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A playful picture book about Number Three testing different identities and uses before recognising a renewed purpose. Its humour comes through imaginative visual transformations, familiar number concepts and comic consequences rather than sustained danger or conflict.

This is an outward journey that becomes a test of belonging. The apprentices bring practical skills to another community, but the story questions whether competence gives outsiders the right to decide what help should look like.

A lively visual story about making a home from mishaps. Its strongest pleasures are comic accidents, inventive machinery, expressive illustrations and the animals’ growing community.

A lively fantasy about an ordinary child entering an extraordinary school, balancing comic invention with peril, uncertainty and the discovery of friendship. Its invented gods and visual humour are central attractions.

This is a gentle story about staying emotionally connected when physical contact is not possible. It offers several concrete, non-touching ways to show affection, while keeping the reason and duration of separation unexplained.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys high-seas adventure, mermaids, treasure hunts, riddles and brisk action. The story also offers a character-led exploration of identity, friendship, prejudice and belonging.

A bright, direct introduction to adoption and family belonging, using repeated language and diverse family images. Its emotional centre is welcome, but its one-sided account of need may not fit every family’s experience.

This is a tender story about finding comfort amid displacement, then recognising another child's loneliness. Its emotional centre is Lubna's difficult decision about a treasured object.

A warm, visually led celebration of how people show love: through friendship, kindness, consideration, comforting gestures, family events and ordinary routines. Six families and recurring named children give young listeners details to notice across different settings.

A playful, high-energy quest turns familiar ideas upside down. Its central appeal is the combination of gaming-style adventure, colourful illustrations, unusual allies and a clear goal: return to the real world.

This is an outdoor adventure about a child investigating her grandmother’s disappearance, helping eagles in difficulty and discovering a stronger sense of belonging in the mountain community.

A calm picture book about Alex moving between Mum’s and Dad’s homes, showing ordinary pleasures in both places rather than treating one household as the only home.

This is a gentle, realistic story about a child negotiating identity and belonging after moving countries. It offers a clear starting point for discussing names, pronunciation, welcome and cultural pride.

This is a warm, repetitive story about noticing differences in appearance while recognising shared ways of living, feeling and connecting. Its central reassurance is that families can belong together without looking alike.

A gentle, imaginative flying adventure about wanting something extraordinary, meeting an unusual new friend, and discovering that home still matters after a thrilling journey.

A short, visually expressive story about a newcomer, suspicion and the possibility of belonging. Its emotional centre is the contrast between what the animals assume and what they learn about the stranger’s past.

This is a dual-perspective queer romance about learning to resist pressure from friends and family. It combines warmth and humour with uncomfortable moments involving identity, belonging, prejudice and competing expectations.

This offers a poetic, character-led account of a young person facing anorexia and other mental-health difficulties, with attention to treatment, relationships, bullying and the possibility of accepting help.

Expect a lively, illustrated fantasy quest built around an underdog team. The story combines dungeon challenges, comic world-building and a friendship arc, while Kit’s impulsive decision creates the central problem.

A brisk mystery combining a shipwreck hunt, museum history and a theft. Sam and Annabel’s investigation offers adventure and a friendship-centred story, with the storm and missing artefact supplying suspense.