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A lively read-aloud about a lost dog’s imagined adventures, using rhyme, humour and expressive illustrations to explore survival, landscape, curiosity and the pull of home.

This is an adventurous, emotionally charged animal-led quest. It offers talking animals, friendship and humour alongside a bleak altered world, separated families, imprisonment, disease and threats to survival. The ending appears to open into a continuing story rather than resolving every possibility.

Expect a lively rescue adventure centred on Molly’s courage and cleverness. The pirate setting, island peril and treasure chase offer momentum, while Molly’s role gives the story an assertive child protagonist.

A spooky fantasy adventure about a girl who enters a dangerous forest to understand what happened to her sister, with the story’s central mystery challenging simple ideas of bravery and rescue.

This is an imaginative adventure combining friendship, mystery and a robot with a society changed by water scarcity. It also gives sustained attention to Auden’s experience of achromatopsia and his changing relationship with that difference.

This is a historical mystery about a child navigating wartime separation, an unwelcoming household and unanswered questions. Gardens, hothouses and a Suffolk estate provide a vivid setting for secrets, suspicion and friendship.

This offers a warm, satisfying fairy tale with magical transformations, unusual characters and artwork rich in small visual details that create an intimate, familiar feel.

A dark, fast-moving faerie adventure that combines monsters, romance and town danger with more reflective questions about self-invention, family secrets, community complicity and whether apparent gifts or beauty can conceal coercion.

This is a fast-moving virtual-reality adventure with a capable but vulnerable protagonist, combining tournament gameplay with a mystery about a threatening player and technology’s real-world consequences.

This is a spooky rescue adventure centred on a frightened boy trying to protect his brother. Expect cemetery and crypt imagery, supernatural games, riddles and sustained suspense, alongside friendship and compassion.

This is an emotionally charged historical animal adventure: Delta uses courage and resourcefulness to search for separated friends while Pompeii faces catastrophe. It offers suspense, relationships and a window onto Roman life, including the unequal position of enslaved people.

A clue-driven historical adventure centred on a determined violinist, with friendship and perseverance alongside bereavement, abandonment, deception and threats. Its journey spans India, the sea voyage and Victorian England.

This is a magical forest adventure centred on Hilda and Twig’s partnership. Its distinctive offer is a more active role for Twig, alongside storm sheltering, mysterious surroundings and a rescue-shaped challenge.

A lively historical-fantasy mystery follows two young detectives through Parisian streets and sewers. Its strongest appeal is the blend of family questions, magical folklore, riddles, danger and a richly used city setting, with Zélie and Jules sharing the adventure.

A lively fantasy quest with a determined heroine, comic creatures and a school setting. Bronte’s pursuit of knighthood challenges traditional expectations while the story explores courage, responsibility and standing by others.

A fast-moving rescue adventure about courage, loyalty and learning to trust. Wolves are central companions, while Feo’s journey brings danger, humour and a friendship that develops under pressure.

Ben’s OCD is represented through counting, tapping, blinking, colour rules and fears that dreadful things will happen. The story also follows friendship, school transition and family strain, with support beginning to help him regain control.

An imaginative, morally charged fantasy centred on Lyra, animal daemons and a rescue mission. Its adventure is accompanied by kidnapping, experimentation, bereavement and graphic violence, while bravery and protecting others are strongly emphasised.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys atmospheric mysteries, eccentric characters, supernatural adventure and comic wordplay. Its central appeal is following clues through an unusual seaside world while Herbie and Violet face escalating danger.

A high-stakes fantasy about two young people facing an oppressive society, dangerous magic and threats to their families. Its strongest focus is courage joined with cultural pride and resistance to injustice.

A gentle but serious rural story in which Spider’s connection with animals gives him purpose and belonging. It presents difference, kindness and courage through a character whose strengths are recognised by those who care for him.

Expect a quest-led fantasy centred on bravery, friendship and teamwork. Magical creatures create danger, while the conflict is framed as a struggle against an evil wizard’s spell rather than realistic wrongdoing.

This is a magical rescue adventure featuring talking beavers, a threatening witch, most of the island’s inhabitants imprisoned, spell books and secret passages. It offers imaginative peril alongside friendship, kindness and bravery.

This is a lively, illustrated adventure centred on a very worried boy who must respond when a neighbour announces a plan to destroy the world. Its humour turns danger into exaggerated, often absurd comedy.

Expect anarchic humour, imaginative adventures and a central character who challenges adult authority. Pippi’s friendships, confidence and physical strength drive the fun, while the episodic structure offers distinct comic situations rather than one tightly unfolding plot.

A compact, atmospheric fantasy about courage and devotion, with a clear quest structure. Its cold landscapes and threatening folklore create suspense, while Ivan’s determination gives the story emotional purpose.