Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books

Adnan is the heartwarming story of a refugee boy’s attempts to heal his mother’s mental health issues with the power of his creativity as they rebuild their lives in their new home.

Sometimes, when something sad happens, people can push it so far down because it hurts too much.
That’s why Mummy doesn’t remember.

This touching and sensitively told children’s book is a story about a boy and his mother, about trauma and recovery, and how to deal with the challenges of mental health.

It tells the story of an imaginative ten-year-old Syrian refugee boy who flees his home country with his mother. Now settled in the UK, he must use all his creativity to break through his mother’s PTSD or risk losing her forever.

The book is based on a short film of the same name, which has collected multiple awards and made Official Selection at its first Oscar qualifying festival.

Inspired by her own experiences as a refugee, Syrian artist Diala Brisly’s illustrations are powerful and evocative, highlighting the contrast between Adnan’s hope and the helplessness of the mother.

The charity Choose Love will receive 2% of the book’s recommended retail price on every copy sold. Choose Love (formerly Help Refugees) goes where the need is greatest. They fill the gaps and act where others won’t. Sometimes that means search and rescue boats. Sometimes it means providing food or safe, secure long-term housing for refugees. Since 2015, they’ve supported over 120 incredible projects and reached over one million people.

By the author of Once Upon a Unicorn Horn, shortlisted for the 2020 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.

The second title in a new series about how magical creatures came to have their gifts. Do you know how dragons got their fire? It all began once upon a magic kingdom, when a fearsome, terrifying dragon stalked the land. He was so mean he ate kittens for breakfast, he was so scary he made children scream, and he was so evil that he blew huge storms out of his jaws, which is why it was always so cold.

Or so the stories said. When two children called Freya and Sylas met the dragon, they found something very different indeed…

In this international bestseller from the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Frida Kahlo, the world-renowned painter.

When Frida was a teenager, a terrible road accident changed her life forever. Unable to walk, she began painting from her bed. Her self-portraits, which show her pain and grief, but also her passion for life and instinct for survival, have made her one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century. This moving book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back , including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the artist’s life.

This is a collection of poetry from the performance poet Benjamin Zephaniah. The poems celebrate the diversity of British society by portraying different British children in their home environments. The children featured in We Are Britain! are from a range of backgrounds and cultures and it shows that despite their differences, the children have many similar preoccupations whatever their cultural background.

This longer picturebook has become a classic that has earned its place in many primary school classroom book corners.

It tells the story of young Gregory as he sets about on his first day in Tobago with his grandparents. At first he can find nothing familiar or desirable, but as he begins to adjust to life in the Caribbean, he soon finds that it is possible to feel right at home in a new culture.

This is an important addition to your school poetry collections, presenting poems from different celebrations across the globe. Topics include Holi, Chinese New Year, Diwali, Thanksgiving and many more and there is a section at the back of the book with explanations of each festival. We also recommend the poetry anthology My Village, containing rhymes from around the world.

We know that certain animals are large or small, but how big exactly? Each page shows the actual size of an animal. Some easily fit on the page, others only manage an eye or a hand. A much-enjoyed book that leaves children in awe at the actual size of some animals, as it’s not often that we come face to face with the biggest beasts on earth! A high-interest link to topics of measurement or ratio.

All the Wild Wonders, an imaginative selection made by Wendy Cooling, includes poems from a rich diversity of writers around the world, including China, Turkey and the Caribbean as well as traditional writers such as Blake, Milton and Tennyson. The title of the anthology is borrowed from a poem by Elizabeth Honey from Australia which uses lists and repetitions to conjure up the wonders of nature and the ‘much work to do’ to save them. There’s also an alphabet for the planet by Lebanese/English poet, Riad Nourallah. Other works are more philosophical like We’re Going to See the Rabbit by Alan Brownjohn or For Forest by Grace Nichols and can be used to spark debate and discussion. Yet others, like Snaggers Pond by Wes Magee, are more of a call to direct action: his description of the successful rejuvenation of a local pond is both hopeful and would fit in well with any community activity like a litter pick. It really is a treasure trove which can help broaden children’s horizons, develop their language and encourage critical thinking all at once.

A topical story about a boy called Hassan who has fled to England from Mogadishu in Somalia. He feels that his new home is cold and grey, but colour and hope soon begin to return to his life as he settles in. This is a good text to use to encourage compassion for children who have been forced to travel away from their homes in difficult circumstances.

This highly illustrated picture books introduces readers to the life and legacy of Charles Darwin. Through diary-like text sections, cartoons and captions, the story offers insight into Darwin’s life and how his understanding of evolution developed through real life experiences with nature. Also available from the same author-illustrator team are The Wordsworths and The Brontes.

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