What Are You Looking For?

A childhood story about music, friendship and adapting when illness interrupts a much-loved activity. Millie is an imagined character; Oscar Peterson’s childhood and musical path provide the real-life inspiration.

This is a chapter-based tour of nine wild-dog species, combining animal behaviour, habitats and survival with coloured photographs. It ranges from coyotes in cities to bush dogs, dholes, dingoes, jackals and singing dogs.

This is an imaginative fairy-tale adventure about family, friendship and finding missing people, combining modern Virginia with an older magical world. Its shifting settings, time structure and recognisable story figures may appeal to readers who enjoy elaborate retellings.

A lively school diary about a pupil who tries to force her way home through bad behaviour, then finds unexpected reasons to engage with school. Expect pranks, rivalry, comic embarrassment, music and friendship rather than a quiet adjustment story.

A warm, historically grounded account of how a rescued bear became connected with Winnie-the-Pooh. Its layered storytelling, photographs and family records offer both an engaging animal story and an introduction to memory, wartime history and literary origins.

A folklore-infused fantasy about a cursed princess undertaking dangerous trials to save her brothers. Its strongest threads are family loyalty, courage, sacrifice and repairing harm, while its trials include physical danger, death and bereavement.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys ambitious fantasy, mythic worlds and protagonists who challenge restrictive communities. It is better approached as an imaginative, sometimes confusing journey than as a straightforward adventure.

A playful ensemble drama turns five animal tales into acted stories, then shifts towards a more personal final episode. Its distinctive appeal is imaginative performance alongside friendship and self-understanding.

A fast-moving modern Cinderella story centres on a girl using her singing talent to seek a different life. Expect familiar fairy-tale patterns, family conflict and a performance-driven route towards independence.

A funny, thoughtful fantasy about a community facing upheaval. Its appeal lies less in grand spectacle than in practical problem-solving, social observation and seeing familiar life from the Nomes’ radically different perspective.

This is a family-and-friendship story about adapting to relocation, comparing yourself with a successful sibling, and rebuilding trust when sisters begin keeping things from one another.

A focused introduction to anteaters, covering their unusual physical features, insect-eating, species differences, protection from enemies and mothers’ care of their babies.

This is a gentle family story built from sensory seaside memories and a repeated pebble ritual. Its emotional centre is the child’s continuing connection with Grandad after his circumstances change.

This is a colour-rich magical quest about a child seeking companionship, forming a close bond with a dog, and responding when that relationship no longer fits her home. It offers a gentle framework for discussing change and belonging.

Choose this for a high-stakes forbidden romance set against a vivid, drowned future London, especially if a Romeo and Juliet reworking appeals. Expect war, scarcity and a grim atmosphere alongside the central relationship.

A warm, nature-focused story about belonging and care. Roz learns by observing the island’s animals, while raising Brightbill gives the story a family relationship and a reason to explore migration, instincts and seasonal change.

A good fit for readers drawn to eerie fairy-tale retellings, magical quests, mysteries and determined protagonists. Its central journey carries genuine danger, while its romantic thread and unresolved ending may shape the reading experience.

A fast-moving fantasy mystery with an underwater setting, missing-person investigation and environmental concerns. It may appeal to readers who enjoy suspense, sea folklore and protagonists confronting difficult questions about trust, identity and responsibility.

Expect a brisk historical adventure centred on bereavement, trust and belonging. Maggie’s errand expands into an international race, with shifting loyalties, danger and friendships providing momentum.

A lively fairy-tale reimagining where three heroines encounter magic, danger and friendship. Its central movement is from Rumaysa’s enforced confinement towards escape, shared adventure and protagonists who act as their own rescuers.

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 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 lively Greek-myth fantasy where comic gods and a young goddess accompany Elliott through danger. Its emotional centre is a child trying to care for his unwell mother while protecting his family’s home.

A thoughtful adventure about losing home, feeling misunderstood and building trust across profound differences. The sea-world premise supports curiosity about biology and communication, while Ginika’s family situation gives the story emotional weight.

A thoughtful wartime story about displacement, difficult loyalties and the stories people tell to explain frightening events. It offers an accessible surface narrative alongside deeper questions about guilt, power, family conflict and how childhood experiences can endure.

This is a fanciful, visually distinctive story about bereavement, adaptation and returning home. Babar moves between an animal world and a human-style society, with wonder, danger and a strong emphasis on manners, effort and belonging.

A familiar flood story is reframed through Mrs Noah’s quiet choices. It offers a warm, gently humorous read-aloud with striking artwork, while inviting attention to who gets to make decisions and whose actions are noticed.

This is a reflective story about losing a familiar home and friendship, then slowly finding steadiness elsewhere. Its poem-by-poem structure gives Diana’s changing feelings room to emerge through observations, notes and everyday family moments.

This is an ensemble survival and mystery story about young people adapting to an evacuation camp, then investigating the threat behind it. Its changing forms invite attention to how different voices record events and make sense of uncertainty.

Expect a light, comic fantasy about an athletic modern girl and a transported medieval princess negotiating family life, junior high and popularity. Its main appeal is the pair’s contrasting perspectives and developing friendship.

This is a gentle-looking animal fantasy that combines recognisable characters and riverside adventures with a deliberate response to an older classic. Its strongest appeal may be the meeting of nostalgic atmosphere, humour, illustrations and fresh female perspectives.

A family move becomes a lens for exploring belonging, cultural identity and relationships across a divided setting. Liyana’s viewpoint connects private family change with wider tensions involving Jews and Palestinians.

This is a family-and-community story about rebuilding after a devastating fire. Rebecca’s separation from her parents places personal courage alongside questions of belonging, immigrant identity and the relationship between inherited traditions and new opportunities.

This is a contemporary coming-of-age story about Aurora’s unsettled summer: adapting to farm life, falling in love, coping with her mother’s permanent departure, and witnessing her father defend undocumented Mexican farm workers.

This is a family-centred story about a child whose behaviour and identity appear to change dramatically, and a brother who tries to understand what is happening while the household struggles.

A lively animal adventure also centres on family change: Taya must manage the aftermath of a house fire, pressure on the family business and uncertainty about her twin’s new friendships.

A warm story about separation, belonging and friendship, using Stellaluna’s movement between bat and bird families to explore how differences can coexist without preventing connection.

A disability-centred coming-of-age story about adapting to blindness, confronting varied social reactions and finding greater independence through guide-dog training and a return to school.

This is an imaginative adventure about twins caring for an unusual school pet whose transformation creates secrecy, practical problems and suspense. Its appeal lies in the playful dragon premise and the question of how the twins respond.

Ollie repeatedly tries to fly, while Jack joins his experiments and continues to support him. The attempts include natural materials, a kite and homemade clockwork wings; one attempt ends in a crash, followed by a broader understanding of what it means to soar.

A survival mystery with a major change in Juneau’s understanding of reality. Its strongest offer is the contrast between a secluded upbringing and a modern world she was taught did not exist.

Penny moves from the city to Hog’s Hollow and is not living with her father.

This is a school-and-family story about Lola trying to feel significant while friendships and home circumstances shift. Her wish to win the Going-Green Contest gives those changes a personal, competitive focus.

This is a family-and-school story about a troubled young person adjusting to a new home, school and relationships. Its central movement is from anger and resistance towards greater acceptance and hope.

This looks like a comic school adventure built around a homemade literary-and-fairytale mash-up. Its central appeal is likely the clash between Rob’s troubles, Katfish’s unusual identity and the competitive Fun-ger Games.