What Are You Looking For?

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.

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 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.

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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Expect an imaginative café adventure built around peculiar food requests, mythical creatures and the partnership between Rene and Glumfoot. Its rhyming, visually led presentation makes the story’s grotesque culinary comedy a central part of the experience.

This is a brisk story about a child responding to a lost dog’s memory by inventing an invisible companion. Imagination, persistence, family decisions and an older neighbour’s good-humoured acceptance shape the action.

A surprising visitor turns an ordinary tea into a playful, extravagant adventure. The book offers repetition, expressive pictures, dialogue and opportunities for children to join in with sounds, phrases and imaginative possibilities.

Expect a playful fantasy adventure centred on an unusual hotel, magical visitors and comic world-building. The story appears designed for momentum and imaginative enjoyment, with short chapters, action and humour rather than a complex plot.

Expect an imaginative factory adventure centred on five children, with comic fantasy, moral contrasts and a strong focus on Charlie’s honesty. The story also includes poverty, rule-breaking and punishments that may prompt differing reactions.

A compact, imaginative fantasy about a child’s anger and imaginative escape. Max’s journey towards and away from the Wild Things gives the book energetic movement, while his return home brings the story back to family.

A lively, twist-filled family adventure built around magic shows, vanished landmarks and a journey to Las Vegas. Middy’s practice contrasts with Nathan’s showmanship, giving the cousins different ways to face trouble and uncertainty.

This is a comic, art-centred adventure in which a boy’s curiosity opens up a struggling Welsh community. It offers family relationships, local change and many real paintings.

This is an imaginative coming-of-age story about a friendship that crosses from invention into reality. Its strongest appeal is the playful magical premise alongside Laurie’s efforts to become more confident and understand what friendship means.

This is an emotionally serious friendship story rather than a straightforward adventure. Its imagined kingdom, school conflicts and family pressures lead into an unsoftened account of bereavement.

Expect a fast-moving fantasy adventure built around a race, inventive magical creatures and a quest to help family. Its emotional centre is a quiet child learning to recognise his own capabilities.

This is a quest fantasy about siblings facing separation, magical danger and inherited family trouble. Its appeal lies in Fairyland, nature-linked magic, riddles, storytelling and a movement from grief and hardship towards courage and hope.

Expect an imaginative fantasy built around ordinary household objects seen from a tiny family’s perspective. Its appeal lies in clever details, family relationships and the contrast between the Borrowers’ hidden life and the human world.

This is a mysterious, emotionally serious novel about a child helping a strange being while his family faces a baby’s dangerous illness. Its imaginative uncertainty and lyrical language may appeal to readers who enjoy stories that leave some questions open.

This is a grief-centred fantasy in which imaginative play becomes a route into mystery and connection. Talking toys and humorous moments sit alongside bereavement, school loneliness and questions about whether the imagined world can be safely reached.

Expect imaginative, episodic fantasy: children explore changing magical lands, meet memorable inhabitants and encounter both treats and danger. The story’s cosy, conversational narration sits alongside distinctly old-fashioned social assumptions.

A gentle imaginative search story, pairing a missing teddy button with a moonlit garden, animal encounters and the comfort of putting something right. Its appeal appears to lie in wonder, visual discovery and companionship.

Expect playful poems that invite laughter and imaginative thinking, balancing recognisable childhood moments with fanciful questions, surprising creatures and deliberately silly situations.

This is a thoughtful, wistful fantasy about a child resisting change. Its strongest appeal may be the combination of village detail, imaginative uncertainty and emotional honesty, while its pace and melancholy mood may suit readers who enjoy reflective stories.

An atmospheric fantasy about a child settling into an ancient house and discovering links with children from an earlier time. Family, place, animals and stories are central.

A lively camping mystery turns ordinary trip details—food, tents, night noises and a full moon—into comic suspicion. Expect energetic friendship dynamics, exaggerated danger and a playful rather than realistic werewolf premise.

A magical friendship story follows Lewis after he discovers an angel on the roof. The angel’s presence appears to alter relationships around him, while Lewis is drawn towards seeing difference and other people differently.

This is an imaginative story about making a world that reflects one person’s ideas. Its main appeal is the inventive detail: Wesley turns a plant into resources, culture and communication, then sees others respond.

A lively bedtime adventure turns a stormy house into an imaginary ship. The story offers surreal play, colourful illustrations and a comic creature encounter, while ending with breakfast and family help.