Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

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Topic: BAME characters

Twins Ali and Tulip have grown up with a surgeon mother and so have picked up lots of knowledge of first aid, medicine, and the ways of the hospital-they even know where the secret biscuit drawer in A&E is. When their mother becomes unnaturally sleepy and forgetful, they become suspicious of her new boyfriend. With help-and a watchful eye-from their mysterious wheelchair-bound gran, they set out to crack the mystery. Will they succeed? They’ll need a combination of fast talking, quick thinking, rule breaking, medical investigation, and determination-plus a good dash of ‘that spooky twin thing’-to cure this crime. A fun fresh take on the detective genre, full of excitement, humour, and medical know-how!

A sharp, funny middle grade adventure with themes of real-life activism and how to help others for fans of The Goonies and The London Eye Mystery .

Josephine Williams is a future-focused, internet-loving eleven-year-old who is desperate to explore the world beyond her cul-de-sac – and her browser.

When she learns about Josephine Holloway – a woman who started the first Girl Scout Troop for Black girls in America – she’s certain she must start her own.

Enlisting her friends Margot Anderson and Wesley Evans, the trio begin their quest for their Camping Badge. Drawn to an abandoned factory nearby, they stumble across something strange. A square, ancient television and two tatty armchairs. Beside it, a wooden sideboard with an old photograph of a young, happy couple.

What is this? Who, or what, lives here – and why?

Children’s Books with Minority Ethnic Characters
A recent study by CLPE has shown that just 9% of children’s books published last year featured a main character from a minority ethnic background. Although the number is increasing over time, there still exists a major under-representation, considering that 33.9% of children of primary school age in England are from a minority ethnic background. To help schools and families balance the representation in their book collections and to accurately reflect the diverse experiences of all pupils, we’ve put together a list of recommended children’s books featuring Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and characters.
Chapter book

A magical middle grade book about family, friendship and finding out who you are, full of emotion and a secret fantasy world to discover. Perfect for 10 year olds and fans of Jacqueline Wilson, Ross Welford, Kiran Millwood-Hargrave and The House with Chicken Legs. From a rising star of children’s books.

This place is magic … but it’s not the sort of magic that comes from wands and spells …

Can piecing together the past help you change the present?

Safiya and her mum have never seen eye to eye. Her mum doesn’t understand Safiya’s love of gaming and Safiya doesn’t think they have anything in common. As Safiya struggles to fit in at school she wonders if her mum wishes she was more like her confident best friend Elle. But then her mum falls into a coma and, when Safiya waits by her bedside, she finds herself in a strange and magical world that looks a bit like one of her games. And there’s a rebellious teenage girl, with a secret, who looks suspiciously familiar …

Chapter book

Step into a magical world of enchanted forests, talking animals and wicked witches . . .

These six magical stories will thrill and enchant you. Watch Blackberry Blue rise from the bramble patch; follow Emeka the pathfinder on his mission to save a lost king; join Princess Desire as she gallops across the Milky Way on her jet-black horse.

These beautifully written and original stories will delight readers of all ages, and the stunning illustrations by Richard Collingridge will take your breath away.

Chapter book

Ryan Hart and her family live in Portland, Oregon, and her dad lost his job a while ago. He finally got a new one, but it pays less, and he’ll have to work nights. And so they’re selling the second car and moving to an (old) new house. The Harts are an everyfamily – a family with siblings who bicker, parents who don’t always get it right, but a family that loves. A family working hard to make it in tough economic times, a family with traditions and culture, a family that tries new things. This is a black family growing up in middle class America.

And Ryan is a girl who has much on her mind – school, family, friends, self-image – but who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks. Packed with humour and heart alongside meaningful and thoughtful moments, Ryan Hart is the character everyone will want to be best friends with.

Chapter book

Secrets from the past are the keys to the future…if two children can find them. Bold adventure, timely themes and breath-taking writing from award-winning author, Sita Brahmachari.

Usha is devastated when her grandmother Kali Ma passes away. Then straight-talking Imtiaz arrives – her new adoptive sister – and the two girls clash instantly. They both feel lost. That is until Kali Ma’s ghost appears…with a task for them.

Immy’s and Usha’s home is full of history and secrets. Many years ago it was The House of the Ayahs – for those nannies who couldn’t return to their Indian homeland – and Kali Ma made a promise she couldn’t keep. She can’t pass on to the other side until the girls fulfil it.

Today, Usha and Immy’s over-worked parents run the house as a home for refugees, but eviction threatens. The precious documents that could save them are lost. As the house slowly fills up with ghosts, that only Usha and Imtiaz can see, the girls realise they have more to save than just one grandmother’s ghost.

With help from their new friend Cosmo, Usha and Immy must set off on a quest through London, accompanied by two bickering ghosts, working together to find a series of objects that shine a magical light on their family’s past and hold the clues to securing their future.

If they can set the secrets of generations free, will they be in time to save their home?

Chapter book

FIGHT CRIME, ACROSS TIME!

Leaplings, children born on the 29th of February, are very rare. Rarer still are Leaplings with The Gift – the ability to leap through time. Elle Bibi-Imbele Ifie has The Gift, but she’s never used it. Until now.

On her twelfth birthday, Elle and her best friend Big Ben travel to the Time Squad Centre in 2048. Elle has received a mysterious warning from the future. Other Leaplings are disappearing in time – and not everyone at the centre can be trusted.

Soon Elle’s adventure becomes more than a race through time. It’s a race against time. She must fight to save the world as she knows it – before it ceases to exist…

Fred may look ordinary, but sometimes people who look ordinary turn out to be not very ordinary at all … because it just so happens that Fred is a Wizard!

Sounds pretty great, right? Except that Fred is absolutely, completely, mind-boggingly TERRIBLE at magic. At school, he’s stuck in a class of wizards half his age, feeling like a twit among tots. At home, he’s endlessly teased by his siblings and always a disappointment to his parents. All Fred wants is to become a better wizard….

So when he hears about a competition to meet Merlin(yes, THE Merlin!) Fred knows it’s his one chance to prove to his family that he’s not the worst wizard in town. The catch? To win the competition he has to capture the tail of a terrifying, fire-breathing lizard…

From Simon Philip, author of You Must Bring a Hat and I Really Want the Cake, and Sheena Dempsey, illustrator of Dave Pigeon, comes a tale full of magic and fun.

Chapter book

After getting lost at sea in a tropical storm, Ariki and Ipo discover an uncharted island and have a great adventure in the second book of the Ariki series.

Ariki and Ipo are making the most of a beautiful day, sailing the sea near Turtle Island on a “borrowed” boat. They’re too busy daydreaming to spot the grey clouds gathering overhead – but then a terrible storm breaks, carrying them miles from home. After days without food or drink, they are washed up on an unfamiliar island. The island is beautiful beyond belief: they see butterflies, each one lovelier than the last, lizards chasing across the rocks and, most wonderful of all, a gigantic blue bird with eyes that glow purple. When they meet another castaway, however, the children discover this island is no paradise – there are dangers lurking in the shadows! A nail-biting adventure with a strong message about endangered animals and human intervention, and a wonderful partner to Ariki and the Giant Shark .

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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