The internet connects us with people from all around the world. People use the internet every day to buy things, play games, talk with their friends, and find things out about the world around them. It is very useful, but it can also be dangerous. From shopping and gaming to information and social media, ‘Internet Issues’ teaches you all about how to stay safe on the internet
The internet connects us with people from all around the world. People use the internet every day to buy things, play games, talk with their friends, and find things out about the world around them. It is very useful, but it can also be dangerous. From shopping and gaming to information and social media, ‘Internet Issues’ teaches you all about how to stay safe on the internet
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.
Check out our Review Panel’s top books for you to read in April 2024.
Hilarious, illustrated school-based antics where everything that happens leads to DRAMA and RUNNING AROUND and even some FAINTING!
When a session of extreme dancing leaves Maisie in hospital with a broken leg, things take a turn for the weird! Strange noises in the ward at night, missing cuddly toys and a sandwich trolley that only ever has TUNA sandwiches. Could Maisie’s leg be CURSED? If it is, and it DEFINITELY IS, then everything is DOOMED!
Laugh-out-loud fun from Blue Peter Award winners Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham.
It’s always exciting to know about which great new books are coming soon and we’ve been on a mission to dig out the best books to look forward to.
Here at BooksForTopics HQ, we’re always excited to get a sneak peek at new books ahead of their publication date. This means that our panel have time to read ahead and pick the very best new books to recommend to you. We regularly refresh our Ones to Watch page to keep you updated with the latest upcoming book releases each term.
This month, we’ve been attending publisher showcases to find out about the most exciting new releases for the rest of 2024. In this blog, we’ve chosen five of our favourite coming-soon children ‘s books to share with you.
Here are our panel’s top picks of new and upcoming children’s books for April, May and June for you to watch out for over the next few months – why not pre-order now as a gift to your future self?
Tom Percival is well known for his popular picturebooks exploring big emotions, including Ruby’s Worry, The Invisible and Perfectly Norman. Now the author brings a multi-layered and empathy-boosting middle-grade chapter book about child poverty. In this collaboration with the National Literacy Trust comes a book that should be in every school library in the country.
For Will, things just keep going wrong. Bullied for having cheap shoes, misunderstood by his teachers, and struggling to come to terms with the bleak and hungry life he leads after his dad lost his job, life seems to be pushing him down a path of self-destruction.
The love of his family, the persistence of his friends, and a freak encounter with nature keep filling him with just enough hope to keep doing the next right thing.
Will is living on the poverty line, and this will be a sensitive issue for some children. Life for Will is hard, but he learns that he is still powerful, and in a position to make choices about his future and the path he wants to take.
The Wrong Shoes is a story that will increase empathy in children whose lives are easier than Will’s, and empower those who relate to him. This beautifully deep and sensitively written chapter book is most suitable for Upper KS2 and beyond. Additionally, £1 from every sale of the book will be donated to the work of the National Literacy Trust and 15,000 books will be gifted by the publisher to children living in communities with low literacy levels.
For more children’s books exploring the theme of child poverty, we recommend It’s a No Money Day, The Invisible, The Great Food Bank Heist and The Cooking Club Detectives.
Pre-order The Wrong Shoes from Amazon or BookShop.
Keedie is the prequel to Elle McNicoll’s best-selling novel A Kind of Spark, which is a featured book on our Autism Awareness booklist and has recently been televised as a CBBC drama.
Set five years earlier, this new book focuses on fierce, outspoken big sister Keedie who is figuring out how to navigate life as an autistic teenager whilst trying to remain true to herself.
Keedie is intent on seeking revenge against the bullies in her school – not just for herself but for others. Her intentions are honourable and she wants to send the message that we should stand up for ourselves and others. But her simplistic view of righting wrongs not only gets her into trouble but creates an even deeper divide between her and the twin sister that she barely recognises anymore.
Keedie’s character is developed with nuance and depth. Readers who enjoyed the book or CBBC adaptation of A Kind of Spark will be excited to read more about the character of Keedie, whose lived experience provided a pillar of wisdom and encouragement for Addie.
This book is perfect for developing empathy and a sense of self in Upper Key Stage 2 readers – it teaches us that while we may all be watching the same scene, our narratives can be very different.
Pre-order Keedie from Amazon or BookShop. d
Much loved Michelle Harrison – author of A Pinch of Magic – brings a new story about twins who can stop time to solve mysteries. Twice Upon a Time is a delicious combination of mystery and fantasy. There is enough gore in here to keep it tense and thrilling and enough magic to make it unexpected.
The premise of the story, that a set of twins can see back and forwards in time, gives a twist that children will enjoy. There is a disappearance (or is it a murder?) to be solved and seeing back in time might come in very handy.
Whilst the twins may look identical, their different personalities come through clearly in the story. Twins often fascinate people, and it is not such a stretch to imagine that they might have unusual abilities. The villain is vile and reminded me of a James Bond villain, stroking his rabbit rather than a cat. Even the rabbit seemed to have villainous tendencies!
In many ways, the setting steals the limelight. Who wouldn’t be interested in exploring an old house, with a fire-damaged wing and secret rooms? I could almost smell the mustiness of the old house and I would have wanted to explore the house and grounds in the same way. I can’t help feeling this book lends itself to a sequel, though I would miss Fox House if it did not feature in that sequel.
Readers who love mystery stories like Robin Stevens’ Murder Most Unladylike, time-slip adventures like A Christmas in Time or magical fantasies like Pages and Co will enjoy delving into the new series.
Pre-order Twice Upon a Time from Amazon or BookShop.
Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm is a new high-octane fantasy series based on a meeting of modern and mythological worlds. The series will appeal to lovers of Percy Jackson and Who Let the Gods Out?.Peregrine is a 12-year-old girl who ends up on an action-packed fantasy adventure in the Under-Underground, alongside characters from mythology.
This book has a huge dose of adventure and mystery throughout. As a narrative with multiple perspectives, it would be best suited to confident UKS2 children and some understanding of Greek mythology would probably be beneficial (but not necessary).
Peregrine Quinn makes a great main character: the perfect blend of confidence, bravery and loyalty wrapped up in a 12-year-old girl.
The side characters are also great fun and add a healthy dose of comedy to the story, as well as adding their journeys for children to follow through the story.
For more books for fans of Percy Jackson, check out our new branching-out booklist too.
Pre-order Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm from Amazon or BookShop.
Dungeon Runners: Hero Trial is the first in a series of adventures from Kieran Larwood (the author of the much-loved Podkin series of books) and illustrated by the excellent Joe Todd-Stanton.
Hero Trial is a classic tale of the underdog triumphing against the odds, standing up to bullies and showing that size and strength are not everything.
Kit is a gnorf (part gnome, part dwarf) and Dungeon Runners is a TV game show that Kit is desperate to be on. The trouble is that he has no magical powers, combat skills or even a team.
After being bullied into entering the Dungeon Runners trial, Kit needs to find a team double quick to make sure he isn’t humiliated by his mean next-door neighbour Breg the Troggle.
So starts his adventure in finding friendship, and courage and learning that you can win by being kind and using your intelligence.
This imaginative and brilliantly illustrated story will appeal to quest lovers and adventure fans in lower KS2.
Pre-order Dungeon Runners: Hero Trial from Amazon or BookShop.
For more brand-new children’s books, head to these booklists:
Or sign up for our mailing list to receive the latest children’s book news and booklist updates.
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Where next?
Authors of the Ballet Besties Series
When we are young, we have many hobbies. I collected stamps, wrote poems, and performed in amateur theatre in a drama club my Mum organised during summer breaks. While I wrote and performed all through school life, I never thought I’d take it up as a career one day. So I focussed on school and academics while writing for my own pleasure during my free time.
This is the same for the five friends in Ballet Besties. While Yara wants to become a professional ballerina, she too has to focus on her school. She’s in a regular school with a focus on academics. Her parents had signed her up for ballet classes at Shimmer and Shine and they even put on a show – but Yara learns that it couldn’t come at the cost of her school lessons.
Yasmine Naghdi, the co-author of Yara’s Chance to Dance, went to a regular school. After school, she attended a nearby dance studio to learn ballet. On Saturdays, she took lessons in gymnastics and learned to play the piano. Until Yasmine was offered a place to attend The Royal Ballet School when she was 12, she had never thought of becoming a professional ballet dancer. There her normal academic lessons were mixed with intense ballet lessons every day of the week, even on a Saturday morning and it wasn’t until the age of 14 that she decided she wanted to become a professional ballet dancer.
In our new book Yara’s Chance to Dance, Yara gets distracted with ballet practising for her lead in Sleeping Beauty. When she forgets to complete her homework or concentrate on her classwork, Miss Diamond and her mum explain that schoolwork is equally important to pursue a career in ballet.
This reflects Yasmine’s real-life experience too – to be a professional ballet dancer you need multi-faceted skills and self-discipline.
From managing your finances to juggling your daily and weekly work schedule, to understanding work contracts for performing abroad, and knowing how to work as a team especially when dancing in the Corps de Ballet, and so much more. The skills we learn at school come in handy throughout our lives.
In our series Ballet Besties – and in the first book Yara’s Chance to Dance – we explore this theme through Yara’s experiences. Her passion for ballet at first distracts her from school work especially because she gets the lead part in a performance that had so much at stake. But with the help of her friends and timely advice from her teachers and her parents, Yara realises that it’s important to balance both without giving up one or the other.
Ballet as a HobbyWe also illustrate this through the experiences of Indu and Dante, too. Indu is not learning ballet because she wants to be a professional dancer. Her hobby might always remain a hobby, but that’s ok too. Dante on the other hand has two passions – football and ballet – while also focussing on his studies and he does make it seem easy to balance them.
Let’s all celebrate our passions while pursuing our jobs in a way that makes us happy!
Yara’s Chance to Dance by is available via Amazon or Bookshop.
More About Ballet Besties:
The first in a new inclusive series by Principal Ballerina Yasmine Naghdi and well-known children’s author Chitra Soundar.
Ballet Besties breaks down the traditional idea of what a ballet dancer looks like – featuring characters of all ages, genders, ethnicities and body sizes enjoying dance! The first book discusses teamwork and perseverance, with students coming together to save their dance school. With gorgeous black and white illustrations and the endmatter including a glossary and explanation of dance moves – this is a fun way to bring the joy of dance to all readers!
Thank you to Chitra and Yasmine for visiting our blog this week.
Yara’s Chance to Dance by is available via Amazon or Bookshop.
For more dance-themed book ideas, you might also like our booklist featuring more children’s books about ballet and dance.
Where next?
> Visit our Reading for Pleasure Hub
> Browse our Topic Booklists
> View our printable year group booklists.
> See our Books of the Month.
Are you looking for good books for 8 year olds? Our collection of recommended children’s books for 8-year-olds is here to help guide you to find your eight year old’s next read. This reviewed and hand selected booklist has been put together by experts.
Children at the age of 8 often like books that entertain them and help them to understand the world around them. Books provide children of this age group with opportunities to stretch their imagination as well as to consider what life might be like in a myriad of different settings and situations. Illustrated chapter books are extremely popular with this age group.
Whether you are looking for interactive choose-your-own style stories like The Monster Maker, exciting animal worlds like Varjak Paw or magical stories to whisk you away into fantasy worlds like The Worst Witch, our guide will help you to pinpoint recommended reads for 8-year-old children.
Featuring literary classics like Charlotte’s Web, thought-provoking favourites like The Wild Robot, popular graphic novels like Peng and Spanners and popular illustrated funny stories like Tom Gates, we’ve covered all tastes in our top 20 picks of the best books for 8-year-olds.
For more comprehensive booklists for this age group, browse our lists of 50 Best Books for Year 3 or 50 Best Books for Year 4.
Open the pages of the next chapter of your child’s reading journey with our age 8 recommended reading list below.
What do you see when you look at a tree? Leaves and twigs and branches?
Or do you see a real, living thing, That moves, and breathes and dances?
Immerse yourself in this gentle picture book that encourages us to explore our connection with nature.
In association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this wonderful picture book explores themes of empathy, mindfulness and personal growth through the eyes of a child. Beautifully written and illustrated by the award-winning artist Emma Carlisle, What Do You See When You Look At a Tree? urges readers to reconnect with nature by asking questions that encourage critical thinking and reflection on their own development, as well as helping to establish a deeper appreciation for the environment and their place within it.
Stunning watercolour and hand-finished artwork draws parallels to the bestselling The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse, and evokes the classic nostalgia of E. H. Shephard’s much-loved Winnie-the-Pooh.
Mindfulness tips and information about trees are included at the back of the book for both adult and child to read together.
From author-illustrator Katie Cottle comes a breath-taking journey about light pollution and saving the birds
When Ellie moves from her quiet village to a bustling city, she finds that the many different birds she loves to watch are missing. She stares out of her window, searches the skies on walks, but they are nowhere to be found. Then one night, she’s visited by a giant starling which asks for her help. The birds are lost because of the shimmering glow from the city’s bright lights.
Night Flight is a hopeful, inspiring story about the power of using your voice.
What would happen if we lost the happy endings to stories – imagine the tears at bedtime! A fantastic and magical tale about what happens when, one night, a wicked witch steals the happy endings to bedtime stories. It is up to Jub, the keeper of the happy endings, to save the day and ensure sweet dreams everywhere in this lyrical story about storytelling. In the tradition of classic fairy tales for children, Carol Ann Duffy and Jane Ray have created a truly compelling, surprising and beautiful story for children of all ages.
© BooksForTopics 2015-2024
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