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Publisher: Hodder Children's Books

lily tripp diary of an accidental time traveller

Lily Tripp: Diary of an Accidental Time Traveller

Chapter book

Meet accidental time traveller Lily Tripp as she bounces throughout history navigating friendship dramas, first love and family. It’s LOTTIE BROOKS meets BACK TO THE FUTURE!​

Every New Year’s Day, Lily Tripp time travels and wakes up in a new century. She’s lived in Roman times and the Victorian era and never knows where she’ll end up next. Thank goodness her bestie, family and secret crush all time travel with her too . . . even if they don’t know it.​

But how will she live in a time before chicken nuggets were invented? Why are her brother’s clothes so ridiculous in every era? And how on earth can she cope with being mean girl Georgia’s servant?!

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a taste of home

A Taste of Home

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Picturebook

Empower little ones to be proud of where they come from with this beautifully illustrated celebration of food, family, and the magic of memories…

Tariq loves food, from delicious dinners with his big family to scrumptious surprises in his lunchbox at school.

But when he’s asked to bring in a special dish for his class picnic, Tariq begins to worry about how he’ll choose just one tasty favourite!

As his family inspire him with stories of their favourite foods, Tariq soon realises that choosing the perfect dish is about more than just how it tastes.

What special story would Tariq like his food to tell?

From the creators of Until You Find the Sun, winner of Best Picture Book at the Diverse Book Awards 2025. Written by Maryam Hassan, inspired by her childhood enjoying delicious South Asian dishes, and the joy she finds sharing it with new friends! Brought to life with stunning artwork by Anna Wilson.

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mandy is still a banana

Mandy is Still a Banana

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Picturebook

Mandy is tired of being a boring yellow banana. She thinks she wants to be a pineapple, but they’re too prickly. Next, she wants to be a watermelon, but they’re not very stable. No matter what, Mandy is still a banana. Then she meets a tiny blueberry who shows her that being a banana is well and truly an exciting, wonderful thing to be.

This is such a charming story about being happy with yourself. Mandy is just like all of us, I think. I’m sure that everybody has a time when they feel like Mandy. The story is a great way to show children that everyone is special in their own way. The illustrations are bright, colourful and very cute.

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where did she go

Where Did She Go?

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Picturebook

The perfect book for opening up honest conversations with young children about grief and death, whether they have lost a loved one, or are simply curious and at the age of asking questions.

When a little girl hears people saying how sorry they are that she’s lost her very special grandma, she only has one question . . . where did she go?

Grandma’s not under the sofa, behind the flower patch, or even at their favourite spot in the park, so where is she?

Perhaps Mum can help her daughter to understand what has happened and find comfort in the memories left behind.

Written with gentle humour and a lightness of touch by comedian and creator of Griefcast, Cariad Lloyd, and illustrated by Tom Percival, creator of the bestselling Big Bright Feelings series.

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the lions run

The Lions’ Run

Chapter book
resources-availablebook-of-the-month

A powerful WW2 animal rescue adventure from the author of the well-loved story book Pax.

This book explores what it is to be brave, what it means to have a family, and uncovers a part of the horrific Nazi practices – the Lebensborn – that is little known about or explored, particularly in children’s literature.

Lucas is a character full of quiet courage and resilience who has a strong sense of justice. This leads him from rescuing kittens from drowning to joining the resistance, passing messages within his occupied town in France. After witnessing Gestapo dragging Jewish children from a house they were sheltering in and other atrocities, he takes matters into his own hands and both Lucas and his friend Alice must attempt the most daring escape of all to rescue more than themselves from the Nazi occupiers.

Sensitive topics are discussed in relation to WW2 and this is suitable for mature KS2 or KS3 pupils. With poignant and moving storytelling, this is a narrative that will stay with the reader long after they finish.

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lydia marmalade and the christmas wish

Lydia Marmalade and the Christmas Wish

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Chapter book

When Lydia Marmalade makes a wish on the most magical night of the year, little does she know the chaos she’s about to unleash. Could one simple wish start a . . . wish-tastrophe?

‘Christmas magic – a book only Cariad could write with such beauty and relatability!’ Giovanna Fletcher

One winter evening, Lydia Marmalade arrives at Lady Partridge’s mansion. She has nothing to her name except her sausage dog, Colin, but she’s determined to make this her new home.

Lady Partridge isn’t at all keen to make Lydia part of the family. If Lydia doesn’t behave herself until the end of the winter season, she’ll cast her off entirely. And now her mother’s gone, Lydia doesn’t have anywhere else to live.

Helped (and often hindered) by a mischievous winter sprite, a grumpy butler and a hungry Colin, Lydia makes a wish on the most magical night of the year. Sometimes you just need magic to light the way forward . . .

The hilarious new Christmas story to read with all the family, from comedian and writer Cariad Lloyd with gorgeous illustrations by Ma Pe. Perfect for fans of A Boy Called Christmas and The Christmasaurus.

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Knock Knock Superhero Book

Knock Knock Superhero

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Picturebook

This is a fun superhero-themed story book that helps to get younger children counting. When Pasta Man’s supply of Pasta Power runs out, he needs all of the help he can get to outsmart the spicy supervillainess Madame Chilli.

We love Caryl Hart’s tongue-twisting rhymes and Nick East’s lively illustrations, capturing the cast of imaginative superhero characters in this unique counting book.

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Kipper’s Toybox

Picturebook

Part of the popular Kipper series, this story is a big hit in EYFS and one with plenty of parts that children love to join in with. When Kipper finds that something has nibbled a hole in his toy box, he sets about to solve the mystery and find out what has been happening with his overcrowded toy collection.

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Worst Day Ever!

Chapter book
book-of-the-month

Mylan is from the planet Empathia, a place where everyone feels so much empathy that if one person is upset, the whole population dissolves into tears. To avoid this universal pain, the inhabitants of the planet ensure that no one is ever unhappy and Empathia has evolved into a utopian society. Upon discovering that the rest of the universe does not live in the same harmony and happiness, Mylan sets out to collect stories of the bad days of other species: aiming to cheer them up along the way. This is when he meets Chloe…

Chloe is an ordinary Earth-girl having an extraordinarily bad day. Unfortunately, when Mylan intercedes and tries to improve it by ordering her an ice cream from an intergalactic delivery company, he accidently orders the recycling of the Earth instead. Now it’s an apocalyptically bad day!

With a rapidly reducing amount of time, Mylan and Chloe set off across the galaxy to try to find technology advanced enough to stop the recycling and rescue the doomed planet from the belly of the recyclers’ ship. Things begin to look up when they meet the incredibly powerful Queen of the Universe. But, can they actually come up with a solution and make it back in time to stop the process?

This humorous and imaginative book features a host of alien characters and an action-packed plot that will keep children gripped. This laugh-out-loud space adventure will appeal to fans of Tom McLaughlin, Sam Copeland and Pamela Butchart.

Reviewer: Louise Buisson

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Memorial

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Picturebook

For something a little bit different from the usual WW1 stories, try this picture book that explores the topic of remembrance over time. Best suited to KS2, the story depicts a fig tree planted in 1918 as a war memorial in Australia. Generations later a local council threatens to cut down the tree when its roots cause problems with the developments in the town. The story leaves plenty of space to discuss what remembrance means and the importance of stories and conversations in keeping memories of the past alive.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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