Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Bad Panda

Chapter book

Are you sick of being utterly adorable? Tired of being cuddled and hugged? Fed up of having your head confused for your bottom because you just so happen to be SOOOOPER-DOOOOOPER fluffy?

Lin: If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you’re in the right book.

Everyone thinks that Lin is the cutest panda in the world. So much so that they ship her off to the local zoo, away from her beloved brother, to be ogled at by the masses. But Lin HATES being cute, and now she will do everything in her power to prove that she’s the baddest, meanest, most un-cute animal in the zoo.

Laugh-yourself-out-of-bed hilarious, the first in a new series from the creators of DAVE PIGEON.

Veg Patch Party

Al Murphy & Clare Foges

Picturebook

Glastonbury with veg! From the bestselling picture book team behind Kitchen Disco.

The vegetables start waking up They stretch and rise and shine – They set up lots of stages, Cos it’s VEGGIE PARTY time!

Mud, rain, vegetables. A winning combination!

Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat!

Ella Okstad & Pip Jones

From the funniest voice in young fiction today, the first in an irresistible series for young readers about imaginary friends in hilarious rhyming text and with adorable illustrations by Ella Okstad.

‘Can you see him? My kitten? Close your eyes tight His fur is so soft and all silvery white Imagine him quick! Have you imagined enough? Oh, good, you can see him! It’s Squishy McFluff!’

When Ava discovers an imaginary cat in the cabbage patch, she knows she’s found a new best friend. Together, Ava and Squishy McFluff get up to all kinds of mischief . . .

Told in full colour throughout, this is the perfect stepping stone from picture books to older fiction. Bright new talent Pip Jones gives a hilarious, quirky twist to everyday experiences for readers aged 5+.

Kitchen Disco

Al Murphy & Clare Foges

Picturebook

At night when you are sleeping There’s a party in your house, It’s a pumping, jumping, funky bash When all the lights go out . . .

When the sun goes down, the Kitchen Disco starts up – and all the fruit in the fruit bowl come out to play. There are lemons who break-dance, tangerines who twirl and some very over-excited apples.

Kitchen Disco is a zany and hilarious rhyming picture book for young children, featuring a stunning holographic foil spread in the middle of the book.

Snow

Carolina Rabei & Walter de la Mare

Picturebook

If you are looking for a means of introducing classic poetry to your class, this book would be an excellent choice. The classic poem ‘Snow’ by Walter de la Mare is presented as an accessible picture book with stunning illustrations. The poem describes a stark wintry landscape broken into by the tune of a robin. What we love about this edition is how the illustrations of the houses behind the frosty snow scene pick up on small details of the poem and expand them to bring to life extra layers of meaning. This text would make a wonderful stimulus for Christmas writing projects across both key stages.

The Story of the World Cup

Brian Glanville

Non-fiction

Updated every four years, this is the best history of the tournament in the English language. For older or very confident readers.

The Iron Man

Chris Mould & Ted Hughes

Chapter book

A smashing classic read for Lower Key Stage 2. As you’d expect from a former Poet Laureate, this story about a mysterious metal giant who befriends a farm boy is gorgeously written and hauntingly strange.

The origins of the Iron Man are never fully explained – he just arrives one night, starts feasting on farm equipment, and after some initial misgivings is accepted into the local community.

The book was seen a few different editions and we recommend this version, superbly colour-illustrated in metallic hues by Chris Mould. It has also been turned into a really lovely animated film.

Atticus Claw Breaks the Law

Jennifer Gray and Mark Ecob

Chapter book

This is an award-winning book that has proved to be a big hit with lower KS2. When Atticus, the world’s greatest cat burglar, receives an intriguing message inviting him to a meeting, he packs his bags and sets off. The writer of the mysterious message turns out to be Jimmy the Magpie, infamous leader of a criminal gang. Jimmy challenges Atticus to steal every jewel in town, a criminal act that will leave the humans completely baffled. But when Atticus moves in with a police inspector’s family, he starts to wonder whether a life of crime is really for him. Exciting, fast-paced and full of humour, Atticus Claw Breaks the Law is a great story to read aloud at story time.

The Building Boy

David Litchfield & Ross Montgomery

Picturebook

The boy loves his grandmother – a retired prize-winning architect – very dearly. He especially loves to snuggle up and look at photographs of her famous projects and listen to her promises to build him an extraordinary house. When his grandmother passes away, the boy is heartbroken. He looks in her garden at the building materials and sets about to build a new, enormous metal grandmother, who joyfully seizes his hand and takes him on an amazing journey to reach a beautiful house, where he finds the perfect space for grandmother at its heart. A gentle story about loss and ways to celebrate the legacy of those who pass away.

What Happened to You?

James Catchpole & Karen George

Picturebook

What Happened to You? is a pioneering picturebook addressing how a child might want to be spoken to about a visable disability. The author, James Catchpole, like the main character Joe, has one leg, and uses the story to help readers to understand what it might feel like to be seen as different. The spotlight is given to the main character Joe, who gently explains his viewpoint about always being asked to answer questions about his disability when he encounters other children, when what he really wants to do is just join in and play without interrogation. The story tackles a difficult topic in a manner that is both funny and moving, and this is wonderfully supported by the illustrations by Karen George.
The story is steeped in realism about how children can potentially react to disabilities. What is clever about the story is how the same scene is viewed in two different ways and how this makes Joe feel. Humour is used to balance the story well, and helps children not to feel accused or guilty if their natural inclinations towards curiosity may lead them to ask the same questions as Joe’s playmates, but rather to develop empathy and warmly understand another’s experience…