Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Publisher: Walker Books Ltd

The Search for Our Cosmic Neighbours

Picturebook

Join Chloe Savage – winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2024: Best Illustrated Book – on a journey across the cosmos with Commander Julia, her team of Astro scientists and her trusty dog, Khan, as they search for life in the stars. Travelling for ten years in their packed spaceship, they visit countless moons and planets of every size and colour, searching for the answer to the greatest question of all: “Are we alone?”

And, just as they’re about to give up … Khan leads them to an incredible discovery – the existence of a (friendly!) alien race. Getting to know this welcoming species calls into question everything these space explorers have ever known – about what to do next, who they are, and what it means to have a home…

Sure to be a favourite for aspiring astronauts and will inspire a love of science, space exploration, and nurture curiosity in the solar system and our galaxy, and beyond. This book is filled with Chloe’s incredible trademark detail – space stations, spaceship cross-sections, and underground crystal caves.

The Artemis III mission aims to land astronauts on the moon in 2026 … and, after that, what’s next?

Part of the HIDDEN WONDERS series for children: award-winning, picture book adventures where science meets myth and magic, making STEM accessible to all children.

Oh Dear, Look What I Got!

Helen Oxenbury & Michael Rosen

Picturebook

A classic new picture book by the creators of the bestselling We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.

“I went to the shop to get me a carrot. Oh dear, they gave me …. a parrot! Oh dear, look what I got! Do I want that? No I do NOT!”
From beloved author and illustrator pairing Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury comes a brilliant new picture book that will delight a new generation of children. Each visit to the shop brings an animal surprise in this playful read-aloud, with a final twist and a joyful ending. Young readers will love joining in the rhyming text and guessing what comes next in this hilarious picture book, sure to become a timeless classic.

Football School Facts: A Fact for Every Day of the Year

Alex Bellos & Ben Lyttleton & Spike Gerrell

Non-fiction

Welcome to Football School Facts! It’s a book of facts and so let’s start with an important one: football is the best sport in the world.

– Did you know that Erling Haaland is a record-breaking goalscoring machine?
– That a player was once sent off for farting on the pitch?
– Or that Diego Maradona has a religion named after him?

Discover all this and much, much more all about your favourite players, great goals, super stadiums and marvellous mascots – the perfect gift for all young fans and their families to enjoy.

Green: The Story of Life on Our Planet

Emily Sutton & Nicola Davies

Non-fiction

A magnificent look at the science of plants from the internationally bestselling and multi award-winning team behind Tiny, Lots and Grow.

This tree doesn’t look like it’s doing very much: it just stands there in the sunlight, big and GREEN. But this tree is busy… Starting with the secret workings of a tree, this book transports readers billions of years into the past; back to the moment when plant life first appeared on our planet. Covering its evolution, the steady emergence of fossil fuels and the extraordinary communities of plants around the world today, Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton combine essential biology with a powerful message, calling on readers to celebrate and cherish the most precious colour on Earth: GREEN.

Jake Atlas and the Tomb of the Emerald Snake

Rob Lloyd Jones

Chapter book

Jake Atlas and the Tomb of the Emerald Snake by Rob Lloyd Jones is a fast-paced, tomb-raiding adventure through Egypt, featuring adventure, secrets, Egypt, treasure and gadgets!

Small Wonder

Ross Montgomery

Chapter book

Small Wonder by Ross Montgomery was the winner of the Children’s Book Award in 2025. Tick, his little brother, Leaf, and their horse, Pebble, are in an epic race across the country to safety before the gates close.

Summed up in 5 words: thrilling, epic, roller-coaster, danger and adventure!

One Sweet Song

Jyoti Rajan Gopal & Sonia Sanchez

Picturebook

In an ode to the power of music and community, this vibrantly illustrated picture book steps out on the balcony for a shared moment of spontaneous joy and celebration.
In a quiet neighborhood, a single note trills through the air. Another note joins, and then another. One by one, curious people are drawn to their windows, doorways, and balconies to support the medley. Professional musicians play instruments from around the world, while others bang pots and pans. All are welcome as the notes swirl and dip and crescendo, coming together to make one sweet song. And when the music fades, and this diverse neighbourhood is once again silent, the reverberations of unity remain. Written by a kindergarten teacher and inspired by the balcony singing in Italy during the pandemic – with a countdown from one to ten and back gently woven in – this rhythmic synergy of text and art is a buoyant, global-minded celebration of how music connects us, even in the darkest of times.

My Mother’s Tongues: A Weaving of Languages

Rahele Jomepour Bell & Uma Menon

Picturebook

In a sparkling debut authored by a sixteen-year-old daughter of immigrants, this ode to the power of multilingualism gives voice to the lasting benefits of speaking with more than one tongue.
Sumi’s mother can speak two languages, Malayalam and English. She can switch between them at the speed of sound: one language when talking to Sumi’s grandmother, another when she addresses the shopkeeper. Sometimes she speaks a combination of both. Could it be she possesses a superpower? With awe and curiosity, young Sumi recounts the story of her mother’s migration from India and how she came to acquire two tongues, now woven together like fine cloth. Rahele Jomepour Bell’s inviting illustrations make playful use of visual metaphors, while Uma Menon’s lyrical text, told astutely from a child’s perspective, touches lightly on such subjects as linguistic diversity and accent discrimination (“no matter how they speak, every person’s voice is unique and important”). This welcome debut, penned when the author was still a teenager, is an unabashed celebration of the gift of multilingualism — a gift that can transport people across borders and around the world.

L is for Love

Angela Brooksbank & Atinuke

Picturebook

A beautiful first L book of words perfect for pre-schoolers learning their ABC, reading aloud at storytime and for gifting to new babies or parents.

A whole family set off to sell their luscious lemons at the market in Lagos. They leave before dawn with lamps in hand and loads on heads. They have quite an adventure ahead of them … over logs, on a leaky lorry, through lightning, past lions and leopards until eventually reaching Lagos. The city is bustling and loud – there are lots of legs to get lost between! – but they can finally sell their luscious lemons. Children will love sounding out the words in this playful, adventurous and vibrantly illustrated story set in West Africa.

It’s Time to Hush and Say Good Night

Chitra Soundar & Sandhya Prabhat

Picturebook

A dream-ride of a bedtime book, inspired by ancient Indian lullabies.

Travel a lush dreamscape world as a father lulls his toddler towards sleep, weaving a quilt of dreams across the roaring seas and through the inky night – and dealing with some big toddler emotions en route. Sumptuously illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat, and infused with the spirit and flora and fauna of India.

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Publisher: Walker Books Ltd

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