Children&#8217;s Fiction: 10 You Might Have Missed

Portico Reeves lives in a huge apartment block, ‘the castle’, with his parents, who row constantly. To escape the tension and trauma of their Mean Time, Portico leaps into his own super-secret, superhero world. With a kind of rap, rhythm and rhyme, Stuntboy Portico and his friends navigate a world away from the stresses of home life, to keep each other, and their castle mates, safe.

But superhero responsibilities come with added anxieties of their own, or ‘frets’ as Portico knows them and like all superheroes, Portico has to deal with put-downs from his nemesis – in this case Herbert Singletary the Worst.

Words alone don’t do this book justice – grab a copy and explore inside! Jason Reynolds does choose his words wisely, though. I like the way he offers the reader a range of vocabulary to help demystify grown-up divorce language and how we feel Portico’s pain when he is literally torn in two by events that resolve the story.

I had to wrestle Stuntboy from my 10-year-old daughter to review it, so that says a lot. The style and presentation are perfect for engaging readers and holding attention. There’s a lot to look at and take in via Raul the Third’s brilliant illustrations, comic strips and speech bubbles – each page is different. The effect is a fast-paced, upbeat story that is fun to read while tackling heavier themes.

Publisher: Knights Of

Publication date: November 2021

2. Greta and the Ghost Hunters

By Sam Copeland & Sarah Horne

Reviewer: Tami Wylie

Chapter book (7+)

Greta Woebegone didn’t believe in ghosts, that is, until the day she died.

However, she only died for a few seconds. After her accident, Greta discovered that she could see and talk to the ghosts that lived in her house, Woebegone Manor. She found the ghost of her grandfather, a distant cousin named Percy and the ghost of a shamed musician named Wolfgang.

When her parents try to send her beloved Grandmother to a home, Greta enlists the help of the ghosts to try to stop it. A series of funny and calamitous events then ensue.

I really enjoyed reading this new book from the author of Charlie Changes into a Chicken and I found myself chuckling out loud while reading. The story is filled with little gems of hidden humour. It feels as though the cast of fantastic characters leap off of the page and sit next to you while you read about them.

I highly recommend this book as an enjoyable read-aloud for lower KS2.

Publisher: Puffin

Publication date: 20th January 2022

3.I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker: The Diary of a Young Boy at the Outbreak of World War II

by Michał Skibiński & Ala Bankroft

Reviewer: Rachel Caddick

Short, illustrated diary (7+)

I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker reproduces the diary of eight-year-old Michał Skibiński as an illustrated children’s book. It was originally written in Poland in the summer of 1939. Michał‘s teacher had given him a project for the summer: to keep a journal, writing one sentence a day. The diary begins with observations and recollections typical of a young child: a hot-air balloon, ice cream at a patisserie, and trips to the woods with a friend. However, over the course of weeks, menacing details emerge; planes circling, power cuts, and then war begins. A bomb drops near Michał‘s house, cannons blast and shrapnel flies overhead.

This is a simply told story. Text is sparse – just one line per page. Yet the power and poignancy of Michał‘s words are incredible. I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker captures lost innocence, a childhood interrupted and events of huge historical significance.

The book is illustrated throughout with beautifully atmospheric full-colour paintings. In addition, the pages of the book are interspersed with reproductions of pages from Michał‘s original diary. This is particularly effective and brings us even closer to Michał and his world.

The book is fascinating as a historical artefact and primary source. As a first-hand testimony, it’s particularly striking and relevant to young readers since it’s a child who’s bearing witness. The book could be used to great effect when studying World War II in upper Key Stage 2.

I Saw a Beautiful Woodpecker is a hugely poignant and thought-provoking book that is powerful in its simplicity.

Publisher: Prestel

Publication date: October 2021

4. Diary of an Accidental Witch

By: Perdita and Honor Cargill & Kate Saunders

Reviewer: Kate Spurrier

Chapter book (8+)

Diary of an Accidental Witch is funny, quirky and super-readable. Think, The Worst Witch rebooted for a new generation, with a sprinkling of Amelia Fang and Fred, Wizard in Training stirred into the same cauldron.

When Bea Black’s Dad accidentally enrols her into the ‘wrong’ school, she learns more about magic than maths. Bea keeps a record of daily events, such as how surprisingly disgusting witch food can be. The entries are unusually precisely timed and I like the way they are peppered with crossings out, as though lifted from a real diary.

Despite all the mishaps and although at first keen to go to the ‘right’ school, Bea soon makes friends at Witch school. So when she discovers her Dad’s application to transfer her to Little Spellshire Academy has been successful, Bea knows she’s already found a place she can be herself in.

Bea is a loveable character and I warmed to her straight away. Lots of ‘will-she, won’t-she’ moments of finding out if she can master the magic before the main calendar event – the Halloween ball, had me turning the pages to see if she would succeed.

I read this again with my daughter and we’re glad to see there will be more from Bea’s diary, as this is the first in a series. Always handy for hooking readers in as they follow the progress of the characters. Kate Saunders’ sparkly cover and incidental internal illustrations perfectly suit a younger middle grade audience, with still much to delight older readers who might resonate with the anxiety of starting secondary school, or moving to a different area and making new friends.

Publisher: Little Tiger Press

Publication date: September 2021

5. His Royal Hopeless

By Chloe Perrin

Reviewer: Anna Sterling

Chapter book (8+)

Our main character in this wonderful tale is Robbie, an optimistic, charming but innocent boy who loves his mother, his castle and the servants and his secret friend Layla very much. His positivity oozes from the pages – even more surprising when the reader learns that he is the youngest of an incredible evil family called the Sinistevils who have caused nothing less than vile and evil destruction over the Kingdom of Waning for generations. Robbie never doubts for one second that he is nothing but an evil Sinistevil. Even when his mother, the wicked queen, sends crows to kill him and talking trees to batter him, he believes that he is the luckiest son alive. This leads to some frustratingly funny laugh-out loud moments, where the reader can feel Layla’s exasperation through the pages as she tries to wake Robbie up to the truth of the matter.

The story takes us on a journey with Robbie and Layla, as he decides to find his real heart (his mother had it replaced with a clockwork one when he was a baby) so that he can pledge it to the sceptre – the family’s heirloom that sustains the evil through the generations. The journey is fraught. Robbie’s mother does everything to stop him as she has very dark intentions indeed – she does not want to let go of the power that she enjoys so intently.

Perrin’s writing is full of originality and wit: imagine a weapon so effective, that saying its name causes blisters on the tongue or blood that turns to frozen slush. This book is a lot of fun! Although set in a mythical kingdom, the very real themes of friendship and loyalty drive the story to an end where good overwhelms evil. A super read.

Publisher: Chicken House

Publication date: September 2021

6. You Can

By Alexandra Strick & Steve Antony

Reviewer: Carol Carter

Picturebook (3+)

We are big Steve Antony fans at my school, with all of The Queen’s Hat and Mr Panda series regularly on loan. We are also big on diversity and inclusion, including Steve’s Amazing, so You Can! is a match made in heaven. Written with Alexandra Strick, co-founder of Inclusive Minds, You Can! sets out to celebrate the joy and empowerment that can be found in following your dreams and believing in yourself.

The words tell a simple list of the things ‘You can…’ do, such as be brave, talk about how you feel, make mistakes and learn from them, and could be read straight through from start to finish in less than 3 minutes. But this would defeat the purpose of the book – there is so much to interrogate and discuss on each page. The pictures bring another dimension, showing each child gradually developing from toddler to child to young adult and challenging themselves at each stage of the journey. The challenges gradually broaden and deepen to reflect the age of the characters, from the toddlers being encouraged to try new things and be brave, to the young adults refusing to be put in a box and being determined to reach their goals. The endpapers contribute to this sense of growth and progress with the front showing 14 babies (which one looks most like you?) and the end showing 14 adults engaged in various jobs (which job would you most like to have?).

This book would be great to share with a whole class, particularly during a unit on Ourselves, but would also make a brilliant resource to share with an individual child, such as the one in every class whose first response is ‘I can’t!”

Thoughtful, uplifting and empowering, ‘You Can!’ is a joy to explore.

Publisher: Otter-Barry Books

Publication date: October 2021

7. Aarti & the Blue Gods

By Jasbinder Bilan

Reviewer: Jane Carter

Chapter book (9+)

If you love a book that has a map of the main setting on the book’s end pages – you’ll love this one! The map shows Aarti’s island – a remote island somewhere off the coast of Scotland. Aarti has spent most of her young life on the island with her aunt. Their life is a mix of hardship (of surviving as the only inhabitants on the island), moments of beauty (in the many descriptions of the island’s secret places) and unpredictability (in particular the unpredictability of Aarti’s aunt’s moods and rages).

Aarti has been told she was taken to the island by her aunt when both her parents died but there is always something that unsettles Aarti about this story – not least her mysterious aunt, the locked room of secrets in the house and the many moments Aarti feels of connection to something beyond the island.

This is a story of mystery, magic and intrigue infused with references to Indian spirituality, to the blue gods, to enchanting, magic flute music and to the power of spirits from the past and present. When Aarti’s aunt tragically dies while collecting eggs on one of the island’s cliffs, Aarti is both released from the fear her aunt brings but also plunged into loneliness – especially when her beloved fox friend, Chand disappears. This all changes when a strange boy named Euan is washed up onto the shore and after nursing him back to health, they plan together how they will return to the mainland and be reunited with Aarti’s family. There is more to Euan than meets the eye and this is where the story becomes deeply mystical and intriguing.

This is an unusual adventure story with fantasy and fairy tale overtones. The writing is beautiful, conjuring up the setting of the island and the emotions of Aarti masterfully. It has quite a twist at the end that keeps the reader wondering after the final page has been turned.

Publisher: Chicken House

Publication date: September 2021

8. Storm Horse

By Jane Elson

Reviewer: Christine Ivory

Chapter book (9+)

Daniel hates reading. It’s difficult: the letters keep moving and it just doesn’t make sense! Even numbers and classrooms move sometimes. He’s in the bottom reading group at school and couldn’t think of anything worse than having to read aloud in front of lots of people. Except that’s what he has to do. There’s no way he can escape the Big Read Off at school.

But there is one thing that Daniel loves: horses. He particularly loves the great racehorse Seabiscuit, an unlikely winner that everybody had given up on.
So when a mysterious white horse gallops into his life during one stormy evening, it changes everything. Desperate to keep him safe, Daniel and his team form the Secret Horse Society, promising to do anything to protect it.

Storm Horse is the perfect book to add to any school or class library. As a teacher, I can picture so many of my ex-pupils when I read about Daniel and it is so refreshing to see an authentic portrayal of how some children feel about reading and the realities of living with Dyslexia. It is evident that this has been part of every decision that has been made when writing and formatting the book – short chapters and other ways to break up the text into manageable chunks as well as an amazing letter at the beginning of the book from the author herself all help to make the book accessible to a wider range of readers.

Working in a school with high proportions of children from less affluent communities, there are also numerous instances of how this book highlights what many of our children face and are living through without being too heavy for children to read. I know that so many children will resonate with the characters and their journey – so thank you to Jane Elson for creating a story they will be able to see themselves in. I can’t wait to share it with our children.

Publisher: Hachette

Publication date: August 2021

9. Violet’s Tempest

By Ian Eagleton & Clare Anganuzzi

Reviewer: Kathryn Gilbert

Picturebook (3+)

Ian Eagleton has composed a story that depicts one aspect of childhood anxiety in such a gentle way – weaving a variety of themes, including shyness, family and even an introduction to Shakespeare into one tale. The story is engaging and describes a range of emotions in an accessible and intelligent way.

The story centres on Violet, a shy child riddled with self-doubt and confidence issues when she is cast as the main lead in a Shakespeare production. Her family, including her nan and uncles, try to help Violet’s self-esteem. The story has an excellent approach to explaining the physical and emotional feelings related to anxiety, but more importantly, how to overcome them. Eagleton also embraces diversity in Violet’s support network of her family.

Clara Anganuzzi enhances the story with wonderful illustrations that perfectly portray the emotions at play. The illustrations feature intricate details in places, including photographs on the wall in the background of scenes. All these details add to the rich family diversity explored in the story.

Publisher: Lantana

Publication date: September 2021

10. The Pie-rats and the Mist Island Treasure

By Kate Poels & Sarah Horne

Reviewer: Tami Wylie

Illustrated chapter book (7+)

I loved this book. It’s full of humour, wit and crazy characters. I’ve been reading it with my Year 4 class and they have fallen in love with it. They ask every morning if we’re going to be reading it.

When Steady Eddy, the First Mate of the Black Biscuit, discovers that the loot pile is getting dangerously low, he hatches a plan to find the lost treasure of Mist Island.

The only problem is, nobody knows where Mist Island is and rumour has it that it’s haunted! As the crew of the Black Biscuit set off on this perilous journey, they must battle the Pantaloonie Pirates and the ghosts of dead pirates to find the treasure.

The illustrations by Sarah Horne capture the playful fun of the story. A brilliant story with a surprising twist at the end.

Publisher: Matador

Publication date November 2021