Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK

The Snowman

Chapter book

This is a new novelised adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ classic story (also available here), bringing all the magic of the original tale into a narrative form.

A boy named James is so excited when snow arrives on his farm that he rushes outside to build the snowman he has been longing to create. Wonderfully, the snowman comes to life and gives James a magical adventure that he will never forget. This cherished story that never loses its magical appeal, is bound to be a favourite for many to curl up with this Christmas.

Busy Day: Athlete

Dan Green

Picturebook

Join the busy athlete as he goes for gold in this playful, interactive flap book!

Ready, set, go! Can you win the gold medal? Join in and use the flaps to help the athlete to warm up, jump over the pole, dive into the pool and much, much more. With interactive action-flaps, you can do it, too!

Each clever flap provides an action or scene-change to encourage children to actively engage and explore . The playful flaps are perfect for little hands to develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Original concept and illustration by Dan Green.

The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog Goes for Gold!

Jeremy Strong

Chapter book

From The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog to karate princesses and hot cross bottoms, there’s a Jeremy Strong story to suit every child’s sense of humour. Jeremy’s readers range from 7 to teen, perfect for fans of Roald Dahl and Andy Stanton.

Guess what’s coming to town! The Animal Games!

There’ll be show-jumping for horses AND rabbits, and discus for dogs – so of course I have to enter Streaker. Mum says a CARROT is more obedient than my dog, but I think she can do it – Streaker can go for GOLD!

Football Academy: Boys United

Tom Palmer

Chapter book

Boys United: the first book in the Football Academy series by Tom Palmer

Jake loves football and dreams of becoming a professional footballer. He’s worried about his height though – what if he’s too small for football? But on the day of his trial Jake is quick on the ball and scores – he’s made it! Jake can’t wait to pull on his shirt and join the team. But someone at the club wants to make his life difficult. Can Jake face up to the bullies and become man of the match again?

Stay on the ball this season with the first four stories following the boys in United’s under-twelves.

Jaz Santos vs The World

Priscilla Mante

Chapter book

Jaz Santos vs the World is the first in a new series about a girl who gathers an unlikely group of friends together to make their own girls’ football team. This is an inclusive and empowering tale with a real-life feel that will appeal to fans of Cath Howe and Jacqueline Wilson.

When Jaz finds a leaflet advertising a girls’ football tournament, she seizes the opportunity to take back some control. Thinking carefully about how to sell the idea to her classmates, Jaz pours heart and soul into rallying a team of girls to prepare for the tournament. From fundraising to training, Jaz leaves no stone unturned – with her passionate hopes of proving that girls can be taken seriously in football matched only by her desire to get mum back.

With girls’ football growing more popular than ever, this is an empowering book with a dynamic and entertaining main character who shows what can happen when somebody leads the way in a new sporting initiative.

This timely and heart-warming story about teamwork, self-belief and following your passions in the face of life’s ups and downs is likely to score big with readers aged 8-11.

Foul Play

Tom Palmer

Chapter book

Danny is obsessed with two things: football – especially City Football Club – and investigating crimes. So when England and City footballing hero Sam Roberts is reported missing the day after Danny saw him being taken, blindfolded, into the bowels of the City FC stadium late at night, he’s determined to get to the bottom of it. But is Danny getting into something he can’t handle?

As well as being a huge football fan, Tom Palmer has an international reputation in reader development. He is a coordinator of the Reading Partners consortium, works with The Reading Agency, Booktrust and the National Literacy Trust, and has been the official writer for the Premier League Reading Stars scheme for five years. He is the author of the Football Detective series, also for Puffin Books. Tom lives in West Yorkshire with his wife and daughter.

Dead Ball

Tom Palmer

Chapter book

Football Detective, Danny Harte, takes on a Russian billionaire who is threatening to destroy the English game. Most of the action takes place in Russia and the stadiums the World Cup finals will be played in.

Kicking a Ball

Allan Ahlberg & Sebastien Braun

Picturebook

For anyone who can’t see a ball without wanting to kick it, head it, shoot it, or boot it!

‘Not eating an ice-cream
Or riding a bike
No – kicking a ball
Is what I like.’

‘What I like best, yes, most of all
in my whole life is . . . kicking a ball.

A wonderful rhyming story to read aloud, Kicking A Ball will not disappoint fans of Allan Ahlberg. First written as a poem, the little boy in the story has been brought to life perfectly by artist Sebastien Braun. Every parent will be able to immediately relate to the simple joy felt by a boy simply kicking a ball, and how there is nothing else quite like it.

The incomparable Allan Ahlberg takes us on a journey from childhood to fatherhood full of humour, warmth, friendship . . . and football.

Pablo’s Feelings

Pablo

Picturebook

Sometimes your face doesn’t show how you are feeling.

Pablo wants to go to his cousin Lorna’s house, but his mum sees the expression on his face and thinks that he doesn’t want to go!

Pablo is autistic and he sees the world in a different way. Together with his friends, the Book Animals, he comes up with a way to let people know what he is thinking!

Ballet Shoes

Noel Streatfeild

Chapter book

One of the greatest books of all time. I reread the story of Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil taking to the stage regularly. I love escaping into the warm, gentle world of these characters, the way you get to really enjoy backstage life, and how it celebrates young women with talent and ambition.

This theatrical classic, published nearly 90 years ago, tells the story of the three Fossil sisters, Paulina, Petrova and Posy. Each sister has their own talent – Pauline dreams of acting, Posy of dancing, and Petrova, anything to do with cars, planes and engines. When the sisters win places at Madame Fidelia’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, you’d think everything would be plain sailing. But no. All sorts of pitfalls await them. This is a wonderful book that is still inspiring authors and budding performers everywhere.