Bookshop.org has launched its brand new charitable initiative Read It Forward, donating 10% of every children’s book sale in February 2024 to BookTrust. The money raised will support BookTrust’s work with children, especially those from low-income families or vulnerable backgrounds. In addition, every sale on Bookshop.org supports independent bookshops across the UK, giving them an additional stream of income and keeping them thriving.
Here’s our selection of favourite books for children and young adults which we hope will inspire a love of reading in the next generation.
Squid Game meets They Both Die at the End in the first in a thrilling new YA series.
We are in an epidemic. An epidemic of unhappiness.
Friends, here is the good news: HappyHead has the answer.
When Seb is offered a place on a radical retreat designed to solve the national crisis of teenage unhappiness, he is determined to change how people see him and make his parents proud.
But as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Finn, Seb starts to question the true nature of the challenges they must undergo. The deeper into the programme the boys get, the more disturbing the assessments become, until it’s clear there may be no escape…
The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow
See that tall, skinny kid with the ball in his hand, sayin see ya later to his mate?
That’s me: Nathan Wilder
Nate.
10 years old and a week away from the end of Year 5.
Life can be tough in your last year of primary school. Tests to take, preparing for the change to high school. Nate is ready for it all, knowing his best friend PS is at his side – they’ve been inseparable since Nursery.
But when they are put in two different classes and PS finds a new friend in Turner, the school bully, Nate’s world turns upside-down. As he struggles to make sense of this and forge new friendships, he’s dealt another blow when his youngest brother, Dylan is rushed into hospital.
His new teacher, Mr Joshua, sees a spark inside of Nate that’s lit by his love of reading and writing and shows him how to use this to process what’s going on. But with so much working against him, and anger rising inside him, will this be enough?
A powerful and lyrical story about finding your place in the world and the people that matter within it.
Winner of the 2023 British Book Award for Children’s Fiction Book of the Year & The Week Junior’s Children’s Book of the Year: Older Fiction!
Adam has found something incredible in a rubbish dump in London.
A mysterious, mythical, magical animal.
A TYGER. And the tyger is in danger.Adam and his friend Zadie are determined to help.
But it isn’t just the tyger’s life at stake.
Their whole world is on the verge of destruction. Can they learn to use their powers before it’s too late?
On the day they are born, each Swift is brought before the Family Dictionary. They are given a name and a definition, and it is assumed they will grow up to match. Unfortunately, Shenanigan Swift has other ideas.
So what if her relatives all think she’s destined to turn out as a troublemaker, just because of her name? Shenanigan knows she can be whatever she wants – pirate, explorer or even detective.
Which is lucky, really, because when one of the Family tries to murder Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude, someone has to work out whodunit.
With the help of her sisters and cousin, Shenanigan grudgingly takes on the case, but more murders, a hidden treasure and an awful lot of suspects make thing seriously complicated.
Can Shenanigan catch the killer before the whole household is picked off? And in a Family where definitions are so important, can she learn to define herself?
Time Travelling with a Tortoise by Ross Welford
Al Chaudhury travelled back in time to save his father’s life.
And it worked – Al’s dad is alive again and life is back to the way it should be.
At least, that’s what Al thinks.
But when an accident robs Al’s beloved Grandpa Byron of his world-beating memory, Al is forced back in time again, this time leaving someone behind, trapped in a prehistoric dimension.
Al is forced into a rescue mission to recover his friend from the past… and to make sure that there will be a future waiting for them all.
It turns out time travel is far more complicated than Al thought.
People Need People by Benjamin Zephaniah
To walk to
To talk to
To cry and rely on,
People will always need people . . .
From the creators of Nature Trail comes an uplifting picture book about the power of people, and the importance of connecting with others. This timely poem reminds us all to be kind to one another.
Written by legendary poet, Benjamin Zephaniah, one of The Times’ top 50 British post-war writers. Beautifully illustrated by Nila Aye.
Liddy is too excited to sleep!
Tomorrow she’s going to the Dim Sum Palace with her family, so when a tempting smell wafts into her bedroom, she has no choice but to follow it… to a real palace!
There are dumplings, baos, buns and more tasty treats than one girl can possibly eat. But before Liddy can take a bite, she slips and falls into a bowl of dumpling filling. The chefs are so busy making dim sum, they don’t notice they’ve prepared a most unusual dish for the Empress – a Liddy dumpling!
Worst of all, she looks good enough to eat…Inspired by childhood memories of epic dim sum feasts, X. Fang’s glorious picture book is a delicious adventure with a loving helping of food, family and culture.
You probably know it’s good manners to ALWAYS say ‘please’ when asking for something. But when Bill forgets this very simple rule, the consequences are WACKIER than he could ever have imagined.
Get ready for a laugh-out-loud adventure featuring spaceships, jungle tigers, mountain yaks, fairytale castles and a whole host of alien toads. Saying ‘PLEASE’ has never been so important!
This joyfully funny, side-splittingly silly follow-up to ACHOO! is perfect for fans of You Can’t Take an Elephant on the Bus and The Squirrels Who Squabbled.From the bestselling, award-winning author of You Must Bring a Hat and I Really Want the Cake (shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize), and the illustrator of Think Big by Kes Grey.
Bunny vs Monkey: Bunny Bonanza by Jamie Smart
Monkey and the gang are on a hunt to find Bunny, after he mysteriously disappeared . . .
On their search they’ll be bamboozled by Old Bunny, Neanderbunny, the mysterious Shadow Bunny and the always-confusing Not Bunny.
Will they ever find their faithful friend?
It’s a rollicking race to the rightful rabbit in this cornucopia of chuckles!