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A family under financial pressure is at the heart of this story. Jackson’s imaginary cat brings humour and companionship as he faces the possibility that his family’s housing troubles may return.

A story about two contrasting ideas of the future: Coppernickel thinks it will arrive in time, while Mr Quickstep seeks a future not yet imagined. Modern art and the illustrations are integral to their encounter.

This is a comic adventure about three space-minded pets facing separation from their humans, a clinic escape and a secret-laboratory mystery.

A school visit sets up a story about a child’s curiosity, with Page’s distinctive pinky prompting an unexpected question. The moment also brings the other pupils’ reactions into view.

This is a family-centred adventure built around pirate and ghost lore, a treasure rumour and historic island sites. The pirate’s reality is left as a question in the story’s premise.

A varied set of short comics follows Venus through familiar childhood interests and imaginative escapades, with a possible dreamlike trip beyond Earth.

This is a story of upheaval and endurance, with Sara’s inventive inner life and kindness at its centre. Her changed circumstances bring loneliness, hunger and cold, alongside friendships and the possibility of renewed happiness.

The children respond to an unfair arrangement by growing vegetables and proposing a trade. Their plan depends on whether the ruler will value the produce, so the story’s hoped-for resolution centres on negotiation.

Liam’s home life is under pressure: his grandmother is ill, his mother is not coping, and his sister skips school. At school, Liam faces bullying and finds confidence in telling stories about the gargoyle.

A snowy Christmas Eve meeting leads two children to hope for a tree like the one in their picture book. The story follows the tree’s appearance at home, where candles and gifts make the scene especially wondrous.

This is an illustrated animal adventure about aspiring to be a hero, searching for magic, and getting a chance to help a friend. Its final question leaves Monty’s wish unresolved.

Loula’s quest turns her wish for a sister into a playful recipe adventure with Gilbert. The story also brings in a hungry visitor after Loula has waited for her plan to work.

A restless child turns a tyre swing into a launch point for imaginative journeys, then returns to earth and bedtime. The book also includes creative activities for children, parents and educators.

The story follows Jacques as he tries to make sense of being Fleur’s imaginary friend and works out what that means for his identity.

This wordless fantasy follows a girl who uses a red marker to enter an imagined world, travel through it and respond to danger. Its picture-led storytelling makes interpretation part of the experience.

A child-centred fantasy adventure about friendship across very different ways of life, with a final episode that invites readers to decide what really happened.

A gentle, imaginative story about a child’s love of kites and an older man’s love of poetry, with financial hardship shaping what Eddie can do.

At its heart, this is a playful story about a child making a robot companion from ordinary things. Its illustrations are described as bright and comic, with imaginative details to notice together.

A child’s imagination links a village encounter to a local legend, blending a crush and village festivities with supernatural suspense.

A warm, lightly playful set of stories about a young bear and his mother, mixing everyday family moments with a fanciful journey.

The story gives a child’s imaginative suspicions centre stage, turning an invitation to play into an elaborate monster adventure.

The book contrasts a child’s playful encounter with zoo animals and her parents’ anxious search. Its imaginative events may invite discussion about how differently characters can experience the same situation.

A playful visual story about painting and unexpected animals, told without words. Its appeal lies in following the pictures and noticing what changes as the boy adds colour.

A playful family-and-space adventure builds around Dad’s alien book, then turns the imagined story back towards the family. It combines encounters with aliens with a romantic turn.

A playful premise pairs sibling detectives with fantastical communication: one talks to animals and the other to insects. It may appeal to readers who enjoy mysteries with an imaginative twist.

A school outsider finds herself caught between the supernatural world she has written about and new relationships at school. The story combines vampire and witch elements with questions of belonging and trust.

This is a speculative adventure about the dangers of suppressing imagination, while also asking whether stories and dreams can themselves become frightening or harmful.

A small-scale adventure transforms familiar garden details into hazards and landmarks. The appeal lies in seeing an everyday setting from a pea’s-eye perspective, alongside a chase for survival.

Expect comic, imaginative poetry rather than one continuous story: the collection moves among unusual characters, situations and drawings.

This is a light, humorous setup about siblings turning a small shared space into an improvised activity for their friends. Their plan begins with limited knowledge of yoga.

This is a friendship story set against coercion and injury, with a fantasy of flying and wartime flying stories in the mix.

A child’s everyday play with a favourite toy turns towards a night-time secret.

A Batman-themed bedtime story links familiar evening preparations with a little superhero's imagined-sounding city adventure.

Expect imaginative, nonsensical fantasy built around Alice’s encounters with unusual characters, rather than a realistic adventure.

A lively classroom adventure puts weather at the centre, with the class travelling into storm clouds in their transformed school bus.

Gabby daydreams, and her teacher introduces a daily daydreaming-writing session.

A quiet night-time journey home becomes an occasion for the bunny to imagine the unseen lives behind neighbours’ windows.

This is a fantasy that makes its own authorship part of the plot: Idaho learns his world is invented and tries to imagine it differently.

This is a fantasy adventure about a lonely girl whose bond with a magical keepsake opens a route into an imagined world. It also sets her new school life alongside a family discovery.

A puppy's time apart from its owner provides the story's premise.

A playful, participatory fantasy: the reader is not just following events but is invited to help shape them with a pencil.

A warm-hearted adventure balances the sisters’ humour and imaginative games with their efforts to endure unjust treatment and help others.

Simon’s creative ideas bring comic disruption: his parents worry about his inventions, and one machine goes wrong during housework. He continues pursuing his ambition after a setback and brings a later invention to school.

Expect a lively, absurd animal adventure built around friendship, danger and rescue. Its distinctive appeal lies in comic names, playful language, a fantastical setting and illustrations intended to invite shared noticing.

Choose this for a child drawn to imaginative adventure, airborne fantasy and unusual inventions. The central appeal appears to be entering an extraordinary kingdom rather than following a realistic everyday story.