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Topic: Seasonal Events

Picturebook

A beautifully illustrated introduction to the true meaning of Chinese New Year and family traditions for little ones.

Chinese New Year is right around the corner and Mai-Anne is so excited! As her family start decorating the house, there’s a knock on the door… her grandmother, Nai Nai, has arrived!

They start their celebrations with a traditional meal filled with fish for good luck, noodles for long life, dumplings for blessings and a whole chicken. Then after dinner, Nai Nai tells the story of how Chinese New year began, with the Great Race!

Join Mai-Anne as she learns about twelve animals and their special powers in the story of how Chinese New Year began.

Picturebook

When Winnie and Wilbur decide to celebrate Chinese New Year, the party is going with a swing. Family? Check! Friends? Check! Food? Check! Fun? Check! But just when Winnie waves her wand to make parade costumes for everyone, Wilbur goes missing. Oh no! Will Winnie find him before the first firework lights up the sky? The best-selling Winnie and Wilbur series has been delighting readers both young and old since 1987 and Winnie and Wilbur have become favourite characters in homes and schools all over the world.

Non-fiction

Chinese New Year is a time for new beginnings. Some people clean their homes from top to bottom or share meals with friends. Others pray, light fireworks or give each other gifts. Readers will discover how a shared holiday can have multiple traditions and be celebrated in all sorts of ways.

Best Children’s Books for Primary School Children: Christmas 2023 Gift Guide

Books make a superb choice of Christmas gifts for children. From timeless bedtime stories and curious information books to festive favourites and glorious gift books, we’ve selected our top recommendations for book gifts for children in their primary years.

Head to our Book Gift Guide for Ages 3-5 to find bookish Christmas presents for EYFS children. There, you’ll find Christmas nativity stories like Leah’s Star, classic story books like The Tiger Who Came to Tea, and beautiful bedtime story compendiums to treasure, such as Secrets of the Forest.

In this year’s Book Gift Guide for Ages 5-7, we ho-ho-hope you’ll love the selection of recommended books for KS1 children. Whether you are looking for festive twists on classic favourites like You Choose: Christmas or chapter-a-day advent adventures like The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’s Christmas Shenanigans, we’re sure this guide will fill your little ones with festive cheer. 

Browse our Book Gift Guide for Ages 7-9 to find presents for children in Years 3 and 4. We’ve also included popular favourites like The Land of Roar and super fun choose-your-own-adventure style books like Solve Your Own Mystery: The Monster Maker, as well as impressive knowledge compendiums like the Britannica All New Children’s Encyclopedia.

In our Book Gift Guide for Ages 9-11, you’ll find a range of reading styles and interests covered for years 5 and 6. Whether you are looking for jolly, festive stories like The Christmas Carrolls, frost-filled adventures like The Ice Children or information books for curious minds like Space Maps, we hope the books in this selection find their way into plenty of Christmas stockings this year.

Each of the guides includes purchasing links and a printable PDF version to share with your school community.

Chapter book

When Oscar and Molly rush outside to investigate a crash in the night, they’re not expecting to find a dazed Angel Gabriel wandering around their grandparents’ back garden. And they’re certainly not expecting to find themselves in a race to save Christmas.

But if they don’t track down a missing shepherd, wise man, donkey and the actual Mary and Joseph, who’ve all crash-landed in Chipping Bottom, not only will Christmas cease to exist, but they will too. Operation Nativity is on.

Featuring fun festive activities to try with your family!

Chapter book

Jasmine’s dad is a farmer, and her mum is a large-animal vet, so Jasmine spends a lot of time caring for animals and keeping them out of trouble. Unfortunately, this often means she gets into hot water herself…

A perfect animal story for younger readers by Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-shortlisted author Helen Peters, with beautiful black-and-white illustrations by Ellie Snowdon.

When Jasmine learns that Mr Hobson has grown too old to take care of his pet donkey, Mistletoe, she is determined that they won’t be parted. Of course, this means Mistletoe will have to come and live with her. With Christmas coming, how can she convince her parents to give her this most unusual present?

Brilliant storytelling that will make you laugh and cry, this is Dick King-Smith for a new generation.

Chapter book

The HILARIOUS new novel and the year’s most perfect festive gift – from million-copy bestselling author David Baddiel.

It used to be the most WONDERFUL time of the year, but for years Christmas has been taken over by Winterzone.

All the things that made Christmas special are gone: the human connection, the baubles passed down through generations, even the rubbish cracker jokes.

Instead, Christmas is run by robots, while 3D holograms of Santa Claus called Santavatars check if you’ve been naughty or nice – and on Christmas Eve, all of the presents are delivered by ZoneDrones instead of Santa’s reindeer!

But when they stumble on a curious clue, eleven-year-old Etta and her friend Monty find themselves thrown into a fight to bring back Christmas. Racing against time and against the might of Winterzone, they must find the real Santa – before the true meaning of the festive season is lost forever…

Chapter book

Do you know about The Grumpus?

And his Dastardly, Dreadful Christmas Plan? And about the Awful Thing that happened at the North Pole on Christmas Eve?

Perhaps I should tell you about it…

This heartwarming story follows the adventures of an unlikely hero as he journeys to the North Pole, unwittingly and somewhat reluctantly making lots of new friends along the way. A beautiful hardback with a festively foiled cover and beautiful artwork from the author, it is the perfect Christmas gift, destined to becoming a modern Christmas classic that adults and children alike return to year after year.

Chapter book

All Tog wants to do is work in Santa’s workshop and one wonderful day, the letter from Santa arrives: Tog has been selected as an apprentice elf! Making toys is a lot more technical and a lot less fun than Tog had imagined, and even though his new friend Holly tries to help him, he’s quickly relegated to cleaning out the reindeer stables. But someone has been stealing the presents from the workshop and a case of mistaken identity finds Tog accused of being the culprit! Can Tog use his special Christmas magic to discover the real thief and save all the presents before Christmas Eve is over?

A funny and heartwarming story from the King of Christmas, Ben Miller – the perfectly sized stocking filler for all the family!

Poetry

Christmas Poems is a festive collection of classic and modern poems, carols and songs which celebrates all the best things about Christmas from the Nativity to Father Christmas, including snow, angels, reindeer, Christmas trees and, of course, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. Collated by children’s poetry expert Gaby Morgan, Christmas Poems is illustrated by Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom.

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