Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Home

Topic: PSHE

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 community

Community Theme Booklist

Best children’s books with a theme of community

On this booklist, we have picked a selection of recommended books for primary schools to explore the topic of community, including picturebooks, longer texts and non-fiction. 

Whether you are looking for picturebooks on the topic of kindness like The Smile or Do Something for Someone Else, stories about neighbourhoods like The Neighbourhood Surprise, or books exploring the connection between food and community like Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street or Papa’s Butter Chicken, this list of the best children’s books about community is here to help.

Community is a core value for many primary schools, and our booklist is here to help. Whether for assemblies, class reads, storytime or independent browsing, these books will help children reflect on the value of community. This booklist has been put together with guidance from the librarian team at Peters.

 

best childrens books about the slave trade

The Slave Trade

Recommended Children’s Books About The Slave Trade

Our list of the best children’s books about the slave trade is an essential guide to educating children about slavery in history in an age-appropriate way.

Children can discover stories of how Harriet Tubman helped to free hundreds of slaves in Trailblazers: Harriet Tubman, or how Mary Prince escaped slavery to become a key figure in the abolitionist movement in Mary Prince. Younger readers can join Paloma as she discovers her family’s history in Our Story Starts in Africa.

Rich with memoirs and tales of bravery and extraordinary journeys as well as exploring the wider themes of racism and exploitation, this varied selection of titles aims to illuminate the important topic of slavery in a way that children can engage and relate with.

 

tilda tries again a big bright feelings book

Tilda Tries Again

Picturebook
resources-available

In Tilda Tries Again, Tom Percival once again displays his trademark style of using fantasy situations to explore real-life feelings.

We have all heard the phrase ‘to turn someone’s world upside down’. In this book, this is what literally and metaphorically happens to Tilda. At the beginning of the story, we meet a typical young girl who loves to do things that young children do. She has a happy life spending time with her friends, books and toys in and around her family home. Then one day, for no particular reason, everything turns upside down. Suddenly, Tilda can’t accomplish everyday tasks anymore- she can’t reach any thing or work anything out and happiness escapes her. Even spending time with her friends seems impossible and Tilda withdraws from her world .

Just when it seems that Tilda is destined to remain in this topsy-turvy state, she meets a ladybird who has itself been turned upside down. The reader joins Tilda in watching the ladybird (a source of such joy when found by little children) as it refuses to resign itself to its situation and repeatedly tries to set itself the right way up until it succeeds.

Inspired by the tenacity of the tiny creature, Tilda decides to try again and -little by little- she conquers the upside down situation that she believed herself to be stuck in and manages to turn things the right way up again. This book gives an excellent way into discussions about children’s mental-health topics and also the power of not giving up.

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop
Buy Audiobook
Best books about new beginnings

New Beginnings

Best Children’s Books about New Beginnings

Whether it’s books to begin a new year, stories that explore fresh starts or tales of resolutions and new challenges, we’ve put together a list of picturebooks about new beginnings and starting afresh. These books could be used in school assemblies, at home or as classroom stories.

fantastic females booklist

Fantastic Females

Children’s books that celebrate fantastic females

We’ve selected a list of recommended books for children that celebrate fantastic females, from favourite fiction books with strong female leads to non-fiction about real-life inspirational heroines.

We believe that it is important for children to see diverse representations of strong, powerful, smart, creative and change-making women in children’s books. That’s why we have collected some of the most inspiring and empowering books that feature female protagonists who challenge stereotypes and break down barriers.

From real-life heroines like Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie to fictional characters like Rosie Revere and Jaz Santos, our list celebrates women and girls who overcome obstacles, pursue their dreams and make a difference in the world. Whether you’re looking for stories about fierce princesses or fearless astronauts, this list of children’s books about inspirational women and girls has got you covered – perfect for International Women’s Day and throughout the whole year.

So if you want to inspire your little ones with tales of courage, determination, and resilience, keep scrolling and discover our top picks for the best children’s books about strong women.

the smallest girl in the class

The Smallest Girl in the Class

Picturebook

An inspiring and empowering rhyming story that’s a joy to read aloud, all about the power of children to change the world.

Sally McBrass is the smallest girl in the youngest class – but Sally knows you don’t have to be big to be strong. From kites stuck up trees to howling dogs to stray cats in the car park, little Sally notices things that others don’t, and when she sees people being mean at school, she is brave enough to speak up.

The Smallest Girl in the Class by Justin Roberts and Christian Robinson is a moving and gorgeously illustrated story about bravery and changing the world for the better. The perfect book to build empathy and start discussions about kindness with young children.

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop
I like Bees, I dont like Honey

I like Bees, I don’t like Honey!

&
Picturebook

A beautifully illustrated, funny and thought-provoking book for building confidence and encouraging children to express their feelings – about anything and everything. This book will help enable a much broader conversation about individuality, fear and hopes.

All author royalties are being donated to the NSPCC.

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop
Hair-raising Human Body Facts

Hair-Raising Human Body Facts

&
Non-fiction

Hair-Raising Human Body Facts is a fascinating tour of the human body. As they read, children will learn a huge amount of intriguing facts about the body that they have inhabited since they were born. They will be desperate to share information – such as how your body sheds 50kg of skin by the time you are seventy and that the average human passes wind about twelve times a day!

Each colourful double-page spread focuses on one aspect of the body. The information is a mix of explanations, fact boxes, historical information and common myths about the body feature being discussed (Did you know that kissing a donkey was thought to be a cure for toothache in medieval Germany?).

Learners will enjoy the mixture of photographs, illustrations, speech bubbles and cartoons. The photographs also include images from a microscope, which are captivating.

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop
Give Me Back My Bones

Give Me Back My Bones!

&
Picturebook

A pirate skeleton seeks to put its bones back together in this rhyming first book of anatomy!
A stormy night at sea has uncovered some long-buried secrets and surprises. Is that the mast of a shipwreck? A faded pirate hat? And what’s that hiding in the sand? A mandible and a clavicle, phalanges and femurs, a tibia and a fibula – could there be a complete set of bones scattered across the ocean floor? And who might they belong to?
A jaunty rhyme takes readers on an underwater scavenger hunt as a comical skeleton tries to put itself back together piece by piece. Make no bones about it – this rollicking read-aloud will have young ones learning anatomy without even realising.

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop

Subscribe to our newsletter

Your Review

Stone Girl Bone Girl

review

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)

Any other comments

Any other comments