Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Starfell

Chapter book

The first book in a spellbinding children’s fantasy series, with beautiful black-and-white inside illustrations by Sarah Warburton.

Willow Moss, the youngest and least powerful sister in a family of witches, has a magical ability for finding lost things – like keys, or socks, or spectacles. Useful, but not exactly exciting …

Then the most powerful witch in the world of Starfell turns up at Willow’s door and asks for her help. A whole day – last Tuesday to be precise – has gone missing. Completely. And without it the whole universe could unravel.

Now Willow holds the fate of Starfell in her rather unremarkable hands… Can she save the day – by finding the lost one?

Step into Starfell, a world crackling with warmth, wit and magic, perfect for readers aged 8-12.

Real Pigeons Fight Crime

Andrew McDonald & Ben Wood

Chapter book

The bestselling and highly illustrated children’s books series, soon to be hitting screens everywhere as an animated film and TV show with Nickelodeon and produced by James Corden.

Ever wonder why pigeons always act so weird? It’s because they’re out there chasing the bad guys and saving your butts!

Did you know your city is protected by a secret squad of crime-fighting pigeons? It’s true! With master of disguise Rock Pigeon , bendy Tumbler , strong Frillback and super-finder Homey , the REAL PIGEONS will solve any mystery and fight any bad guy to keep the city safe!

In their first adventure, Rock and his mystery-solving friends will tackle their first caseload: Why have all the breadcrumbs disappeared? Who on earth is kidnapping bats? And can the pigeons avert a dinner disaster??

Perfect for readers aged 6+ and fans of Pamela Butchart, Dog Man, the Naughtiest Unicorn and Hotel Flamingo.

Sam Wu is Not Afraid of Sharks

Katie Tsang and Kevin Tsang & Nathan Reed

Chapter book

Filled with warmth and humour, Sam’s chatty narrative is really the star of these books and is what makes the stories so relatable. This book will strike a chord with anyone who knows what it feels like to be more frightened then they want to admit (which, let’s face it, is most people). Coupled with Nathan Reed’s appealing cartoon-style illustrations that are perfectly placed to bring a visual element to the book’s humorous tone, this is a brilliantly fun book that would make a wonderful addition to Year 3 & 4 classrooms. I also really like the way in which Sam’s Chinese heritage is represented positively in this series without necessarily being central to the plot.

The Princess Rules

Chris Chatterton & Philippa Gregory

Chapter book

Princess Florizella may live in a classic fairy-tale world, but she’s no ordinary princess…

In Philippa Gregory’s The Princess Rules, rebellious Prince Florizella broke all the rules and embarked on some daring adventures across the Land of the Seven Kingdoms.

With beautiful illustrations from Chris Chatterton, the Princess Rules series make a perfect gift for little princes and princesses who don’t want to obey conventional rules.

You Are 25% Banana

Josy Bloggs & Susie Brooks

Picturebook

A brilliantly funny first guide to genetics that is perfect for children aged 5 years and over.

This stunningly illustrated book will boggle your brain with astonishing facts, as it shows how we’re all related to every living thing on the planet. Did you know that a grain of rice has more genes than you? Or that you’re related to dogs, dung beetles and even daffodils? Luckily, even though you’re 99.9% like a chimpanzee, you’re still 100% YOU!

The extraordinary world of genetics has never been explained so simply. You’ll be amazed at what makes you YOU.

Flat Stanley

Jeff Brown & Rob Biddulph

Chapter book

We recommend this classic children’s books series about a boy who becomes flattened by an incident with a pinboard.

Learning to navigate life with his new flat-as-a-pancake body, Stanley finds himself enjoying the novelty of sliding under doors, being posted in the mailbox and flying in the sky as his brother’s kite. Soon, being flat presents challenges too, and the usually positive and optimistic Stanley begins to long to return back to his old self.

These short chapter books go down a treat with children aged 5-7.

Harry the Poisonous Centipede

Lynne Reid Banks & Tony Ross

This is a deliciously fun story that minibeast fans will love!

This classic chapter book follows the story of Harry, who is a poisonous centipede, and his best friend George. It’s not easy being small and navigating a world where everything bigger feels confusing and scary, especially flying swoopers, furry biters and the most dreaded creatures of all – Hoo-Mins!

Children love the centipede’s-eye-view world of the story, told with brilliant humour and a dash of empathy. A great chapter book choice for Year 1 and Year 2 children.

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea!

Ben Clanton

Graphic novel

A laugh-out-loud short graphic novel, bound to get even the least enthusiastic readers engaged.

The three short comic-style stories would be great for introducing a graphic novel to reading sessions for those children moving on from phonics; exploring the characters, the humour and how the illustrations support the storytelling and help the reader make inferences about the characters. It is jam-packed with possibilities for the classroom. There are Narwhal and Jellyfish facts that could lead to information writing and the final text is a reflection on imagination and storytelling the blank pages would be a brilliant prompt for children to unleash their own creativity and design their own comic strip style stories.

A reading-for-pleasure ‘must have’ for the KS1 classroom! I highly recommend it!

Paddington

Michael Bond & R. W. Alley

Picturebook

The Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond are classic stories for children and have been enjoyed for years. Paddington is a real bear, all the way from darkest Peru, and his well-meaning misadventures in England are funny.

Paddington moves in with the Brown Family in London and has a series of accidental adventures with his new clan. The stories have a timeless appeal and there is something charming about all the mishaps that Paddington finds himself in.

Paddington is a loveable and memorable iconic children’s character and the stories are really well told, with warmth and gentle humour that is perfect for children aged 5-8.

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark

Jill Tomlinson & Paul Howard

Chapter book

This beautiful story about a little barn owl who struggles to fight his fear of the dark is a true classic story book for children.

Plop the barn owl is afraid of the dark. To help him overcome his fear, Mummy Owl sends Plop on a mission to seek out the opinions of others about the dark. He finds out from children, adults and a cat that they all have things they love about the dark. In the end, Plop decides he can embrace the night time darkness like a true nocturnal creature.

This is a joyful short chapter book, tenderly told by Jill Tomlinson, whose animal stories are highly recommended for Key Stage 1.

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