Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Publisher: Oneworld Publications

Birdlands

Chapter book

From Carnegie-winning author Anthony McGowan comes another thrilling and heartbreaking animal adventure

An unlikely flock. The adventure of a lifetime.

Life can be tough when you’re a bird, especially for Beaky, Herman and Pidge. With the young jackdaw’s twisted beak, the crow’s broken wing and the pigeon’s fear of flying, survival seems impossible. Until, that is, they band together.

The trio set out into the wild, leaving the city far behind. But danger lurks at every turn… Will the three birds ever find a place they can call home?

The Haunting of Old Splinter

Jack Mackay

Chapter book

Be careful what you wish for…

Peter and his half-brother Adrian live in the shadow of Old Splinter â the ruined mansion on the hill, where legends of ancient relics and dark magic swirl. And the cracks are starting to show in their once-happy family. Faced with the daunting task of renovating the place, Peterâs stepdad is at his witsâ end and the boys feel powerless to help.

Then Peter unearths a horrifying secret in the walls of the mansion and the brothers realise thereâs some truth to the terrifying tales. If the Wishing Claw is real, it can grant their deepest desires â and it might just bring their family back together.

But wishes are tricky things and Peter unleashes much more than he bargained for. When a monstrous hunger comes knocking at his door, he must find a way to undo his wish before itâs too late.

Under the London Sky

Anna Woltz

Chapter book

A Telegraph best new children’s book

A Daily Mail book of the year

London, September 1940. Deep in the Underground, taking shelter from the bombs, four teenagers meet.

Without the Blitz, they never would have met.

Fourteen-year-old Ella walks with a limp. Some days, she feels like a laughing stock. Other days, like no one sees her at all. Quinn is fifteen, fancy and fearless. She’s run away from home with a bag of family jewels and big ideas about changing the world. Jack is sixteen and doesn’t care about anything anymore – he’s already lost it all. And then there’s Sebastian, Quinn’s older brother. He used to be her hero. Until he became a traitor

A coming-of-age historical novel for teens from internationally bestselling children’s author, Anna Woltz.

The Ocean and the Bones

Genevieve Carver

Chapter book

Friendship is tough in the Stone Age, especially when your best friend is part-Water Spirit…

A storm is coming…

Ever since Little Meg became Sunhealer’s Shadow, she’s been learning to understand the ways of the Spirits. So when a storm sweeps through her village, she knows they are angry. Worse still, they are angry with her for keeping back the bones she was meant to offer up to them. The bones of her dead parents.

As the rain clears, Meg discovers a girl washed up on the seashore. She speaks in a strange language and scratches pictures of distant lands in the sand. Despite the suspicious mutterings of the villagers, the pair forge an unlikely friendship. But if Meg wants to appease the Spirits and save her people, she must return the girl to her home.

Their journey will take them across the wild sea, to a place that exists only in legends. But will Meg survive to tell the tale?

And the River Drags Her Down

Jihyun Yun

Chapter book

And the River Drags Her Down is a haunting, lyrical tale of grief, sisterhood and revenge that blends Gothic horror, mystery and Korean folklore, perfect for fans of She Is a Haunting, House of Hollow and CG Drews.

Soojin has always known the rules – never bring back anything larger than her palm from the dead, but that was before Mirae died.

Sister, I hear you. I feel your hands in the dirt, beckoning. I will answer your call – I’ll return.

When her older sister is found drowned in the river that cuts through their small, sleepy town, Soojin is beside herself with grief. Disregarding every rule, she uses her ancestral magic to bring Mirae back from the dead. At first, the sisters delight in their reunion, but Mirae soon grows tired of hiding from the world. She becomes restless and hungry…

As the town is rocked by a series of harrowing, unusual deaths, Soojin fears the sister she brought back to life isn’t the one she knew.

The History of We

Nikkolas Smith

Picturebook

What did “the beginning” look like?
Let us travel back to the start,
so far back that all of our roots
begin to tell the same story.
The history of WE.

Fossil records show that the first humans were born in Africa. Meaning, every person on Earth can trace their heritage back to that continent. Through stunning paintings and prose by award-winning artivist Nikkolas Smith, The History of We is a celebration of our shared ancestry and creative heritage.

A Girl’s Guide to Spying

Holly Webb

Chapter book

A new series from Holly Webb, A Girl’s Guide to Spying, introduces sisters Phyllis and Annie who join the Guides and soon find themselves wrapped up in a First World War mystery involving secret messages, spies, war secrets and Watergate House – headquarters of MI5.

The Girl’s Guide to Spying focuses a lot on girls being brave and capable. Phyl and Annie show that girls can be trusted, can think for themselves, and can help others, including during hard times like war. This is a great message for young readers, especially girls, and ties well into the book’s interest in the history of Girlguiding, while also touching on Suffragettes, gender stereotypes and the role of women on the home front.

One of the strongest parts of the book is the relationship between the sisters. It shows how important it is to work together, look out for each other, and stay loyal. Children reading this can relate to having siblings or friends and learning how to support one another. The Girl Guide skills in the story also show that learning practical skills, solving problems and working as a team really matter. The book also introduces life during the First World War without being too scary or confusing. It helps children see how normal people were affected and how everyone tried to do their part.

Overall, this book is good for children because it builds confidence and shows that even young people can make a difference. It encourages kindness, courage, and believing in yourself.

Dancers of the Dawn

Zulekha A. Afzal

Chapter book

Under the blazing sun, an elite troupe of dancers are trained to harness their magic. They are the queen’s most formidable assassins. Aasira has one of the rarest talents – for she is a flame-wielder. Feared by all and envied by some, she uses her power to execute enemies of the crown.

Aasira’s greatest wish is to serve her queen. But on the eve of her graduation, with tensions rising among the dancers and secrets stirring in the shifting sand dunes, she begins to question whether she was truly born to kill…

How to Win a Nobel Prize

Bernard Caleo & Prof. Barry Marshall

Chapter book

A time-travelling adventure with interactive experiments for budding young scientists, by Nobel Prize winning Barry Marshall

Mary has always wanted to win a Nobel Prize and loves running her own science experiments at home.

One day Mary stumbles on a secret meeting of Nobel Prize winners. Dr Barry Marshall agrees to travel with her through time to learn the secrets behind some of the most fascinating and important scientific discoveries. They talk time and space with Albert Einstein, radiation with Marie Curie, DNA with Crick, Watson and Wilkins – and much more.

A Long Walk to Water

Linda Sue Park

Chapter book

A gripping tale of conflict and survival that has inspired millions of young readers and adults alike, with three million copies sold worldwide

Eleven-year-old Salva is forced to flee on foot when his village comes under attack. Braving every imaginable hardship – including killer lions and hungry crocodiles – he is one of the ‘lost boys’ travelling the African continent on foot in search of his family and a safe place to stay.

Nya goes to the pond two times a day to fetch water. It takes her eight hours. But there is unexpected hope, as these two stories set in Sudan – one unfolding in 2008 and one in 1985 – go on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.