Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Format: Chapter book

Romance, secrets and mystery and a teenage girl who hears the bones of the dead… Perfect for fans of Holly Jackson, Adalyn Grace and Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing

17-year-old Dovie doesn’t believe in magic even though she comes from a long line of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, and for the past few years the bones have been crooning nonstop, calling out to Dovie to dig them up. Because there is a killer on the loose – someone is snatching hikers from the miles of tracks, leaving their mutilated bodies for Dovie to find. And the body count grows ever higher.

Some of the old-timers believe that it’s the monstrous Ozarks howler snatching people off the Aux Arc Trail. Well Dovie doesn’t believe in the howler, and she doesn’t believe her best friend – the gorgeous Lo – when he tells her he is being haunted by dark shadows. All she believes in is her talent that guides the local sheriff to the bones when they begin their song, then reuniting the dead with their families to give them some peace.

But the truth of their deaths isn’t buried with their bones; it’s hidden somewhere deep in the hills. And Lo and Dovie must unearth it before anyone else is killed…

This magically illustrated gamebook plunges you into a story with a difference – one where the hero is YOU. Woken one night by a bang at the door, you creep to the window and see five hooded strangers below. The leader looks up and beckons you down. What do you do? Open the door, play for time, or escape through the window out back? The choice is yours…

From this point onwards you are in control of an epic adventure, and your survival depends upon the decisions you make. Who to fight? Who to trust? In a book where nothing is as it seems, even the pictures hold secrets that must be unlocked. But as you race across land, sea and sky, one thing becomes clear: it’s not just your fate that hangs in the balance – it’s the fate of the entire kingdom.

Bringing together a sweeping story, beautifully illustrated picture puzzles and an exciting combat system (with a link to an online dice-roller), this is an adventure that will have you gripped from beginning to end.

I is Pig.

This is my diary and I doubts you will believe any of it.

In fact, if you is the kind of farmer what finds it hard to believe unbelievable stuff, you should put it down RIGHT NOW.

I wouldn’t blame you.

If I was reading it I would be like, ‘Don’t be silly! Stuff like this would never happen to a pig, it’s totally impossible.’ But it’s not.

Just ask Duck, or Cow, or Ki-Ki, or Rusty.

They’d all tell you… It’s all 1,000% true and 10,000% BONKERS!

From the author of The Girl Who Stole an Elephant comes another brilliant escapade. The second thrilling adventure set in fictional Sri Lanka, jam-packed with peril and kidnap and a huge blue whale!

Razi, a local fisherboy, is watching turtle eggs hatch when he sees a boat bobbing into view. With a chill, he notices a small, still hand hanging over the side…

Inside is Zheng, who’s escaped a shipwreck and is full of tales of sea monsters and missing treasure. But the villains who are after Zheng are soon after Razi and his sister, Shifa, too. And so begins an exhilarating adventure in the shadow of the biggest sea monster of them all…

Maggie Sparks does NOT want to go to a new school!

Especially not one with mean students and a teacher she is sure is a VAMPIRE.

But Maggie has no choice. When their school gets closed down, she and Arthur are forced to go to Peregrine Primary. Thankfully, Maggie’s a super powerful, super smart, super talented witch. Maggie plans to use her powers to get out of going to the nightmare new school – one way or another.

All she needs is a little magic …

About the Maggie Sparks series:
Step into the magical world of Maggie Sparks: the mischievous little witch who turns every day into an adventure. Join Maggie as she learns how to tackle school, make friends and most confusing of all: understand her emotions – when she’s not facing dragons and meeting aliens, that is! Perfect to bridge the gap between Isadora Moon and Amelia Fang for young readers aged 5+.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling team Andrea Beaty and David Roberts who created Ada Twist, Scientist and Iggy Peck, Architect comes a spirited story full of adventure, friendship, and science!

Ada Twist is the Queen of Questions. Like, why does hot coffee smell stronger than cold? What kind of birds live in her backyard? And, especially, why does her brother Arthur get so cranky when she borrows his stuff for experiments? But Ada’s questions really come in handy when her friend Rosie Revere needs help. Rosie’s Uncle Ned has gotten carried away in his famous helium pants, and Ada needs some answers—fast! How high can Uncle Ned float? Will he fly off into outer space? And, most important, how can they get him down? With the help of her fellow Questioneers Iggy Peck and Rosie Revere, her brother Arthur, and some new friends, Ada Twist is ready to save the day!

Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants is the second in a unique and exciting series of chapter books for children, parents, and teachers who want to make STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fun.

Welcome to the magical land where you’ll learn spells, potions and everything you need to know about Unicorns!

It’s the day of the Magical Unicorn Show and Claudia is super excited to watch Chai and the other unicorns perform. But – oh no! – she and her friends have missed the flying bus! How will they ever get there in time? Find out in this whizzy airborne adventure, filled with unicorn acrobatics, sparkling skies and zooming skates.

With colour illustrations, this magical chapter-book series is great for building confidence in newly independent readers.

In this hilarious book for middle-grade readers, Meddy rants about family and friendships, using her diary as a way of letting out her anger and keeping her emotions in check.

So far, so normal.

You know the kind of thing: frustrations with her self-absorbed sisters; problems with idiotic classmates; disagreements with pompous teachers; and, of course, her troubles dealing with the occasional flock of owls, swarms of snakes, or even the odd many-headed dog.

And then there’s the small problem of the snake hair that appears if she doesn’t control her anger… You see, Meddy Gordon is not actually from the twenty-first century.

She is, in fact, a human from ancient Greece and she has made a powerful enemy.

Meddy G is MEDUSA and she just happens to have angered Athena, the goddess of war.

And what happens when the goddess of war is on the warpath?

You get a bad day.

A very bad day indeed.

Meddy Gorgon is loosely based on the famous Greek myth of Medusa, ideal for young fans of Greek mythology!

A highly illustrated book, great for fans of Loki and Lottie Brooks.

Funny and fantastic illustrations by Katie Abey who has illustrated over fifty books for children.

Another hilarious DAISY adventure from the bestselling author behind the OI FROG series.

Here comes trouble!

Daisy is going on a school trip to Bobbington Hall! But the trouble with school trips is that teachers will be there too. So Daisy can’t go exploring! There will be:

Suits of armour
Olden toilets
Secret passages

The trouble is, they’re proving really hard to find! But what will happen when Daisy does find the secrets of Bobbington Hall?

Sephy is a Cross: she lives a life of privilege and power. But she’s lonely, and burns with injustice at the world she sees around her.

Callum is a nought: he’s considered to be less than nothing – a blanker, there to serve Crosses – but he dreams of a better life.

They’ve been friends since they were children, and they both know that’s as far as it can ever go. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies – love is out of the question.

Then – in spite of a world that is fiercely against them – these star-crossed lovers choose each other.

But this is love story that will lead both of them into terrible danger . . . and which will have shocking repercussions for generations to come.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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