Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK

Emmeline and the Plucky Pup

Chapter book

Meet the leader of the Suffragettes, Emmeline Pankhurst, and a particularly plucky pup, during a momentous time in history!

Alfie can’t believe his luck when he is allowed to keep a tiny puppy he finds abandoned on the street. Rascal is cute as a button and has lots of attitude, and Emmeline Pankhurst is thrilled that her ward Alfie has a new friend. Alfie and Rascal deliver messages between the Suffragettes as they organise their ‘Votes for Women’ campaign. But it’s sometimes dangerous work, and it’s not long before Alfie and Rascal find out the true cost of the fight.

Full of adventure, fascinating history and lovely animals, this is the perfect read for young fans of Dick King-Smith and Michael Morpurgo.

Revolting Rhymes

Quentin Blake & Roald Dahl

Short story collection

I bet you think you know this story.
You don’t. The real one’s much more gory.

From Jack in the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears to Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, wicked beasts, brazen crooks and a ghastly giant star in these hilarious nursery rhymes with BITE!

The text in this edition of Revolting Rhymes was updated in 2022 for young independent readers.

Mr Big

Ed Vere

Picturebook

Mr Big is strong, Mr Big is tough, Mr Big is . . . well . . . BIG!

He has just one small problem – because of the way he looks he just can’t get people to stick around.

How can he show them that although he may look a little scary, he is just a great big softy inside?

With his trademark bold colour and masterful graphic simplicity, Ed Vere sensitively and humorously tackles the universal and current subject of inclusion, reminding the reader that to get to know someone you need to look beyond their exterior.

Night Flight

Katie Cottle

Picturebook

From author-illustrator Katie Cottle comes a breath-taking journey about light pollution and saving the birds

When Ellie moves from her quiet village to a bustling city, she finds that the many different birds she loves to watch are missing. She stares out of her window, searches the skies on walks, but they are nowhere to be found. Then one night, she’s visited by a giant starling which asks for her help. The birds are lost because of the shimmering glow from the city’s bright lights.

Night Flight is a hopeful, inspiring story about the power of using your voice.

The Girl Who Wasn’t There

Jacqueline Wilson & Rachael Dean

Chapter book

A fabulous new read from Jacqueline Wilson.

One day, Luna and her younger sister Aurora are told by their dad that they are moving into a fairy-tale tower far away in the countryside. However, the excitement soon starts to ebb away as they realise that their new life is not the fairy-tale they expect. The tower needs major renovations so they have to live in a small caravan, Luna finds it hard to make friends at her new school and Aurora is starting school for the first time and struggles to settle until she makes friends with Tansy. Aurora has a brilliant imagination but soon her make-believe ways get her and her family in bother when an old story about the tower starts to entwine into the present.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always enjoyed reading Jacqueline Wilson’s stories and therefore I was really excited to read her latest masterpiece. This mild ghost story was easy to read and hard to put down. The characters were easy to get to know and as the story unravelled you were left wanting to know more about the tower and more about the mysterious Tansy.

The story concluded in a satisfying and spooky way, and is paired with a final illustration. There were a few illustrations dotted throughout the book, which added detail to the read and broke up the story nicely. The story would be suitable for Key Stage 2 and would be fantastic as a class reader to read for pleasure.

Tales of the Greek Heroes

Roger Lancelyn Green

Chapter book

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child.

Heracles hauling the triple-headed dog Cerberus from the underworld. Jason voyaging across oceans to seize the golden fleece. Odysseus and the Trojan wars. Tales of the Greek Heroes tells the mysterious and exciting legends of the gods and heroes in Ancient Greece.

Greek mythology has inspired stories for thousands of years, with tales of lost love and magic. Join our heroes in their journeys of resilience and revenge, guilt and love, and trials and betrayal.

This edition includes a special introduction by Rick Riordan, creator of the highly successful Percy Jackson series, inspired by the great Greek myths.

The Extraordinary Life of Alan Turing

Freda Chiu & Michael Lee Richardson

Non-fiction

Alan Turing was:

A mathematician

A scientist

An inspiration

Alan Turing was a mathematician, scientist and codebreaker who helped defeat the Nazis in the Second World War with his incredible decoding of secret messages from enemy soldiers.

Discover his life story in this beautifully illustrated book, from his childhood as a quiet boy who loved maths, to becoming one of the most important scientists and codebreakers in history.

The Secret of the Moonshard

Struan Murray & Vivienne To

Chapter book

The thrilling new magical adventure from Branford Boase winner Struan Murray.

Domino has lived her whole life believing that just one drop of magic could kill her.

Held in a floating laboratory by scheming Science Barons, she has never known a single day of freedom.

When Domino discovers that everything she’s been told by the Barons is a lie, she escapes to Abzalaymon, a wondrous city filled with scientific marvels, hulking thunder lizards and hidden magic.

But the Barons are soon on Domino’s trail. Because a war is brewing between science and magic. A war that could destroy the world. And Domino might just be the key to saving everyone…

Strong Like Me

Kelechi Okafor & Michaela Dias-Hayes

Picturebook

Strong Like Me is a beautifully illustrated text with a strong female protagonist. The illustrations represent a diverse range of pupils from primary schools across the UK with experiences pupils can relate to such as Sports Day and swimming lessons. The main character, Kamara, has been brought up always believing she is strong in every sense of the word and clearly has strong female role models such as her charismatic Aunt. However, she begins to worry that she shouldn’t be so confident in her strength and the story develops to teach her that everyone shines in different ways and you mustn’t allow others to dim your light. This would be a lovely text to promote SMSC themes and support PSHE lessons in Key Stage One.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde

Jeff Kinney

Graphic novel

In Diper Överlöde, book 17 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series from #1 international bestselling author Jeff Kinney, Greg Heffley is finding out that the road to fame and glory comes with some hard knocks.

When he decides to tag along with his brother Rodrick’s band, Löded Diper, Greg doesn’t realize what he’s getting into. But he soon learns that late nights, unpaid gigs, fighting between band members, and money troubles are all part of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.

Can Greg help Löded Diper become the legends they think they are? Or will too much time with Rodrick’s band be a diper överlöde?

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Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK

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