What Are You Looking For?

Choose this for a child fascinated by vehicles, farming or how machines work. It combines accessible explanations with colourful illustrations, comic characters and small visual details that invite looking closely.

A lively, irreverent introduction to pirate history, this book mixes historical information with jokes, illustrations and deliberately gruesome stories. Its central angle is corrective: pirates are presented as far less heroic than popular legends suggest.

This offers imaginative fantasy alongside sustained questions about Black identity, friendship, prejudice and self-determination. Its dual perspective gives Tavia and Effie distinct forms of identity exploration, though the opening may feel slow before the action intensifies.

A powerful poetic celebration of African American resilience and achievement, this book moves from historical suffering to cultural, sporting and civic accomplishment, inviting shared reading, recitation and reflection.

A lively introduction to women’s contributions across history and different fields, presented through colourful illustrations, short profiles, facts and quotations. Its page-by-page structure supports dipping in, revisiting individual figures and noticing links between personal achievement and wider social change.

A visually rich shared-history book that links humanity’s beginnings in Africa with creativity, discovery and belonging. Poetry invites reflection, while the timeline adds factual context beyond the main narrative.

This is a lively choice for a child who enjoys mischief, silly bodily humour and action. Its Viking setting, school episodes and group problem-solving provide variety, while the short, episodic structure can support shared reading or growing independence.

This is an engaging introduction to the First World War, linking its broad history to individual experiences. Its movement between people, countries and wartime settings makes a distant conflict feel immediate without turning it into fiction.

This is a visually led Earth-history journey, using one pebble to connect geological change with the appearance of living things and human activity. Its chronological sweep may invite shared looking, pausing and questions rather than one quick read.

A dark, atmospheric fantasy for readers who enjoy folklore, mystery and psychological unease. Alice’s search for her mother carries questions about trust, belonging and who has the right to shape a story.

This is an information-led pirate book with jokes and colourful illustrations, rather than a sustained fictional adventure. It offers accessible facts about ships, sailing, pirate life and historical figures through a playful guidebook voice.

Expect a compact factual tour of pirate history rather than a sustained adventure story. It introduces famous pirates and practical historical topics, with humorous wording, illustrations, infographics and geographical material.

A lively invitation to look closely at slugs, bees, spiders and other small creatures in familiar places. Its blend of humour, sketches, factual detail and observation activities makes ordinary surroundings feel worth investigating.

A broad, illustrated introduction to Asia, organised by region and topic. Children can dip into maps, history, culture, wildlife, landmarks and notable people, then follow connections to migration, global culture, technology and the future.

This offers a brisk supernatural mystery rooted in London, drama, museum history and identity. Its appeal lies in clues, red herrings and links between attacks across time, alongside Niamh’s new friendships and possible romance.

This is a suspenseful historical story about family separation and friendship under political pressure. The documentary-style sections let readers see events through children’s eyes while gradually revealing the risks surrounding their attempts to stay connected.