Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Race to Imagination Island

Chapter book

This is an adrenaline-filled rollercoaster ride of a story!

The story begins with a bang and the race is on to find sixteen ‘lightstreams’ hidden across the globe. When the lightstreams have been discovered, the finders transported to Imagination Island. There, we encounter larger-than-life characters with traits, strengths and weaknesses, who work with, and sometimes against, each other to save the island for generations to come.

The storyline is fast and furious with a hectic romp through puzzles and adventures. The family characters are well construed and Mel Taylor-Bessant paints a clear picture of shy Luca and each of his siblings. The appeal will sit well with years 3 and 4 while the language and some of the content are informal and strong in places, and the pace rarely lets up, perhaps leaning towards older readers too.

Deborah Meaden Talks Money

Deborah Meaden

Non-fiction

In a world where financial literacy is more important than ever, “Deborah Meaden Talks Money” stands out as a vital tool to equip children with essential life skills. As a Dragons’ Den investor and successful entrepreneur, Meaden brings a wealth of experience to the topic, making finance accessible and genuinely exciting.Meaden’s approach demystifies finance, breaking down barriers of fear and confusion. She covers essential topics such as earning, saving, setting goals, and even starting a business, providing young people with the knowledge and confidence they need to manage their finances effectively.One of this book’s standout features is its engaging format.

Meaden employs a conversational style, enriched with podcast-style interviews featuring ordinary young people and prominent figures like Steven Bartlett, Joe Lycett, Gary Neville, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. These interviews provide real-world insights into financial success and the inevitable mistakes, making the content relatable and authentic. Plus, including personal stories and practical advice from Meaden adds depth and perspective, showing the tangible benefits of mastering money management.The clear and concise explanations are brilliant for kids and adults alike! It helped me understand some of the trickier aspects of finance that I’d heard of but didn’t understand. I was never taught such things at school, and this book makes it easy to convey these crucial lessons to students.

Along with the wealth of Q&As, quizzes, tips, and challenges designed to foster great money habits in young readers, these interactive elements make integrating financial literacy into the classroom easy. They turn complex concepts into fun and manageable tasks, making the book a brilliant tool for bringing financial discussions into lessons. Overall, this book offers a comprehensive, engaging, and practical guide to finance that every young person can benefit from. It is also a must-have for any educational professional aiming to empower their students with the skills and confidence needed to navigate the financial world.

The Super Sunny Murder Club

Various Authors

Chapter book

This is a great book for fans of crime, mystery and adventure. Each of the 13 stories in the collection stands alone and is the perfect length to allow readers to dip in and out of the book over the course of the summer holidays. The stories are easy to read and entertaining and would be great for engaging reluctant readers. They would also be good for reading aloud to less confident readers.

Across the stories, there is a diverse range of characters and settings. The settings are all typical of summer holidays from holiday parks, day camps, theme parks and weddings, which helps to make the book relatable for young readers. While following a general theme, the stories are all different enough to keep readers entertained if they want to read one story after another rather than dip in and out.

The book creates a wonderful opportunity to introduce children to different authors and literary styles, and what a great collection of acclaimed authors have contributed! This is a real treat of an anthology!

Secret of the Stones

Martin Remphry & Tony Bradman

Chapter book, Dyslexia-friendly

Weaving together fact and fiction, this short adventure, written by Tony Bradman, is set in 2,300 BC and the advent of the Bronze Age.

The tale opens at Stonehenge where Maglos and his high priest father are preparing for the important mid-summer sacrifice. Suddenly Maglos’ uncle murders his father on the sacred altar and makes Maglos his slave. He is rescued when two strangers arrive from a far distant land and he travels with them learning the secrets of smelting copper and then bronze. He eventually returns to Stonehenge to avenge his father’s murder.

The story reflects on the value of friendship and companionship and also demonstrates the skill, resilience and humanity of our ancestors so long ago. As with all Barrington Stoke books, the text is a well-sized font on coloured paper to support readers who have dyslexia, and the text will appeal to older readers without being condescending. The black and white illustrations by Martin Remphry add atmosphere throughout.

The Royal Rebel

Bali Rai & Rachael Dean

Chapter book, Dyslexia-friendly, Non-fiction

Rebel, Princess, Suffragette: this is the incredible true story of the life of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a forgotten heroine of the early twentieth century.

Born in 1876, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was the daughter of the last Sikh ruler of the Punjab, and goddaughter of Queen Victoria. After her father lost control of his empire and was exiled to England, Sophia had a privileged but troubled upbringing that left her unsure about where she belonged – in India or England. Sensitive to injustice, she became an suffragette and fought hard to win the vote for women. This is the extraordinary story of her life.

Fitter, Healthier, Happier!

Joe Wicks & Kate Sutton

Non-fiction

Learn all about your body and mind in this dynamic new fact-filled children’s book from #1 bestselling author and global fitness phenomenon Joe Wicks!

From Joe Wicks – fitness phenomenon and tireless advocate for the power of strong physical and mental health – comes a breakthrough book to get young readers moving and feeling good. Inspiring and motivating, and fully illustrated throughout, Fitter, Healthier, Happier! is an accessible look at the key ingredients to a healthy, happy body: exercise, nutrition, sleep and a healthy mind.

With four information-packed chapters, Joe talks readers through everything they need to know about having a healthy body:

KNOW YOUR BODY: Why do we need a healthy body? Find out what happens to our heart and lungs when we exercise, and how do our skeleton and muscles help us to run, jump and dance.

FUEL YOUR BODY: Join Joe on a tasty tour of everything from carbs to minerals – find out about eating well, nutrition and fuelling your body to ensure you always have plenty of energy.

MOVE YOUR BODY: With handy tips and exercises, grow skills such as flexibility, balance and speed, and get an insight into why these are so important to our physical and mental health. Did you know that exercising every day can boost your brain power?

FOCUS YOUR BODY: A healthy body and a healthy mind go hand in hand! Joe will help you with top-level tips about finding a sport or exercise you love, getting a good night’s sleep, reducing your stress and worry, and finding a calmer mindset.

Written in Joe’s energetic, relatable and motivating voice – which powered so many families through lockdown – this is an informative and fun journey through your body and mind, with plenty of inspiring ideas and activities, and brought to life with amazing black-and-white illustrations by Kate Sutton.

Moon’s Ramadan

Natasha Khan Kazi

Picturebook

Journey across the globe with the Moon during the holy month of Ramadan, and discover how Muslims and non-Muslims alike can celebrate the Islamic month, ending with Eid!

This joyful and welcoming picture book captures the meaning of Ramadan, one of the world’s most important celebrations, and explains the cultural differences across different countries by sharing the various practices – from the call to prayer, to sharing home-cooked food, and the art of henna.

With lyrical prose, beautiful illustrations, and a helpful fact page and glossary, this is the perfect gift book or introduction to Ramadan and Eid for all children.

Ramadan Kareem

Hatem Aly & M. O. Yuksel

Picturebook

This beautifully illustrated picture book shows how Muslims celebrate the holy month of Ramadan around the globe. The illustrator, Hatem Aly uses bright colours to create eye-catching pictures depicting busy scenes of family and community life. We learn how Muslims around the world observe fasting, told through children’s viewpoints. Many Muslim children will relate to wanting to fast for the very first time, the excitement of joining in with everyone and also the anticipation of the difficulties they may encounter throughout the fast. It’s interesting to see how Muslims in different parts of the world like South Korea or the Middle East celebrate Ramadan.

Readers will have fun searching for the flags on the pages and guessing/learning the country’s name associated with it. The author, M.O. Yuksel introduces us to different customs practised, traditional and newer ones. We learn about the variety of foods eaten at Suhoor and Iftar (meals eaten before sunrise and after sunset), and about the good deeds and prayers performed throughout the month. And finally we observe what happens when Ramadan finishes and Eid is celebrated.

A charming and useful book to introduce children and initiate conversations about Ramadan.

What it was like to be an Ancient Maya

David Long & Stefano Tambellini

Dyslexia-friendly, Non-fiction

An interesting and accessible guide to daily life for the Ancient Maya.

This is a short chapter book, at just under 90 pages, but it is packed with knowledge, presented in an accessible way. It has 9 sections, covering who the Maya were, daily life, inventions and discoveries they made, as well as theories about what happened to them. Throughout the sections, illustrations and helpful diagrams are also included.

This is such a useful book, great for teachers to use to support them with lesson planning, but also great for children to access if they want to learn more about a particular area of Ancient Maya.

Pick a Story: A Pirate Alien Jungle Adventure

Adam Walker-Parker & Sarah Coyle

Picturebook

Do you love pirates? How about aliens? And jungle animals? Find them ALL in the pages of this laugh-out-loud ‘pick your own’ picture book adventure!

Vincent’s dog, Trouble, has DISAPPEARED and he needs YOUR help. Has Trouble been stolen by aliens? Or pilfered by pirates? Is she exploring the jungle? It’s up to YOU to decide!

Pick a Story is the ONLY series where young readers choose between three completely different worlds – firing their imaginations and promoting agency.

Choice and value! Readers choose the direction of the adventure on every page. With endless story paths to be taken, the adventure is always different.

Packed with activities! Each page includes an activity, such as search-and-find, odd-one-out, mazes and more, woven seamlessly into the narrative – perfect for immersing and engaging young readers.

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