Format: Chapter book

Terrible True Tales: The Stone Age

Chapter book

Terrible True Tales is a selection of four short stories, all set in the Stone Age and previously published separately. The Stone Age stories are well written and make some of the factual information about the Stone Age come to life for the children. The stories are set in different places around the world, including Skara Brae, which is often a topic taught in primary history lessons.

The exciting tales are based on real historical and archaeological evidence, told with Terry Deary‘s imaginative style and dry wit. Each story has a fact file with additional information and activities for the children to complete. With helpful reading notes to extend learning, this book is the perfect springboard for further study of the Stone Age under the Key Stage 2 History Curriculum.

What Happens Online

Nathanael Lessore

Chapter book

Existor is the most popular guy in school. Fred is the loser with no friends. And nobody knows they’re the same person.

Online, Fred’s alter ego is the best gamer around – constantly on a winning streak, with tonnes of followers, and the confidence to go with it.

But offline, Fred’s life is miserable. His dad’s always working, his mum’s struggling, and at school, everyone looks straight through him. Until Existor’s notoriety spreads to his school, and Fred sees an opportunity: everyone listens to what Existor has to say, so why not use that?

Soon, Fred is coming up with outlandish rumours about his classmates, and everyone’s lapping it up. His bullies are shunned, and people are finally taking notice of him. But it’s a slippery slope and Fred struggles to keep track of all the stuff he’s posted as his lies start to wreak unexpected havoc.

Fred will have to answer for his crimes against reality, but will he ever find someone to like him for who he really is?

Dracula & Daughters

Emma Carroll

Chapter book

This is the start of a new gothic adventure series, in which three cousins who are descendants of Dracula form a vampire healing company.

In true Emma Carroll fashion, this story has the reader on tenterhooks throughout, with chases through the dark streets of Temstown, the spine-tingling threat of attack from vengeful creatures and the need for the three brave heroines to complete their dangerous mission before the new moon deadline.

It’s all the more gripping because the identity of trustworthy good guys and shifty villains is obscured. What’s more, as the plot thickens, the readers’ perception only gradually clears, spotting connections between different characters. The way Carroll weaves numerous strands together is extremely satisfying: there’s the scene-setting, which has the reader picturing London in the late 19th Century; the kinship felt by the main characters; the power plays of ambitious, dangerous men; and the knowledge that might lead to both cure and restoration for the wronged.

This is a book that will be devoured by those with an appetite for gruesome fantasy with a historical flavour. Librarians will not need to recommend it for copies to quickly fly off the ‘horror’ shelf.

Adventuremice: Mice, Camera, Action!

Philip Reeve & Sarah McIntyre

Chapter book

The newest sparkling title in the adored Adventuremice series!

Get those cameras rolling – Pedro and co are off to Hollybush! There will be glitz, glam, and an out-of-control otter . . . All in service of ADVENTUREMICE: The Movie!

Wild Magic: Journey of the Lost Elephant

Abiola Bello & Emma McCann

Chapter book

Discover your wild side! Join twins Misha and Ziggy on another magical wildlife adventure in the second book in the WILD MAGIC series. For fans of Leonora Bolt and Space Detectives.

Misha and Ziggy are super excited to be joining their wildlife presenter father on a trip to India, where they’ll be able to test their magical powers all over again. Misha can’t wait to talk to all the fascinating animals she meets and Ziggy is eager to shapeshift into all the amazing animals he sees!

When they plan to map the migration route of an elephant herd, they discover that the elephant calf has gone missing.

Can Misha and Ziggy find the baby elephant and reunite it with its family before its lost forever?

Astrid and the Space Cadets: Danger at the Black Lagoon!

Alex T. Smith

Chapter book

Blast off on an adventure with the Space Cadets! From beloved children’s author-illustrator Alex T. Smith, the bestselling creator of Claude and How Winston Delivered Christmas, comes a funny and fast-paced illustrated adventure through space.

Filled with out-of-this world illustrations on every page, Astrid and the Space Cadets: Danger at the Black Lagoon! is perfect for fans of Grimwood and Bad Guys, and for kids who are ready to read by themselves.

Astrid and the gang are excited to help two scientists track down a mysterious, never before seen fish rumoured to be living on an underwater planet. But it isn’t long before things take a shocking turn when Astrid and the Space Cadets discover that they have been tricked – the scientists are actually infamous Intergalactic Sea Bandits!

Can the gang catch the Sea Bandits and rescue the treasure? It’s going to prove a difficult job especially when they find themselves swallowed whole by one of the Guard Sharks . . .

Join Astrid and the gang on more adventures in Attack of the Snailiens and Race from Planet Peril!

Meeting Meg

Nicola Baker

Chapter book

Meeting Meg is a charming and heartwarming story that brings the gentle rhythms of farm life to life through the eyes of young Tilly. During a busy summer on the farm, the book follows Ava as she helps with seasonal tasks like sheep-shearing and hay-baling, until a litter of Border Collie puppies, including Meg, a lively and endearing pup, brings a new excitement. Nicola Baker captures the excitement of a new animal arriving on the farm, and the story offers rich opportunities for discussing themes such as responsibility, friendship, and animal care.

With its calm, countryside setting and engaging, accessible language, this will appeal who enjoy animal stories or are curious about rural life. Baker’s writing is quietly compelling, with a classic feel that evokes the likes of Dick King-Smith and Michael Morpurgo.

Themes of friendship, responsibility, and finding your place in the world are handled with sensitivity, making this a lovely text for exploring emotional development and non-fiction tie-ins around animals and farming. This book would work well for guided reading, book corners, or independent reading for animal-loving pupils seeking gentle adventure grounded in real-life experience and an enjoyable classroom story.

The Lost Book of Undersea Adventure

Teddy Keen & Unknown Adventurer

Chapter book

This was meant to be a journal of my quest to find the sea nomads, but a few days ago something happened that turned my world upside down . . . You are about to read an adventure story so real you’ll be able to taste the salt water on your lips. I don’t know how it will end but I’ll keep writing this journal as long as I’m able. One day I hope I can give it to you.

After he’s flung from a ferry after seeing something so dangerous he would be killed for his silence, the Unknown Adventurer washes up on a deserted island. Completely alone, he puts his survival skills to the test and begins the journal he promised his younger siblings he would write. But after a while he notices that it is not all what it seems on the island and something mysterious lies across the lagoon. Something he must investigate.

Take a deep breath. You are about to enter dangerous waters.

This is a thrilling tale of survival, friendship and underwater discovery that transports you to remote seas that whisper of ancient legends you can only begin to imagine.

Presented like an artist’s journal, with handwritten sections, smudged notes and stuck-in pages and illustrated in breathtaking detail, this is a story that will spark a sense of adventure in every reader. A new exhilarating book from the Unknown Adventurer, author of The Lost Book of Adventure and Journey to the Last River.

Island of Influencers

Monique Turner

Chapter book

Monique Turner’s debut novel captures the current obsession of today’s teen and young adult audience with the draw of internet fame and fortune, balanced neatly with the negative impact and reality of just how much hard work can be involved in the endless supply of ‘shorts’ that the social media moguls supply.

What appears at first to be a crime thriller quickly transpires to be a light look at a reality game show, but then flips the narrative again as the sinister underbelly of the influencer world is exposed with a glimpse of a dystopian future.

A good story to provoke discussion among teens, this is most likely to appeal just for the joy of reading independently, and the subject combined with a fast pace could make it appealing for those reluctant readers who might otherwise prefer a screen to a book for entertainment.

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

Chibundu Onuzo

Chapter book

WARNING: DO NOT JUMP ON THIS BOOK!

Have you ever jumped on a book? Perhaps not. Most people would think it was a rather unusual thing to do.

Ten-year-old Mayowa has always thought that her Grandpa Edward, who dyes his beard emerald green and jumps on books in private, is rather unusual too. Until one day she jumps on a book for herself, and uncovers a huge family secret …

Mayowa can book jump.

By jumping on a book, she can harness the emotions inside it and channel them directly into other people. And when the opportunity to use her power to save the lives of countless refugees presents itself, Mayowa wants to jump in with both feet.

But Mayowa and her grandpa aren’t the only book jumpers in existence. And not everybody wants to use this power for good …

The first title in a dazzlingly imaginative adventure trilogy about one girl’s power to change the world through the magic of book-jumping. Brimming with heart, Mayowa and the Sea of Words is a modern classic in the making. Perfect for everyone who knows the true power of a good book …

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Format: Chapter book

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