What Are You Looking For?

A search story about two siblings responding to a dog who may be lost.

A lively, first-person school story combines farcical problem-solving and slow-burn romance with serious family instability. Its emotional centre is Aideen’s habit of helping others while struggling to address her own circumstances.

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.

This is an action-led coming-of-age story about a troubled child entering an extraordinary spy-training organisation. It offers perseverance, teamwork and personal change alongside danger, bereavement, coercion and language some families may wish to discuss.

A dramatic, atmospheric story of companionship and courage, moving from cosy village life to stormy seas and back to communal celebration. The cat’s unusual power gives the legend a magical, memorable turn.

A gentle family story centred on two male penguins who care for an egg and raise Tango. Its main emphasis is belonging, parenting and adoption, with wider questions about what makes a family.

A gentle Chilean folktale about finding companionship, caring for someone who is not yours to keep, and living through separation. Its sea imagery and illustrations may invite close, unhurried attention.

This is a hopeful environmental story in which small actions become more effective through cooperation. Its imaginative ocean encounter gives practical choices—such as reducing plastic and reusing bottles—a narrative setting.

This is an encouraging, action-focused introduction to caring for oneself, other people and the planet. Its strongest offering is turning large global aims into small, concrete things children can try, discuss or make together.

A tense, emotionally serious science-fiction mystery about desperate choices, hidden exploitation and sibling love. Its strongest appeal is the combination of a threatening facility, ethical questions and contrasting prose and poetry voices.

A fast-paced adventure follows Ollie into The Haven, a child-run refuge and investigation network. The story combines criminal danger, missing children, bereavement and a threat to London, with friendship developing between Ollie and Dodge.

Expect a richly illustrated, surreal story rather than a straightforward cosy tale. The Greenling brings abundance and connection, yet its arrival and departure carry an ominous, folkloric atmosphere.

A serious, emotionally charged story about a bereaved child facing prejudice, instability and threats to her bond with Joe. It may invite empathy, but its portrayal of rescue and belonging appears partly sentimentalised.

A warm, lively story about an isolated child finding companionship, then helping her family reconsider a wild animal. Its historical setting and concluding information extend the story into an introduction to prehistory and domestication.

This is a socially engaged Manchester story about three Black teenagers whose lives become connected after a stabbing. Its central interest lies in contrasting viewpoints, unequal experiences and the friendships formed in the aftermath.

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.

This is a refugee journey told through Sami’s changing circumstances: a familiar life in Damascus gives way to displacement, danger and attempts to rebuild in England. Family bonds, guilt, anxiety, kindness and discrimination shape the experience.

This is a child-centred detective adventure in which solving a mystery becomes a way to learn about Gran’s life, memory and the importance of understanding people as individuals.

Expect an ambitious illustrated adventure in which two sibling seeds face separation, danger and uncertainty while learning about Earth’s history and living systems. Its emotional centre is family loyalty, alongside a sustained interest in survival, connection and the natural world.

A funny school-and-family story about disrupted routines, fostering and learning to cooperate when two boys must tackle a shared challenge.

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 brisk environmental adventure about a reluctant visit becoming a relationship with a grandad, a local stream and its wildlife. Kyle’s growing responsibility gives the story an encouraging focus on courage, care and standing up for a place.

This is a sustained post-apocalyptic survival story in which blindness, predatory plants and human power struggles reshape everyday life. It offers danger, moral choices and competing ideas about how society might be rebuilt after catastrophe.

This is an imaginative, unsettling quest about two dependent beings trying to build a home rather than achieve isolation. Expect comic absurdity alongside menace, moral complexity and sustained questions about freedom, family and survival.

This is a thoughtful survival adventure in which Roz learns by watching, earns trust through helpfulness and cares for an orphaned gosling. Its accessible episodic structure supports shared reading, while the island’s dangers and losses may prompt pauses.

A tense, emotionally serious survival story follows Ade through a collapsing city while his mother withdraws and neighbours become an unexpected support network. Its strongest offering is a child-centred exploration of vulnerability, responsibility and collective care.

A warm set of everyday adventures about brothers whose activities include helping at home, spending time with friends, caring for family, and engaging with their local environment.

This is a tender story about settling somewhere new while carrying memories of the past. It combines sadness with hope, showing how familiar relationships and community support can matter during change.

Birdie offers a historical story about a child seeking belonging after leaving care, set against racism and suspicion. Her friendship with Mr Duke, a pit pony, provides an important strand of connection and care.