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A playful story about facing a first dental visit: Simon is alarmed by Ferdinand’s imagined horrors, but meets a patient dentist and discovers the experience is not painful for him.

This is a spooky, funny family adventure centred on a child’s fear of a pirate ghost and an older brother’s teasing. Its appeal lies in the uncertainty between an alarming story and a practical joke.

A lively read-aloud built around personified eyebrows, comic transformations and visual surprises. Its central movement is from rejecting a distinctive feature to recognising its value, while the eyebrows’ strange careers create opportunities for playful participation.

This is an imaginative rescue adventure about two brothers whose shared dreams become dangerous. It follows Malky’s efforts to understand what has happened to Seb and to act despite fear, while family change and friendship shape his choices.

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.

A warm, funny story about feeling unready for school, combining Lola's determined excuses with Soren Lorensen's nervousness and imaginative collage illustrations.

This is an illustrated adventure that uses a boy’s encounter with Stone Age life to introduce practical processes and archaeological curiosity. Its open-ended dream-or-time-travel premise invites discussion rather than a single definite explanation.

This is a creative introduction to feelings, using alphabetic rhymes and animal imagery to give emotions memorable forms and language. It may work especially well as a shared conversation book.

A family’s fear grows as a huge black dog watches their home. Small Hope faces it, leads it on a chase, and discovers a playful way to bring it inside.

A practical rainy-day idea book with broad variety: children can try creative making, games, food preparation, science experiments, magic tricks, gardening and quiet play, choosing activities that suit the moment.

This is an energetic, participatory poetry book: poems can be performed aloud, paired with movement, facial expressions and imaginative drawing. Its colourful illustrations provide visual prompts and subjects to talk about together.

This is an upbeat exploration of what a child might do when entertainment stops. It offers a sequence of imaginative transformations, moving from frustration towards self-directed play and inventive possibilities.

This is a comic, imaginative rhyming story about Nora’s unstoppable appetite. The escalating silliness moves from food to unexpected objects, then into a fantastical space adventure, ending with a surprising happy consequence.

Expect an art-led exploration rather than a conventional lesson: each section uses images, page alterations and brief commentary to evoke seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling, then opens towards imagination.

Read this as a warm, symbolic conversation between an adult and child about making a life together. Concrete building, imaginative journeys and emotional “tools” sit alongside ideas of protection, hope and forgiveness.

A warm, comic sibling story about loving someone while also needing space. Nano and Felix’s disagreement grows through exclusion, bad weather and hurt feelings, then moves towards repair.

Found offers a warm, imaginative seaside adventure centred on a close grandparent–grandchild relationship. The rescue of a seal pup brings excitement and peril, while the artwork shifts from realistic beach details towards strikingly fanciful scenes.

This is an inviting, fact-rich beach exploration book: a repeated search pattern encourages participation, while illustrations and tucked-away information reward close observation. The final foldout shifts discovery towards imagination.

Choose this for a reflective shared read about sunlight, living things and big questions. Its strongest experience is visual: children can trace connections across scenes and wonder aloud rather than follow a conventional plot.

A gentle family story centred on Rosie’s imaginative wrapping game, moving through familiar objects, caring relatives, bedtime upset, and the arrival of a new baby sister.

This is a playful environmental story in which Emily takes her imagined whale seriously, while Greenpeace offers factual explanations about migration, space and animals’ freedom.

A visually led story about a child imagining colour and planting a seed in a grey urban world. Its main appeal is the contrast between waiting, growth and transformation, rather than detailed gardening instruction.

This is an illustrated story about Becky pursuing an ambitious science project while classmates grow seeds in paper cups. Its interest lies in the contrast between an ordinary classroom activity and a more imaginative possibility.

A playful, highly visual expedition through fairyland shops, this book offers magical objects, comic character encounters and countless details to inspect. Its pleasure lies in browsing, spotting and imagining rather than following a strongly developed plot.

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.

A warm, imaginative outing centres on companionship across generations. The visual journey—from heat and desert to a fantastical picnic—offers plenty to notice and discuss, without requiring a fixed answer about what really happened.

A grieving teenager travels through Zimbabwe with her family and an elusive companion only she can see. The story combines family conflict, cultural discovery and emotional reflection, with a deliberately mysterious ending that may reward close attention.

This is a grief story with a supernatural or possibly imagined presence at its centre. Jade’s friendship with Vicky is loving but unequal, and recovery involves recognising control, facing guilt and accepting help.

A tender, imaginative picture book about a child’s close bond with his grandfather and a puzzling journey that ends with Grandad staying elsewhere. Its colourful island setting contrasts with Syd’s return home alone.

A playful story about a child facing her dog’s departure to heaven. Lily and Dill imagine different versions of the afterlife, then say goodbye; Lily later offers a stray puppy a version of “heaven on earth”.

A tender, unconventional picture book about a grandfather and granddaughter enjoying imaginative and ordinary moments together. Its final images rely on pictures and silence rather than a fully explained ending.

A colourful introduction to legendary creatures from around the world, combining brief factual profiles with illustrations, maps and references to the traditions that shaped each story. It offers a browsable starting point for exploring mythology, folklore and the links between legends and real-world observations.

A mythic sea adventure carries Phoebe through danger, quests and encounters with gods and monsters, while her real-world worries about Cass, memory and loss remain central.

Expect a pirate-themed poetry collection rather than a single continuous story.

A funny robot-double premise gradually becomes a thoughtful exploration of what makes a person unique. The book offers visual detail, imaginative problem-solving and a gentle way into questions about self-knowledge.

A visually detailed, comic family story about welcoming a new sibling whose faulty arrival creates escalating household disorder. Cathode’s practical intervention helps restore order, while the final “TWINS!” discovery leaves the family facing another surprise.

Expect a playful ghost hunt through an old house, where transparent pages reveal apparitions that the girl cannot see. Its main pleasure is shared spotting, prediction and uncertainty rather than a neatly explained haunting.

This looks like a lively friendship adventure built around contrasting personalities, imaginative inventions and a sudden encounter with a threatening figure. Its strongest appeal may be the trio’s teamwork and playful world-building.

This is a gentle mystery built around looking, waiting and imagining. Its pleasure lies less in solving the hole’s secret than in noticing how many explanations can coexist.

Expect a quiet, imaginative visual journey rather than a written plot. The boy’s discovery opens onto strange sea creatures, nested portraits and an open-ended cycle of finding, looking and passing on.

A portal-like magical shop gives Daniel a route from hardship into wonder, responsibility and danger. The story combines bullying, orphanhood, inventive fantasy and a clear save-the-Emporium quest, with creative possibilities beyond the plot.

A lively school-and-family story about handling change, friendship and unfair treatment through humour and imagination. Omar’s Muslim identity is part of everyday life, not a separate lesson.

This is a lively quest involving Greek mythology, jokes, companionship and danger. Its appeal appears to come from placing Greek gods and monsters in a contemporary world, with a mystery that grows more threatening.

Expect a highly comic, unconventional story that turns homework, authority and strange family dynamics into absurd adventure. Its strongest appeal is likely its playful language and refusal to treat rigid learning schemes as unquestionable.

An imaginative journey transforms how three children see both nature and their tower-block home. The story offers a strong visual contrast between built surroundings and greenery, then turns towards community, belonging and renewed appreciation.