What Are You Looking For?

Readers are introduced to story and script development, storyboarding, filming techniques and editing, with advice for using a camera or mobile phone.

Expect practical making rather than a continuous story: guided builds lead into challenges where a photo is the only instruction. Finished models are also prompts for imaginative play.

A hands-on introduction to making poems from everyday subjects, with prompts and exercises as well as examples drawn from Prelutsky's own work.

This is a hands-on book for trying comedy activities together, rather than a story to follow. Its range of formats offers groups different ways to experiment with making comedy.

A hands-on choice for readers interested in making puppets and putting on a play, rather than a straightforward retelling alone.

This is a comic, theatrical premise about two contrasting approaches to dating and a musical that challenges men’s behaviour. Its story-within-a-story setup may interest readers who enjoy performance and creative projects.

A map-loving pupil faces a mystery after secret maps about school life disappear and threatening notes arrive. The investigation offers puzzles, inventive interests and school relationships, while privacy and the effects of representing other people deserve attention.

A broad, hands-on collection for choosing projects rather than reading from beginning to end. Its range includes pictures, collages, models, printing, painting and stitched or decorated pieces, with scope for adapting materials and methods.

This looks like a hands-on starting point for learning basic hand sewing, with projects intended to make practice purposeful rather than purely technical.

A hands-on introduction to turning discarded plastic into attractive, usable objects, combining environmental information with making. Its projects include gifts, decorations and jewellery, with instructions designed to support individual creative choices.

A hands-on book for hamster enthusiasts, pairing pet-care ideas with creative making. Activities include growing greens, preparing treats, building an activity maze and producing hamster-themed crafts or stationery.

This offers a participatory version of a familiar pig story: readers help determine what happens, then add their own drawings. Its main appeal is choice-led storytelling rather than a fixed narrative.

A hands-on guide for making knotted bracelets with embroidery floss. It offers colour photographs, step-by-step guidance, basic techniques and varied designs, with finished bracelets framed as gifts shared with friends.

A hands-on collection of scrapbook possibilities: organising keepsakes, designing pages and experimenting with lettering, framing, backgrounds and covers. It may suit a child who enjoys arranging personal or found materials and presenting the results creatively.

A lively, wide-ranging craft manual that links creative making with Muppet characters and workshop techniques. Its breadth is a strength for choosing projects, while the reported inclusion of woodworking, wiring, hot wax, metalworking and other advanced-looking activities makes selective, supported use sensible.

This is a visual, mathematical exploration rather than a conventional story. Children watch quantities grow through repeated doubling, then can revisit the sequence through halving, patterns, pictures and imagined real-world examples.

Expect a practical, idea-led book rather than a continuous story: it ranges from making toys and musical instruments to games, shelters, bushcraft and nature-focused activities.

This looks best suited to a child who enjoys drawing and wants to build a personal collection of celebrated artworks.

A hands-on, project-led book for making toys from reused household materials. Its clear lists, instructions, cut-outs and optional variations support choosing, adapting and completing makes together.

This is a hands-on cookbook rather than a new Gruffalo story: children can help decorate and assemble imaginative food while adults handle some preparation. It offers 24 character-inspired recipes, including snacks, puddings, breakfasts and simple meals.

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.

This is a fast-moving, highly visual comic novel about two boys inventing, writing and being repeatedly distracted in their extraordinary treehouse. Its humour comes from absurd machines, fantastical creatures, cartoon drawings and playful attention to making a book.

A practical activity book combining making with animal information. Readers follow illustrated stages to turn familiar household materials into creatures including an elephant, sea lion and monkey.

This is a practical starting point for turning a familiar fairy tale into a small puppet production, with making, scripting and performing brought together in one activity.

This is a hands-on Halloween activity book: readers follow step-by-step instructions to turn readily available, seasonal materials into decorations and character-themed crafts.

A school-set story about Angelica pursuing a reporting opportunity while several major student events collide. It offers a lively premise involving journalism, school traditions, competition and the pressure to make one’s work count.

A gentle-looking story about Fanny turning her own creation into a picture-book character, with storytelling and a birthday gift linking her imaginative work to someone she loves.

A practical introduction to knitting through 12 varied projects. It moves beyond one type of item, covering accessories, clothing and toys while using illustrated instructions to support hands-on making.

A hands-on activity guide that turns ordinary materials and simple experiments into opportunities for sensory discovery, colour mixing and imaginative making. Its distinctive practical feature is pairing each activity with preparation and clean-up guidance for parents.

A lively, practical introduction to investigating science through homemade mixtures. Its main appeal is doing: children explore observable changes while encountering scientific vocabulary and ideas such as density, emulsions and polymers.

A coming-of-confidence story about a shy student discovering that comedy can give her a public voice, while success and romance pull her towards competing priorities.

A chronological introduction to LGBT civil-rights history, told through people’s experiences, major struggles and contributions. Its creative activities make the subject participatory, while the historical scope connects earlier activism with more recent events.