This powerful novel from award-winning children’s author Malorie Blackman tells the story of a young boy called Cameron who suffers from heart disease.
The novel deals with the contemporary issue of animal organ transplants and is a gripping read from the first page.
Suitable for upper KS2 and lower KS3.
Leonard the lion, who is gentle and kind, is different to the other lions he meets. He likes to talk about poetry and philosophy with his like-minded friend Marianne the duck. When Leonard encounters a group of bullies in the park, they threaten to chomp Marianne before turning on Leonard for not being fierce enough. Leonard and Marianne work together to communicate to the bullies that there is more than one way to be a lion.
This is a touching and warm story about friendship and standing up to bullies. Ed’s squiggly lines create oodles of character and the book is beautifully designed. It champions staying true to oneself and sticking to one’s principles. This is an inspiring and adorable picture book about a pair of unlikely friends who face down a pack of bullies.
This is the first of the Katie Morag Stories which went on to become a successful series (and TV programme too). It’s easy to fall in love with Hedderwick’s beautiful illustrations, and the characters feel like old friends. Struay may be a fictional island, but the books are inspired by the author’s own years of living on the isle of Colonsay. Perfect island escapism in words and pictures! All the stories are great, but I have a huge soft spot for Katie Morag and Tiresome Ted.
I’m a huge fan of Sophy Henn’s bold illustrative work and this stunning book is one of my favourites. Pom Pom wakes up in a terrible mood and nothing seems to go right from that point on. I love a grumpy character so Pom Pom stole my heart from the moment he woke up. The entire story is a delight. It’s also an absolutely brilliant book for talking about emotions with young readers.
A fresh and funny take on the pirate adventure for young readers from talented Mabbitt. Mabel Jones is kidnapped and forced to serve aboard pirate ship ‘The Feroshus Maggot’, captained by the – brilliantly named – wolf Idryss Ebenezer Split. The first in a page-turning series of adventures featuring the sparky heroine.
The first book of the Rook Saga – a trilogy within the wonderful Edge Chronicles – follows the fortunes of Rook Barkwater, who breaks out of the sewer-chambers of Undertown to journey to the Free Glades and an encounter with the mysterious last sky pirate. A deeply satisfying fantasy adventure from two master storytellers.
In this gorgeous picture book, first published in 1963, we go on a journey with Max, who’s been sent to his room for chasing the dog with a fork, and being an all-round wild thing. But somehow his room becomes a forest, and when he travels across the sea by boat he finds more Wild Things and becomes their king.
This book is such a classic and, as such, means so many different things to so many different people. At its heart, it teaches a young child that it’s OK to feel angry; it’s OK to take some time out. Your family will still love you. They’ll still be waiting for you when you come back. When Max stomps off to visit the wild things, he’s angry and frustrated. He’s so mad that he sails off “through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year”. When he calms down, he realises he misses home and, to the disappointment of his new Kingdom, he heads back to his bedroom where his “still hot” supper is waiting for him.
This much-loved story is the embodiment of an emotion, and those powerful final lines – the release of them – are iconic in children’s literature.
Plot spoiler – the book does actually end, but only after a journey that truly deserves the label of EPIC! Bastian escapes some school bullies and finds refuge inside a bookshop. There, he finds a book called The Never Ending story. Unable to resist, he is drawn into the magical world of Fantastica. Bastian journeys alongside Atreyu – a child warrior – to save the Empress and stop an evil entity called the Nothing. Michael Ende’s imagination is simply staggering and your journey will take you to places like the Desert of Colours, the Silver City of Amarganth and the swamp of sadness – which truly lives up to its name.
This picture book will always have a special place on my bookshelf and in my heart. It was the first book I ever read to my granddaughter when she was just a tiny little thing barely a few months old. Over the following months, it endured as her favorite book too, and that first hardcover copy was read to pieces (quite literally). Martin’s perfect rhymes and poetic language match her soulful illustrations perfectly. She portrays a whole spectrum of childhood experiences and brings them alive so simply yet elegantly. This is a book that never fails to leave me with a lump in my throat and a smile on my face when I reach the end, because it’s about the sheer joy and wonder of being a child, and we all wish our children the very best in life.
A classic from Roald Dahl, with an edginess to it that invites Dahl’s darker humour to come out more strongly than some of his other children’s books. There’s fantasy, horror and the grotesque woven through what is ultimately an optimistic story about good triumphing over evil, where the smallest character saves the day, with the help of a caring grandparent.
The Grandmother in the story is bold, brave and full of great advice on how to cope in a world filled with secret child-hating witches. She works with her grandson (The Boy) to outsmart and eradicate the Grand High Witch and her followers.
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Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
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