I loved meeting teacher Mrs Adisa and her class - a group of children with diverse representation that will delight teachers, parents and carers to know. A must-have for school libraries, book corners, PSHE lessons, and wellbeing rooms.

Most children will never experience being a foster family or being a foster child. Having this giggly at the same time as serious illustrated fiction adventure series accessible for young readers (and teachers, parents, and carers) is absolutely brilliant! 

Absolutely one of my favourite books of 2024, ‘The Best You’ is now publishing in paperback. I’m delighted to share this review with you, as this is a book I have repeatedly enjoyed using in school book clubs, including in school library orders, and reading to children in my Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop during weekly storytime sessions. 

Children reading these stories will discover the incredible bravery, kindness, loyalty, daring and power of animals whether they are in the wild or pets at home. Without many of their adventures, some of our battles, advances in space exploration, or even human lives may have been lost. You’ll discover some new heart-warming stories from around the world to inspire you for the rest of your days.

Onjali Q. Raúf's debut picture book is a heartwarming story about welcoming a new child who has fled her homeland. With Pippa Curnick's stunning illustrations, it beautifully captures the emotions of fear, sadness, and friendship. Perfect for ages 3+, this story encourages empathy and offers tips on making refugee children feel welcome. A must-have for every school and library.

This book deserves a place on everyone’s bookshelf, especially in schools. This book is a fantastic resource for parents, carers, and teachers to read with children throughout primary school. It’s a great tool to help teach kids about online behaviour, especially the concept of ‘trolls.’

I read this in one sitting! Meet Will, or Poundland as the bully squad refers to him as. The black & white almost-manga style strip illustrations are so impactful. Poverty + Will's sense of responsibility to look out for his dad means that he makes some bad choices in a moment of desperation… This is a powerful, punch of a book that's unputdownable, relatable, grows empathy, and speaks to struggles going on in playgrounds + school corridors everywhere.

The first in a lovely new graphic novel series about friendship, accepting others, feeling valued. Pocketville is cute, the artwork is superb, and the text well-spaced for an enjoyable, calm and cosy reading experience.

Hurrah! A new graphic novel series for 5-7 year olds by the legendary Jamie Smart! I’m so overjoyed. Welcome to the high-colour, bouncy, bubbly, cute and clever world of Max & Chaffy. This the first of 3 books publishing this year. Its' a buzz!

‘Rory’s Room of Rectangles’, breathtakingly illustrated by Jessica Knight, published exactly 1 month before Father’s Day, and for a very good reason. Taking art as a metaphor for life and art as a form or expression for emotions within the story, the author and illustrator are symbiotic in communicating Rory’s journey to readers. As the subtitle on the front cover reveals, this is “a story of blended families and big feelings”, and it delivers.

A powerful true story of the WW2 Holocaust everyone should read. Greene’s illustrations seep into the reader’s consciousness emotions of surprise, disappointment, confusion, ignorance, bewilderment, pain, starvation, triumph, hope, love and more. Dronfield has masterfully retold the Kleinmann’s story.

A giggle of a story... Frank, the fox, and Bert, the bear, are two really good friends. However, Frank moans to the reader about how simply awful his friend Bert is at playing hide-and-seek. Bert hides with all the expertise of a toddler! As you can imagine the game is over fairly quickly and Frank wins every time. Until one day...