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best childrens books about media and digital literacy

Media & Digital Literacy Books

Best children’s books about media and digital literacy

This list of the best books about media and digital literacy covers topics from AI and the internet to spotting fake news and staying safe online.

The hand-picked titles in this list include non-fiction books to encourage critical thinking, such as The Truth Detective and Fake News and How to Spot It. There are also books exploring the internet and AI, including The History of Information and From AI to Wi-Fi. Picturebooks like Old Macdonald Had a Phone and Don’t Trust Fish also feature alongside chapter books like Fake and Adam Wins the Internet, ensuring that this booklist has something to appeal to all young readers.

Help children to understand and navigate the digital worlkd with this carefully curated list of the best books about the media and digital literacy.

 

read for empathy collection

Read For Empathy – Primary

Read for Empathy 2026 Booklist – Primary Collection

Updated 2026 booklist!

“Science shows that empathy is learnable and that reading is an important empathy-building tool. This collection will help parents and educators to surround children with empathy experiences, inspiring them to understand others better, and tackle societal problems like racism.” EmpathyLab Founder Miranda McKearney OBE.

The aim of the Read for Empathy collection is for schools, libraries, families and community groups to use the books to help raise a generation with strong empathy skills. Chosen by expert judges, the primary collection features 40 books for 3-11 year olds, including picturebooks, novels, poetry, non-fiction and graphic novels.

There is also a secondary empathy booklist which showcases 25 titles for 12-16 year olds.

Each title on this list was selected because of its empathy-building job, offering children the opportunity to expand their understanding of different people and life experiences, and helping them to find ways of experiencing and building empathy.

The 2026 Read For Empathy book collection comes at a time when empathising with others has never been needed more. Contemporary themes highlight the big social issues our children face, including characters affected by poverty, prejudice and racism. Many books underline the importance of understanding other people’s points of view, and respecting differences.

Others address the urgent need for empathy for the environment, the conflicting expectations placed on young people, and empathy’s power to build stronger communities. There is a special section devoted to books which help young readers understand and share emotions.

More information and downloadable resources are available on the Empathy Lab website.

childrens books featuring characters with adhd

Children’s Books Featuring Characters with ADHD

Recommended children’s books featuring characters with ADHD

Browse our curated booklist of recommended children’s books designed to build ADHD awareness, acceptance and understanding.

Our selection offers a diverse range of perspectives on ADHD, including lived-experience accounts and stories about supporting neurodivergent friends and family. We believe that stories are a powerful tool for promoting neurodiversity in the classroom and at home. These books celebrate the unique strengths and talents of ADHDers, while providing vital representation for children to see their own experiences reflected on the page by neurodivergent authors.

From vibrant picture books like This That What to engaging middle-grade chapter books like Check Mates and child-friendly support guides like ADHD: Rapped Up!, this varied collection features relatable ADHD characters. It is an essential resource for parents, teachers and school leaders committed to fostering inclusive education and personal development.

best picturebooks to boost self confidence

Confidence-Boosting Picturebooks

Picturebook

Growing up is exciting, but it can also be scary, and sometimes even the youngest readers need a little boost in their self-belief. With relatable characters, fun narratives and vibrant illustrations, picturebooks can help to lay the building blocks of resilience and self-love.

We are grateful to Frances Stickley, author of Wanda the Warthog Who Worried, for curating this brilliant list of the best confidence-boosting picturebooks. From a kangaroo in a crisis to a courageous flamingo to a boy with wings, this delightful collection of stories has something to offer every young reader!

read for empathy collection

Read For Empathy – Secondary

Read for Empathy 2026 Booklist – Secondary Collection

Updated 2026 booklist!

“Science shows that empathy is learnable and that reading is an important empathy-building tool. This collection will help parents and educators to surround children with empathy experiences, inspiring them to understand others better, and tackle societal problems like racism.” EmpathyLab Founder Miranda McKearney OBE.

The aim of the Read for Empathy collection is for schools, libraries, families and community groups to use the books to help raise a generation with strong empathy skills. Chosen by expert judges, the secondary collection showcases 25 fiction and non-fiction books for 12-16 year olds.

There is also a primary empathy booklist which features picturebooks, novels, poetry, non-fiction and graphic novels for ages 3-11.

Each title on this list was selected because of its empathy-building job, offering young readers the opportunity to expand their understanding of different people and life experiences, and helping them to find ways of experiencing and building empathy.

read for empathy collection secondary The 2026 Read For Empathy book collection comes at a time when empathising with others has never been needed more. Contemporary themes highlight the big social issues our children face, including characters affected by poverty, prejudice and racism. Many books underline the importance of understanding other people’s points of view, and respecting differences.

Others address the urgent need for empathy for the environment, the conflicting expectations placed on young people, and empathy’s power to build stronger communities.

More information is available on the Empathy Lab website.

best childrens books about love

Books about Love

Recommended Children’s Books about Love

All you need is love… and books! This booklist celebrates the value of love in all its forms. Whether it’s the enduring bond between families, the search for what love really means, the many different expressions of love or the simply celebrating the joy of companionship, these stories explore the many ways love enriches our lives.

Why are books about love so important for children? They help children understand and express their own feelings, build empathy and recognise that love comes in many different shapes and sizes. From the heartwarming bond between Little and Big Nutbrown Hare in the preschool classic picturebook Guess How Much I Love You to the brightly illustrated quest for love in the super-fun Slug in Love by Rachel Bright and Nadia Shireen, these books offer a wide range of perspectives on love in its many forms and guises. We also recommend the award-winning The Boy Who Loved Everyone, which beautifully illustrates how there are lots of different ways that love can spread through the world.

Whether it’s children’s stories for Valentine’s Day, bond-boosting bedtime stories or value-based books that can be enjoyed all year round, you’ll find something to fall head over heels for in this list of the best children’s books about love.

best childrens books about healthy lifestyles

Healthy Lifestyles

Healthy Lifestyles Booklist

Browse our booklist of recommended children’s books about healthy eating, exercise, hygiene and mental wellbeing. This expertly curated list features a mix of fascinating fiction and non-fiction texts to support the Healthy Lifestyles topic.

best childrens books about diverse families

All Different Families

Best Children’s Books about Diverse Families 

Families come in all shapes and sizes! Our All Different Families booklist is designed for anyone seeking to promote diversity and inclusion in their personal or school settings, including parents, teachers, and those looking for personal development.

This varied booklist of picturebooks and chapter books includes relatable stories representing children from a whole variety of family structures, as well as books that will help all children to encounter and understand a range of family types that may not look like their own.

From stories of foster families like The Star Outside my Window and The House with a Dragon in it, to families featuring same-sex parents like Who’s Your Real Mum and My Daddies, there’s something for all primary ages on this booklist.

Enterprise Topic

Best Children’s Books about Enterprise, Business and Money

Browse our booklist of recommended children’s books about Enterprise.

From stories about bright young entrepreneurs like in Felix Unlimited or Beauty and the Bin to information books about the world of business or finance like Why Money Matters, our booklist aims to feature recommended children’s books about enterprise, business and money.

Richly illustrated fact books introduce key concepts and terms in an engaging and accessible way, while relatable stories of enterprise and biographies of real-life business figures really bring the Enterprise topic to life. 

Why not get to business and dive right in? You never know, it might spark an idea for your next big venture!

best books for children for autism awareness

Neurodiversity and Autistic Characters Booklist

Recommended children’s books about neurodiversity, autism and autistic characters

Browse our booklist of recommended children’s books that foster awareness and understanding of neurodiversity. Our selection of books offers a range of perspectives on neurodiversity, exploring different experiences of autism or ADHD, including personal accounts and experiences of supporting family and friends. Books and stories can play an important role in raising awareness and promoting understanding towards neurodivergent individuals, as well as celebrating their strengths and talents and allowing children with autism to be represented in stories written by authors with similar experiences.

Our booklist is designed for anyone seeking to promote diversity and inclusion in their personal or school settings, including parents, teachers, and those looking for personal development. This varied booklist of picturebooks, chapter books and graphic novels includes relatable stories for autistic children, as well as books that help all children to understand what it is like for autistic people to navigate a world that isn’t always designed with them in mind and stories designed to celebrate neurodiversity.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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