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A suspenseful historical mystery set around Pompeii, combining a children's investigation with vivid historical detail and the looming eruption of Vesuvius. Expect friendship, curiosity and adventure, but also sorrow and frightening material near the conclusion.

A warm, question-led story about how Barley Bear and his adoptive mother became a family. It introduces adoption-related ideas through cuddling, conversation and illustrations, rather than presenting a detailed account of every adoption experience.

This is a warm celebration of cousins as friends and family, including relationships maintained across countries. It offers a bright, inclusive shared-reading experience centred on connection.

This is an imaginative, politically charged fantasy for readers interested in languages, dragons and morally complicated loyalties. Vivien’s translation work opens onto family upheaval, rebellion, class divisions and a war whose human and dragon costs are visible.

A playful football-themed poetry collection, best suited to sharing jokes, wordplay and different poetic forms.

This is a visually led story about forced movement, family resilience and the search for safety. It may help children consider refugees as people with fears, relationships and hopes, rather than as an abstract issue.

A warm picture-book story about welcoming a mysterious, vulnerable stranger, forming attachment, experiencing sudden separation and extending hospitality to others like him. Its imaginative setting leaves room to discuss belonging without explaining everything about Mister Toots.

This offers a lively introduction to Welsh folklore through brief, retold stories with magical, humorous and emotionally resonant elements. It may particularly suit shared reading or readers curious about Wales, names and traditional tales.

This is a relationship-centred YA story about second chances, shifting friendships, and communication. Its distinctive element is Ollie's deafness and the way sign language, texts, and context shape interactions.

This is a coming-of-age novel that combines personal stories with substantial exploration of Deaf culture, language and rights. It may suit readers interested in how identity, communication and community shape one another.

A thoughtful contemporary romance about finding ways to communicate, with disability, anxiety, friendship and family relationships treated as substantial parts of the story rather than simple obstacles.

A warm story about a child whose busy family weekend becomes an unexpected learning experience. It offers a lively picture of shared work, celebration and community, while making room for a child’s worry about disappointing school expectations.

This is an intimate survival story centred less on action than on two people’s changing relationship, private memories and the difficult work of rebuilding life after catastrophe.

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.

This offers a lively, personal story about cultural and family pressures, school belonging and wanting independence. Humour sits alongside increasingly serious material, so the emotional experience may change notably as Jo grows older.

This is an adventure about survival and an unusual cross-generational friendship. Alongside practical danger, it gives substantial space to loneliness, care, learning and the ways a relationship can change someone’s view of the world.

This is an energetic, funny and sometimes unsettling portrait of childhood, told through Paddy’s immediate perspective. Its loose vignettes reward attention to changing relationships rather than expecting a conventional, steadily plotted story.

A child’s perspective makes refugee experience, antisemitism and changing countries personal and discussable. Family solidarity and curiosity sit alongside historically grounded accounts of persecution and loss.

This is a journey of identity and connection, set against the Australian outback. It offers friendship, discovery and engagement with First Country history and culture, while the girl’s lost memory creates an uncertain starting point.

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.

This is a performance-friendly poetry collection: playful sounds, repeated rhyme, comic images and short narratives offer opportunities to laugh, listen, join in and notice how words work.

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.

This is a humorous friendship story about inventing words, receiving attention, feeling jealous and trying to repair a damaged relationship. Its ancient setting also invites curiosity about language and inventions.