Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Topic: Seasonal Events

All About Feelings

Picturebook

All About Feelings is a book that explores feelings in a variety of ways, including different types of feelings, signs your body gives about those feelings and why you might be having those feelings. Many of the pages and colours used to represent different feelings support those of ‘zones of regulation’ and could easily support learning within school.

The book is child-centred and consider feelings within the context of the school environment and beyond. It gives scenarios to support children to develop empathy and articulate how they would feel in given situations. It also explores how our feelings can vary all within one day.

Some pages explore having ‘jumbled up’ or mixed emotions and strategies for dealing with different emotions. The book also explores ways to help others with their emotions and ways to be kind to yourself.

The final page has a range of notes for adults, including things to try at home and online links. The book is designed to help children recognise, understand and name different feelings and to learn to talk about them and manage them in a range of helpful ways.

The Thing

Daniel Egneus & Simon Puttock

Picturebook

One day, the Thing falls from the sky and four strangers stumble across it.

Together they decide to work together to take care of the Thing. But before long a media circus builds up around the creature they are protecting and the debate about the Thing spreads far around the world.

What is the Thing?
Who does it belong to?
What does it do?
And is it any use for anything at all?

This captivating picture book will be many things to many people: a story about thoughtfulness, an adventure in friendship and an intriguing and gentle social commentary on the search for meaning in modern life.

Daniel Egneus’ unique and engaging artwork beautifully illustrates this enigmatic story and brings the strange Thing to life. With a similar feel to Alexis Deacon’s Beegu and Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing , this is the perfect bedtime story for children and adults to enjoy together.

The Huge Bag of Worries

Frank Rodgers & Virginia Ironside

Picturebook

A reassuring picture book encouraging children to open up about their fears and anxieties to help manage their feelings.

The perfect book to soothe worries during stressful times.

Wherever Jenny goes, her worries follow her – in a big blue bag. They are with her all the time – at school, at home, when she is watching TV and even in the bathroom! Jenny decides they have to go, but who will help her get rid of them?

A funny and reassuring look at dealing with worries and anxiety, to be used as a spring board into important conversations with your child.

My Monster and Me

Ella Bailey & Nadiya Hussain

Picturebook

The very first picture book from the winner of The Great British Bake Off and national treasure, Nadiya Hussain, beautifully illustrated by Ella Bailey.

A touching story about a little boy whose worry monster follows him everywhere he goes. It’s there when he gets dressed, when he wants to play with his toys, and even when his friends come over to visit. How can he escape his worries?

Having suffered with panic disorder herself for as long as she can remember, Nadiya wrote this heartfelt story to help give children and parents the tools they need to talk about worries and anxiety, to ensure that no child suffers in silence.

I Don’t Want to Wash My Hands!

Tony Ross

Picturebook

The Little Princess doesn’t want to wash her hands – not after playing outside, not after using her potty and not after sneezing! But when she hears about ‘germs and nasties’ from the family maid, the Little Princess begins to think that there might be something even worse waiting for her if she doesn’t head towards soap and water soon…

A useful picture book for discussing the when and why of handwashing, from Tony Ross’s popular Little Princess series.

Germs Are Not For Sharing

Elizabeth Verdick & Marieka Heinlen

Picturebook

A simple but very effective guide for younger children, covering good personal hygiene habits to help prevent the spread of germs. The book covers what to do after you sneeze, cough, blow your nose, drop food on the floor and use the toilet. With cartoon-like illustrations and a repeated refrain of ‘germs are not for sharing’, this is the essential hygiene book to have in every EYFS and reception class.

It’s Only One

Tony Neal & Tracey Corderoy

Picturebook

This is a book to choose when introducing the importance of class rules, demonstrating how shared environments work best if everyone sticks to the agreed rules and works together to take responsibility for making somewhere a happy place to live, work and play.

Sunnyville is the perfect place to live. The animals live in peace and harmony and everyone is friendly to one another. Until one day, Rhino tosses a sweet wrapper over his shoulder. It’s only one, he thinks – until everyone is doing the same. This one action begins a domino effect which results in Sunnyville being a lot less than perfect with everyone being grumpy and doing as they please. Then little mouse has an idea, and ‘only one’ small act starts a whole wave of small acts and turns Sunnyville around.With appealing animal characters to draw in the reader, this is a wonderful story about being good community members and caring for the world around us. The story provides a great example of how ‘only one’ small act can start a whole chain of events.

The bright illustrations are eye catching and full of detail, with plenty of things to talk about for the start of a new year, including personal responsibility, keeping the classroom tidy, treating equipment with respect and working together to improve things.

Starting School

Allan Ahlberg & Janet Ahlberg

Picturebook

A classic picture book by Janet and Alan Ahlberg, all about a class of children starting school. The story walks through the experiences of the first term of school for a group of children, exploring the different activities and equipment they come across. A gently positive story that also explains that starting school is about more than just the first day!

Story Path

Kate Baker & Madalena Matoso

Picturebook

Travel along the story path and discover an enchanted world where fairy princesses battle with monsters from the deep and vampire cats zoom through the galaxy on silver unicorns.

This innovative twist on the classic quest tale allows young readers to choose their own characters, settings and plots at every turn. With a simple, easy-to-follow structure and bold, quirky imagery by award-winning illustrator Madalena Matoso, this is an imaginative storytelling experience for children of all ages.

Who will you meet? Where will you go? What will you do next? It’s all up to you…

Lulu’s First Day

Anna McQuinn & Rosalind Beardshaw

Picturebook

Lulu is going to preschool for the first time. She has visited school before with Mummy, but this time she will go on her own.

She’s excited, but a bit nervous. She gets dressed, packs her bag and makes sure she has her cat Dinah with her. When Lulu gets to school, she quickly settles and makes a friend with Mummy watching close by. When Mummy leaves, Lulu is nervous, but soon finds her way forward on her new adventure.

We highly recommend this starting school book and the whole Lulu series, which gently reassures preschool children about all sorts of relatable scenarios from getting a pet and planting flowers to starting school and shows them how to tackle new challenges head-on.

Best Books by Age

Popular Children's Authors

Topic: Seasonal Events

Author James Davis on Humour, Accessibility and Lifelong Reading

Go All In for the National Year of Reading 2026: The Ultimate Primary School Booklist

News: BooksForTopics Founder Alison Leach Named in 2026 #iAlso100 List

Subscribe to our newsletter

Your Review