Flooded is a visually stunning book with a powerful story about learning to face up to problems before they grow too big.

In Flooded, the city faces a problem. It seems like a normal day; the city wakes up to find itself a little bit wet. No one minds at first as it was just a little bit of water, but as the city carries on with its usual rhythm, the smaller animals start to realise that it is all becoming a rather big problem.

Flooded is a fun story illustrating how small problems can grow into bigger problems if we don’t give them enough attention. It is also a story about how problems are easier to solve together and communities that work with a positive common goal can be very powerful.

This book is full of surprises and has a pull-out page at a very significant part of the story, which really creates excitement for younger children as they are reading the book. When sharing this book with my class, it really made them think and predict about how the animal’s problem could be solved. They absolutely loved the artwork featuring gorgeous, blues and blacks as well as yellow shades for a very significant character within the book.

Onjali Q Rauf’s loyal fanbase will be pleased to hear of a new novel. True to form, the Lion Above the Door explores important social issues while capturing voices from the younger generation in a most relatable manner.

The story broaches the topic of cultural blindspots in history education, posing questions about the missing and ignored figures from the history topics taught in schools. Young Leo is intrigued to find a WW2 memorial in which he recognises his own name; being of Singaporean heritage he has become used to rarely seeing people like himself reflected in the history books. As Leo and his classmates research their relatives’ roles in the war, important stories come to the surface and it’s up to the children to make sure these histories get the spotlight they deserve.

This is a sincere and timely story that gently turns over themes of prejudice, cultural underrepresentation, racism and the courage to put right societal injustice – while at once holding out the mantle to young readers to invite them to be the catalyst for change.

This beautiful verse novel follows a girl in the transition period from primary to secondary school. The individual poems that make up the story play wonderfully with shape, rhythm and language and deliver a range of styles mirroring the complex emotional themes.

The book includes topics of domestic violence, bullying and homelessness discussed from a child’s perspective. These are handled sensitively and there is an overall sense of positivity and optimism.

It’s a powerful, empathetic book particularly suited to year 6.

Yanni is a reluctant big brother; he has a baby sister and ever since her arrival, his world has been turned upside down. As an only child, he had shared a cosy flat with his parents and as the only grandchild, his grandparents had worshipped him. When Ari arrived, the family needed more space and so moved to the rural village of Fallow Hall and Yanni would attend the ominously named Riddleton School.

Two days into his new life, and struggling to find a babysitter, Yanni’s parents invite Amy over. Between them they have to look after Ari while Yanni’s parents enjoy a rare night out. It is All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween) and when a stranger appears in the house, events take an unexpectedly dark turn. Some simple house renovations have reopened a door into the World of the Fae, and Lorde Renwin is intent on stealing Ari.

What follows is a race-against-time quest to get Ari back before midnight, when the door back to normality will close again. But will the reluctant adventurers have time to locate the toadstone, navigate the goblin maze, collect a vial of elixir from the ruined abbey and find the magic crown from an ancient king? The only possible way they can complete their quest is by working together, using the few resources they have and a big helping of initiative.

Through his beautiful writing, Montgomery has created a fantasy world that would rival Oz, Wonderland or Narnia. The unusual characters are honest and, at times, very funny. The undercurrent of love conquering evil is prevalent throughout, which gives it the feel of 21st Century fairy-tale, although this book is not for the faint-hearted! This story will chill you to the bone, and you won’t be able to put it down. It truly is a page-turner.

Reviewer: Emma Hughes

If you know Flying Eye publishing house’s output, you will know before you even see this book that ‘Amazon River’ is a beautiful object, that the art will be as thoughtful as the writing, the quality of paper as important as the factual information.

Reading this to a class as the launch of a topic on the Amazon/Rainforests will undoubtedly whet the children’s appetite to learn about this astonishing and awe-inspiring place. The introduction is amply matched by the end piece, ‘A River of the World’, which sums the book up perfectly, as well as acting as an excellent discussion starter on the interconnectedness of our planet.

In between these two marvels, the main body of the book is divided into 4 main themes: water, wildlife, people and life on the river. These pages tread the tightrope between concision and depth expertly. Despite a background as a geographer, I learnt many new facts such as the difference between clearwater, blackwater and whitewater. The summaries of a wide range of exciting and unusual animals are also superb, as are more summaries of the Legends of Pirarucu and Naia, star of the water.

‘Amazon River’ is a stunning way to engage children with an important and breathtaking part of the world. It could easily be used as the centrepiece of a topic, and would inspire much engagement with the natural world and our place within it.

This is the true story of Bandoola – an Asian timber elephant of Myanmar, which was for a time a colony of the British Empire. The story focuses on Bandoola’s adult life around the time of World War 2, when elephants were used to help move and haul hardwood teak. The elephants at this time were looked after ‘Oozies’; men who cared for the elephants, but perhaps in a way that didn’t always show these majestic and intelligent animals the respect that they deserved.

Things changed when James Howard Williams arrived to work for the timber company, and soon saw the true nature of the hard-working elephants. He began to find different ways to work with all the elephants, developing mutual respect between man and beast, leading him to be known as ‘Elephant Bill’. World War 2 eventually arrived In Myanmar, and the people of the country were forced to leave. Bandoola and Williams led 53 elephants and over 200 refugees to safety in Northern India, on an unbelievable and treacherous journey that saw them scale mountains and tested them to the limit. This incredible journey showed an astonishing trust between humans and animals, with a remarkable level of understanding and bravery that saw them reach their destination in one piece.

Having enjoyed William Grill’s compelling re-telling of Shackleton’s Journey in his wonderfully sensitive yet engaging style, it was a joy to have the opportunity to read another. Grill has a talent for finding incredible stories; stories with historical importance and that show the best (and sometimes the worst) of humanity. There are clear strong themes of conservation and the environmental impact of human behaviours, along with reminding us of the utter respect we need to have for all animals, particularly as we learn of the dwindling numbers of Asian elephants still living in the wild. At the heart of the story is the legacy of one special elephant. Bandoola had a lasting effect on Williams, who through his time with the elephants learnt that humans could live side by side with animals, based on respect and understanding.

‘Bandoola’ is visually and literarily compelling, powerful, and thought-provoking; providing a new angle among the range of WW2 book options.

This picture book was originally written in Korean and has been translated by Deborah Smith.

Author-illustrator Kim Hyo-eun introduces readers to a typical ride on a subway train around the South Korean capital of Seoul. As we join the author for a ride, we encounter the various individuals making the journey, and we are simply invited to sit back and observe shared humanity during an everyday activity.

The poetic text draws out the rhythmic sounds of the train, and the watercolour pictures introduce a host of characters. Some are highlighted by the author’s comments – the man whose lovely daughter makes him late for work but quick to return home to see her smile, the granny who is bringing fresh fish and octopus for her family in the city, the mother hiding her baby, and exhausted girl on the school journey.

This is the kind of book that captures shared humanity at a given moment in time, while reminding readers that everybody has a story – with individual hopes, dreams, worries and fears. The story invites empathy with the individuals who make up the subway crowds on the rhythmical metropolitan commutes that run like clockwork. It’s easy to forget to care about human individuals when we are faced with crowds of unknown faces, and this book is the antidote to that – an important message for today’s generation where real-life human connection can feel in decline.

Pupils might like to innovate by creating backstories for some of the characters mentioned, or perhaps pick another transport method or crowded place and create their own illustrated offerings.