What Are You Looking For?

A historical family story about wartime change, German-American prejudice and Carl’s first summer living away from home.

This is a fantasy rescue adventure, with responsibility set against danger to unicorns and the possibility of conflict between peoples.

The central dilemma links choices in battle to a supernatural threat: winning militarily may still help the demon fulfil its prophecy.

The story follows CC as she considers her future, guided by an ancient book, alongside children from different backgrounds. Its historical notes may add context to the adventure.

This is a fantasy adventure about training for a war, but it also puts Evie's ideas about princesshood, family and compassion under pressure.

This is a speculative story about how people respond when a frightening prediction seems to offer guidance. Nickie’s interest in helping gives the crisis a personal perspective, alongside the town’s attempts to interpret the vision.

This is a story about a child’s bond with a horse and a dispute over who should have the animal. Emma’s grandmother and the animal sanctuary are part of the setting.

A school-and-horses story about ambition, belonging and building trust with a guarded pony. Malory’s hopes for her future at Chestnut Hill are tied to whether she can bring out Tybalt’s potential.

This is a story about a bereaved teenager seeking a way forward through street performance. It places Ally’s hopes alongside the instability of foster care and life on the streets.

A lively bridge between picture books and more independent reading: three comic adventures combine baking, mystery, ghosts and imaginative gadgets. Its illustrations, energetic language, alliteration and recurring characters make the book especially suited to shared reading or a child building confidence.

Expect a tense wartime adventure centred on a boy whose loyalty is unsettled by family revelations and encounters with Nazi brutality. Its main appeal is the combination of suspense, historical setting and moral awakening rather than light-hearted adventure.

Expect a warm family story with humour and emotional depth. Batty’s efforts to earn money, her singing talent and the changing relationships around her provide several strands beyond the central grief.

This is a historical family story about Alice’s practical care, creative problem-solving and concern for Teddy after war. Its focus appears to be emotional recovery and family life rather than combat itself.

This is idea-driven science fiction about an observer caught between official rules and compassion. Its central tension comes from deciding whether intervention is morally responsible or dangerously presumptuous.

An energetic pony adventure combining horse handling, competitions, a film-set setting and mysteries. Friendship is central to Issie’s attempt to manage lively horses, while a troubled actress and possible danger to ponies add complication.

A gentle but emotionally serious story about a child’s promise, a friendship interrupted by war, and the experience of someone’s absence. Its focus is care and loyalty rather than action.

A fast-moving fantasy adventure combines an unusual underground world with a serious rescue mission. Its strongest appeal is likely the combination of sibling care, loyal alliances, prophecy and difficult choices during conflict.

A fast-moving historical adventure places a young protagonist between friendship, justice and danger. Its Robin Hood setting is paired with questions about hunger, power, reputation and what makes someone a hero.

A playful magical adventure centred on pottery, crafts and recovering a missing object. It offers a straightforward conflict between Rachel and Kirsty and Jack Frost, with creativity forming the story’s distinctive setting.

A tense frontier survival adventure in which three children evade outlaws, endure severe hardship and discover treasure. It offers resourcefulness, loyalty and historical setting alongside frightening danger, bereavement and family separation.

Expect a light, ensemble relationship story built around dates, ex-partners, social events and competing responsibilities. It also gives readers access to characters’ thoughts and motivations beyond what a television episode could show.

Expect a comic children’s story built around a problem: an ice-cream truck will not stop for children.

A fast-moving science-fiction adventure that places a thoughtful robot between fearful children, human survivors and hostile machines. Its strongest offering is a child-accessible route into questions about personhood, loyalty and moral choices during conflict.

This is a serious historical novel about Hiroshima’s bombing and its long aftermath for one family. Its movement between prose, poetry and haiku gives the story a distinctive shape, while the paper cranes connect grief, promises and hope.

Expect a brisk, comic fantasy in which an ancient Egyptian pharaoh becomes an unexpected household guest. Its appeal lies in absurd situations, family reactions and a light adventure involving grave robbers.

This is a serious, emotionally intense story about forced movement, family separation and trying to belong in an unfamiliar country. Its unhappy ending may matter to readers who need preparation for difficult material.

A focused, dual-narrative historical novel about displacement, survival and access to water. Its language is spare, but the experiences include war, deaths and severe deprivation, balanced by perseverance and collective problem-solving.

This is an imaginative animal adventure with two contrasting protagonists: a calf escaping slaughter and a rejected boy pursuing him. The journey opens questions about compassion, human treatment of animals and how relationships can change thinking.

A gripping wartime adventure built around an unlikely friendship. Robert and David’s shared displacement creates empathy and emotional depth, while espionage, pursuit and cliffhangers provide momentum.

This is a gentle beach adventure about a character whose plans repeatedly go wrong, then improve through friendship and a calming activity. Its central interest is recognising strong feelings and responding with compassion.

A tender story of Waverley the cat and Donald’s separation, set alongside illustrations of a homeless war veteran. Its emotional focus is friendship, waiting and the contrast between kindness and people being overlooked.

This is a serious, emotionally focused novel about returning home, confronting painful memories and imagining a future beyond harmful family dynamics. Flooding and climate danger provide an urgent backdrop, while romantic love adds another strand.

A thoughtful verse novel about a child facing an unwanted move and gradually finding steadiness. Its imaginary-friend narrator gives Ray’s worries a distinct voice while the story broadens towards kindness, refuge and understanding others.

A mysterious island adventure where friendship, fear and compassion matter. Children encounter local suspicion, a bullying family relationship, a stranded narwhal and the disruptive shadow of war.

A moving wartime narrative seen through a horse’s limited understanding, contrasting battlefield destruction with loyalty, care, and shared humanity. Its emotional force comes from the separation of Joey and Albert and the suffering of horses and people.

This is a bleak, idea-led science-fiction pursuit that gradually becomes psychologically unsettling. Expect a deliberately strange society, moral uncertainty and twists that may leave some questions unresolved rather than neatly explained.

Expect a lively quest shaped by comic reversals: a gullible scarecrow and clever Jack search for home while facing legal pursuit and a plan to industrialise Spring Valley. Kindness and ingenuity help them resist the threat.

Expect an eerie, imaginative timeslip story in which Minty investigates a mysterious garden and tries to help two children from different historical periods. Its suspense is closely connected with family distress and compassion.

This is a child-centred war story about Ayesha’s attempt to obtain help for her grandmother, set amid divided communities, danger, bereavement and family separation.

A tense historical adventure about separated siblings and Jan, a young thief who joins them. Its strongest qualities are resourcefulness, loyalty and compassion, alongside a serious portrayal of children navigating war’s aftermath.

A thoughtful wartime story about displacement, difficult loyalties and the stories people tell to explain frightening events. It offers an accessible surface narrative alongside deeper questions about guilt, power, family conflict and how childhood experiences can endure.

Expect a comic, episodic adventure in which children help gentle yetis seek refuge. The story combines absurd details and rescues with sharper material about captivity, animal cruelty, hunting and threatened communities.

This is a nature-centred coming-of-age story about grief, friendship and caring for a wild bird. Will and Omar’s discovery of an osprey nest creates an adventure while reflecting their own unsettled lives.

A light fantasy adventure set around a camp stay, where two girls help a firefly fairy after Jack Frost takes the fireflies. Expect magical problem-solving, night-time searching and friendship-focused action.

This is a dual-timeline adventure about a girl’s search for a lost family object and her discovery of an older generation’s wartime story. Its focus falls on loyalty, memory, courage and helping others in crisis.