

This is a picture book about the Great Fire of London, written by a primary teacher who was inspired to create it after teaching the topic for many years. It follows the events of the Great Fire as seen through the eyes of a tiny flea called Vlad who lives on the back of Boxton the rat. The two friends visit the bakery on Pudding Lane and witness the start of the fire before they join the masses of people fleeing the fire. Vlad and Boxton travel through the burning streets of London, watching the houses being destroyed and passing Samuel Pepys as he buries his most precious possessions. We were really struck by the images of the London refugee camps at the end, drawing striking comparisons to current day events and experiences. The author also offers school visits and resources via her website.

Published to mark the 350th anniversary of the fire, The Great Fire of London is a spectacular visual retelling of whole story of the fire, from the first piece of coal that starts smouldering in the oven of the Pudding Lane bakery to a whole city engulfed by raging red and orange flames. With stunning illustrations, captivating storytelling and a treasure trove of historical fact, this books is an absolute essential for classrooms covering this topic. There is also an accompanying activity book.

This wow-factor history book takes the reader on a 12,000-year journey to find out the story of a single UK street, showing the street during a different historical period on each page.

Many young readers love any non-fiction books that explore or peek behind closed doors. A Street Through Time does this in the best possible way and over thousands of years. You can see what people’s kitchens and bedrooms (and loos!) looked like from the Romans to the Victorians (Roman toilets I’d avoid….!).

We also love how busy this book is, so many brilliant details to explore again and again and how it shows the change in a single place over a long period. A classic among children’s non-fiction – and for good reason.