Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Home > Books

Resource Available: No resources

Non-fiction

A charming children’s encyclopedia that takes you on a journey into the deep blue to discover the wonders of the world’s oceans!

The world is so much bigger than young minds can fathom and there is always more to learn.
My Encyclopedia of Very Important Oceans is a vibrant encyclopedia for curious 5-9 year olds, who want to know everything there is to know about life on and under the waves. Easily accessible to young readers through a balance of striking images and conversational, age-appropriate text, this ocean encyclopedia will tap into every child’s natural curiosity and answer all their biggest questions about this amazing world under the water.

Bursting with up-to-date facts and discoveries, this exciting kid’s encyclopedia includes everything from the spectacular seabirds soaring over Earth’s vast oceans, to the tiny creatures lurking on the ocean floor.
Dive in and explore forgotten shipwrecks, swim with fabulous fish and other awesome underwater animals, and weave your way through secret deep sea homes. You’ll travel back in time to meet plundering pirates, scientists, and explorers who changed the course of history, then it’s time to learn about lots of very important underwater jobs and how you can help to protect Earth’s precious oceans.

Picturebook

A touching tale about a little mouse with a big heart, featuring festive silver foil on every page!

Mouse is very excited for Christmas, but first she needs to find a home to spend it in! On her way through Treetop Forest, she meets Fox, Bunny and Bear, all in need of a little help – which she gladly offers – but as the sun sets, it looks like she won’t have anywhere cosy to spend Christmas. Luckily, her new friends are about to reward her generosity with a very big surprise . . .

The perfect picture book to share with children from 3+ at Christmas, from the creator of the bestselling Snow Bunny books!

Every Nosy Crow paperback picture book comes with a free ‘Stories Aloud’ audio recording – just scan the QR code and listen along!

Picturebook

Join some very enterprising mice in this funny, festive book from best-selling creator of Percy the Park Keeper, Nick Butterworth. A great Christmas gift!

Christmas time, a happy time – or so it should be. But for two small mice, Lottie and Jack, Christmas Eve is overshadowed by one big problem… That Cat. How can they stop him from spoiling everything? Their friend, the wise rat, Ton Chee, has an idea involving a little golden bell … but will it work?

Picturebook

Based on the original stories by Michael Bond, a funny, festive Paddington adventure with real mail to open and enjoy!

This funny interactive picture book follows Paddington as he does his best to help the Brown family get ready for a very special Christmas. Open the five envelopes inside and find an Advent calendar, Paddington’s home-made Christmas card to Aunt Lucy, a bear-shaped Christmas tree decoration . . . and more!

Picturebook

The Big Christmas Bake is a funny, lively romp through the twelve days of Christmas, taking the elements of the popular carol, and weaving them cleverly into the ingredients for a Twelfth Night Cake.

Starting with the partridge and its gift of dried fruit, this rhyming story includes all of the familiar characters from the song as they all contribute to the baking of the magnificent Twelfth Night cake.
A trio of french hens bring baking powder
Six geese bring eggs, and lots of feathers too
Ten lords help carry the cake into the oven ready to bake
At the end of the story, there is a recipe included to bake your own cake at home, giving this book the potential to be a favourite Christmas story as well as a resource to be used every year in introducing a twelfth night cake tradition to a family .

Characterfully illustrated by Pippa Curnick The Big Christmas Bake is a beautiful, lyrical, and gently humourous Christmas story for the whole family to enjoy.

Picturebook

Mixing elves, counting and bedtime, children will love this brilliantly fun picture book with a shiny foiled cover!

The night before Christmas Eve, Santa could NOT sleep.

So, a couple of his reindeer chums, said, “You should count some sheep!”

Now, Santa’s counted sheep before but something by the shelf

made Santa want to NOT count sheep, and count gold buttoned… ELVES!

What’s the best way to help little ones fall asleep? Introduce them to super cute elves, of course! And with cute, cuddly and helpful elves on every page, and a fun story showing children how to count from one to twenty, this book is set to become every child’s new favourite.

The perfect picture book for all children, especially elf-loving ones!

Helps children learn how to count from one to twenty

Brilliantly fun story and beautiful, full-colour illustrations

Helps children wind-down to bedtime

The perfect picture book to encourage children to love counting as much as they love elves!

Best Children’s Books for 9-11 Year Olds: Christmas 2023 Gift Guide

Books make for a wonderful choice of Christmas gifts for children and we’re here to help with some top recommendations of children’s books for Christmas 2023.

From timeless adventure stories and curious information books to festive favourites and glorious gift books, we’ve selected our top recommendations of book gifts for children aged 9-11. We’ve tried to include something for all tastes – look out for nativity mysteries, reindeer rescues, children made of snow and super-cool bionic science in this year’s Christmas Gift Guide for 9- to 11-year-olds.

Whether you are looking for jolly, festive stories like The Christmas Carrolls or frost-filled adventures like The Ice Children, we hope this guide will fill your young readers with plenty of seasonal cheer. We’ve also included KS2 popular favourites like The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh and super fun graphic novels like Bunny Vs Monkey, as well as information books for curious minds like Space Maps and beautiful poetry compendiums to treasure, such as Tiger Tiger Burning Bright, which contains an animal poem for every day of the year.

The books on this list are also available to purchase from Bookshop or Amazon.

 

Download Printable PDF – Christmas Gift Book Guide Age 9-11

Best Children’s Books for 7-9 Year Olds: Christmas 2023 Gift Guide

Books make for a wonderful choice of Christmas gifts for children and we’re here to help with some top recommendations of children’s books for Christmas 2023.

From timeless bedtime stories and curious information books to festive favourites and glorious gift books, we’ve selected our top recommendations of book gifts for children aged 7-9.  We’ve tried to include something for all tastes – look out for rooftop present deliveries, children accidentally sleeping through Christmas, North Pole adventures and intergalactic science in this year’s Christmas Gift Guide for 7- to 9-year-olds.

Whether you are looking for jolly, festive stories like The Christmas Carrolls or music-filled interactive adventures like The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas, we hope this guide will fill your young readers with plenty of seasonal cheer. We’ve also included KS2 popular favourites like The Land of Roar and super fun choose-your-own-adventure style books like Solve Your Own Mystery: The Monster Maker, as well as information books for curious minds like Wild Animals of the World and beautiful knowledge compendiums to treasure, such as the Britannica All New Children’s Encyclopedia.

 

The books on this list are also available to purchase from Bookshop or Amazon.

Download Printable PDF – Christmas Gift Book Guide Age 7-9

 

Best Children’s Books for 5-7 Year Olds: Christmas 2023 Gift Guide

Books make for a wonderful choice of Christmas gifts for children and we’re here to help with some top recommendations of children’s books for Christmas 2023.

From timeless bedtime stories and curious information books to festive favourites and glorious gift books, we’ve selected our top recommendations of book gifts for children aged 5-7.  We’ve tried to include something for all tastes – look out for rooftop present deliveries, backpack-wearing penguins, ice-skating adventures and microscopic science in this year’s Christmas Gift Guide for 5- to 7-year-olds.

Whether you are looking for festive twists on classic favourites like You Choose: Christmas or chapter-a-day advent adventures like The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’s Christmas Shenanigans, we hope this guide will fill your little ones with festive cheer. We’ve also included KS1 popular favourites like Einstein the Penguin and classic story books like Pippi Longstocking, as well as information books for curious minds like Atlas of Animal Adventures and beautiful poetry compendiums to treasure, such as A Whale of a Time.

 

The books on this list are also available to purchase from Bookshop or Amazon.

Download Printable PDF – Christmas Gift Book Guide Age 5-7

 

Best Children’s Books for 3-5 Year Olds: Christmas 2023 Gift Guide

Books make for a wonderful choice of Christmas gifts for children and we’re here to help with some top recommendations of children’s books for Christmas 2023.

From timeless bedtime stories and curious information books to festive favourites and glorious gift books, we’ve selected our top recommendations of book gifts for children aged 3-5.  We’ve tried to include something for all tastes – look out for rooftop present deliveries, sleigh-driving pigeons, classic EYFS stories and information compendiums in this year’s Christmas Gift Guide for 3- to 5-year-olds.

Whether you are looking for tales based on the Christmas nativity story like Leah’s Star or laugh-out-loud sleigh-ride escapades like Santarella, we hope this guide will fill your little ones with festive cheer. We’ve also included EYFS popular favourites like Supermouse and classic story books like The Tiger Who Came to Tea, as well as information books for curious minds like The First Big Book of Why and beautiful bedtime story compendiums to treasure, such as Secrets of the Forest.

 

The books on this list are also available to purchase from Bookshop or Amazon.

Download Printable PDF – Christmas Gift Book Guide Age 3-5

Subscribe to our newsletter

Your Review

Stone Girl Bone Girl

review

Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:

Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:

Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?

Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?

Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?

yes

Curriculum links (if relevant)

Curriculum links (if relevant)

Any other comments

Any other comments