Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd

Life of Pi

Chapter book

This sits somewhere between a YA novel and an adult one, but has one of the best closing lines of any book I know: ‘Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger.’ It’s a clever book that functions on many levels – as an animal tale or a story of horrific struggle to survive a shipwreck. Pi (the narrator) gives us – and the insurers in the book – the choice as to which interpretation they wish to choose. Was the tiger real or was it what Pi became in order to survive…?

Evie and the Animals

Emily Gravett & Matt Haig

Chapter book

Evie and the Animals is a delightful book with a high appeal to readers who love animals as well as fans of mystery. Matt Haig weaves a plot that explores family dynamics, the importance of friendship and listening to the feelings of others, including animals.

Evie Trench is not a normal girl. She has the ‘talent’ of being able to hear animals and talk to them through mind-chat. While she loves talking to all sorts of animals and helping them whenever she can, she has to do it in secret. Her dad, a hard-working but reserved man, does not want anyone knowing about her talent. He is still too traumatised by the death of Evie’s mum, who also had the talent, and wants to keep Evie safe.

As the tale develops, we learn more about Evie and the people in her life and her friendships, good and bad. We also meet the menacing Mortimer J Mortimer – the villain of the story. Mortimer also shares the talent for communicating with animals, but unlike Evie he does not use it for good. What follows is a thrilling adventure as Evie attempts to escape from Mortimer’s control and rescue both her family and all the animals he is using to gain power.

This is an enjoyable story that is able to open discussions around emotions, bereavement, conservation and animal cruelty. The illustrations by Emily Gravett are interspersed throughout and beautifully bring the various animals and their emotions to life. A winner of a book for fans of The Truth Pixie and The Boy Called Christmas series who enjoy Haig’s brand of gently humorous, poignant and child-centred prose.

The Truth Pixie

Chris Mould & Matt Haig

Chapter book

This original book is a quick and quirky read with a heartwarming message about the value of true friendship, told in rhyming couplets.

The Truth Pixie lives in a faraway magical land and has been put under a spell that means she can only speak if she tells the truth. Finding that truthful words cause others to turn away from her, the Truth Pixie sadly discovers that friendships of any kind have become too difficult for her to form.

After a scarily truthful encounter with a larger-than-life troll, the Truth Pixie finds herself flung through the air all the way to Helsinki (which, as it turns out, rhymes perfectly with ‘that troll who is stinky’). Once there, the Truth Pixie befriends a downhearted girl called Aada, who is filled with worry and sadness as she faces an impending house move away from her friends.

Of course, the Truth Pixie has no choice but to agree – truthfully- that the girl’s situation looks bleak. But wise in her truthfulness, she also knows that while hard times may be inevitable in life, they are also temporary and that brighter times will lie ahead.

Before long, the Truth Pixie’s words turn into an enormous encouragement and a friendship begins to blossom.

This is a sweet story – and one that is just as suitable all year round as it is for Christmas – that is full of warmth and humour in its plot, its lilting rhyme and perfectly pitched illustrations.

The Infinite

Patience Agbabi

Chapter book

FIGHT CRIME, ACROSS TIME!

Leaplings, children born on the 29th of February, are very rare. Rarer still are Leaplings with The Gift – the ability to leap through time. Elle Bibi-Imbele Ifie has The Gift, but she’s never used it. Until now.

On her twelfth birthday, Elle and her best friend Big Ben travel to the Time Squad Centre in 2048. Elle has received a mysterious warning from the future. Other Leaplings are disappearing in time – and not everyone at the centre can be trusted.

Soon Elle’s adventure becomes more than a race through time. It’s a race against time. She must fight to save the world as she knows it – before it ceases to exist…

I Go Quiet

David Ouimet

Chapter book

I Go Quiet is the exquisite story of an introverted girl, struggling to find her place in a noisy world. Through the power of books, creativity and imagination, she begins to see possibilities for herself beyond the present, to a future where her voice will finally be heard.

A Boy Called Christmas

Chris Mould & Matt Haig

Chapter book

This hilarious novel is a festive favourite with KS2. A Boy Called Christmas tells the story of Nikolas, whose father is a woodcutter who has disappeared on a dangerous expedition to find Santa’s elves. Nikolas sets out to the Far North to rescue his father, encountering danger, new friends and a good deal of Christmas magic along the way. Eventually Nikolas he finds that he has his very own part to play in bringing festive joy to many others.

You may also like the other stories in the series: The Girl Who Saved Christmas and Father Christmas and Me.