Helen Mortimer / Cristina Trapanese

Suitable 2+

Using carefully chosen words in relatable settings from the world around them, this book creates a moment for children and adults to discover first counting words at a pizza party.

The engaging art style, fun characters and hardback picture book feel make this series accessible and perfect to share.听

Helen Mortimer / Cristina Trapanese

Suitable 2+

This book creates a moment for children and adults to discover first sorting words through dressing up and having fun.

Written and illustrated by the same winning team as ‘Big Words for Little People’, this series is special not only because it focuses on maths in a child-friendly way, but also because it’s from Oxford, it’s packed with educational goodness that helps children develop and grow.

Naomi Jones / James Jones

Suitable 2+

Circle loves the tower that the squares and hexagons have built and wants to make his own.

But circles, diamonds and triangles are pointier, rounder and much wobblier – making a tower is not as easy as it looks! The shapes try and try but their tower just keeps tumbling down. Can Circle persuade them to have just one more try?

Leigh Hodgkinson

Suitable 2+

Martha LOVES drawing maps. She creates maps of everything-even her thoughts and dreams! Let Martha be your guide as she welcomes you to her world. Starting in outer space, we zoom in page by page, to our planet, Martha’s community, and beyond to her dreams of a future where ANYTHING is possible.

Full of quirky details and fun non-fiction labels that children will love poring over-they will discover cool new facts with every reading.听

Tony Neal

Suitable 2+

Elephant is too heavy to play with Mouse on the seesaw. Their friends can help, but will it be enough to get Elephant’s feet off the ground? A great deal (of Elephant) hangs in the balance in this hilarious introduction to the maths concept of weight.

With engaging artwork and a very funny story, readers won’t even realize that they’re learning something while they laugh along with the animal friends!

Naomi Jones / James Jones

Suitable 2+

No matter how hard she tries, Triangle doesn’t roll like the circles, or stack like the squares…so she sets off to find friends that look exactly like her. But when she finds the other triangles, playtime isn’t as fun. She misses the shapes that roll and stack; she misses being different. So she starts a new quest, one that gets all of the different shapes playing and having fun together!

Tony Neal

Suitable 2+

Mouse is hungry, but that tasty cake is just too high! Is it a stretch too far, or will Mouse find his way to the top?

It’s a big problem for a small mouse in this hilarious introduction to the maths concept of height.

Anya Glazer

Suitable 2+

The otters and the badgers live on either side of the river, but they have never seen eye to eye. Neither group can cross to the opposite riverbank. But one day shy otter-baker Francie accidentally ventures into the badger lands in search of a new ingredient. As the two sides begin arguing again, she has unwittingly set off a new chapter in their ongoing feud. But maybe Francie’s stunning new cookies-otter-baked but with badger-territory ingredients-may finally help them learn to get along鈥�

Fiona Woodcock / Corrinne Averiss

Suitable 2+

Chi is a panda who loves to listen. Being silent brings sounds to her ears: the swish of bamboo, the chitter of birds, and then one day, a new sound, gentle and sweet.

The sound leads Chi to a boy, who blows breath through a piece of bamboo. Chi is enchanted and longs to make friends, but she is shy and hides instead. As the boy searches for Chi and mist gathers in the forest, she must find the courage to help him-even if it means being seen . . .

Sean Julian

Suitable 2+

Alba the young albatross leaves her nest to set out on her life’s journey. But when a huge wave knocks her from the sky and breaks her wing, she is left all alone on an icy shore . . .

But then a penguin appears, followed by another and another, until the whole colony is at Alba’s side. Among her new friends, Alba’s spirits are quickly lifted and, through the long, dark winter, her wing slowly mends. When the sun finally appears over the horizon, Alba is at last able to fly again, but she never forgets the kindness she was shown at the heart of the penguin huddle.

Wendy Meddour / Carmen Saldana

Suitable 2+

Peggy is an apologetic pigeon. She always assumes she’s in the wrong. Even when she’s the one getting bullied.

But Cynthia, an older female seagull, gives her the necessary skills to stand up for herself. This hilarious tale from award-winning author Wendy Meddour contains an important message about the importance of being assertive.

Wendy Meddour / Carmen Saldana

Suitable 2+

Howard thinks he’s the most exceptional creature in the rainforest-that’s because no other creature is as exceptionally camouflaged as him! But when he learns that the rainforest is full of other camouflaged creatures, he begins to wonder: ‘Who will like me if I’m just . . . an average gecko?’

Thankfully Howard meets Dolores (another average gecko) and he discovers that you don’t have to be exceptional to be loved-and those that love you will never think you’re average at all.

Layn Marlow

Suitable 2+

Noah waits all day for Nana’s boat to be ready so that they can go seal spotting. He waits and waits, and eventually takes matters into his own hands, building his very own seal out of sand-it’s almost as good as the real thing.

But it isn’t long before a storm whips up, his seal is washed away, and Nana packs up ready to leave. Noah loses all hope that he’ll ever spot a real-life seal, until something special happens

Georgina Stevens / Izzy Burton

Suitable 2+

Spurred into action when her seagull friend gets poorly from eating plastic, young Stella is soon on a campaign for change.

A beach clean up and plastic straw ban sparks her whole community into action and soon Stella is making a big impact. And it’s not long before the little seagull and all its animal friends can live in a better environment.

Anne Rooney / Qu Lan

Suitable 2+

Baby Koala likes to stay close to Mum as the pair snuggle up together, safe in the treetops. But one day, when danger threatens, Baby Koala must be brave and bold…

This heartwarming story about an animal family living in the wild has big flaps to open and koala facts to discover.

Gareth Edwards, Hannah Shaw

Any child who鈥檚 ever enviously eyed up someone else鈥檚 food 鈥� or who鈥檚 ever been told not to eat food off the floor 鈥� will love this tale of a hungry badger following a sandwich through the park as it goes through mishap after disgusting mishap.

Pippa Goodhart, Nick Sharratt

A simple concept, brilliantly executed. Every page overflows with choices 鈥� Where would you rather live? What would you rather wear? What kind of bed would you like? 鈥� brightly illustrated in the classic Sharratt style. There鈥檚 no story, as such, but my children asked for this one over and over again, and we had some fantastic conversations as a result.

Tom Percival

Norman is perfectly normal 鈥� until one day he grows wings. Torn between excitement and embarrassment, he hides them 鈥� but this leads to more problems. What should he do? A beautiful, accessible little fable about the importance of being yourself.

Lindsay Camp, Tony Ross

Perfect for any child who鈥檚 going through the 鈥淲hy?鈥� phase, and for any parent who鈥檚 beginning to struggle for answers. A light-hearted story about how questions can be both annoying and incredibly useful.

John Dougherty and Laura Hughes

The story of a girl who gets a pig stuck up her nose, and her classmates鈥� attempts to get it out. I get lots of giggles when I read this to small children.

Atinuke and Warwick Johnson Cadwell

Told in a distinctive, lively voice and with some terrific characterisation, these are the adventures of a boy in a village in sub-Saharan Africa. Entertaining, touching, and great both for expanding children鈥檚 horizons and showing them that we鈥檙e all the same under the surface.

Steve Barlow, Steve Skidmore

The format of these choose-your-own-adventure books for the 21st century means that kids who are gripped by them will return to them over and over again. To quote a school librarian friend of mine, 鈥淭he most reluctant readers I know can be found absorbed in the two Steves鈥� I Hero or I Horror (depending on age) books.鈥�

Allan Ahlberg, Fritz Wegner

Some less eager readers, unwilling yet to commit to even a short novel, can be lured in by a complete piece of writing only a page or two long; and the more adventurous reader, too, can find poems short, sweet and satisfying. Ahlberg鈥檚 collections of verse about school, childhood and life are simply marvellous, and with an understanding of and empathy for the young reader that鈥檚 second to none.

Philip Reeve, Sarah McIntyre

I could have chosen any of the Reeve and McIntyre collaborations, and I encourage you to seek them all out; but I think this would have been eight-year-old me鈥檚 pick of the bunch, because it鈥檚 set in space. Featuring suspended animation, evil cakes, lots of brilliant illustrations and a great story.

Guy Bass, Pete Williamson

Stitch Head is an endearing little Frankenstein鈥檚 Monster type of guy, devoted to the mad Professor whose first creature he was 鈥� and who has since forgotten him in his quest to make his greatest creation. Funny, at times moving, and with just a hint of gothic creepiness, but without ever being genuinely scary.

Jackie Marchant, Loretta Schauer

Perfect for readers who have got through all of the the or stories and are ready for something a bit more text-heavy. They鈥檝e got a similar rambling diary-style narrative 鈥� which ties up surprisingly neatly in the end 鈥� and, in my view, a more sympathetic central character. Previously and rather unfortunately published as Dougal Trump.

John Dougherty, David Tazzyman

Of all the lovely feedback I get about these books, my favourite two things are: they make children laugh, a lot, and children who aren鈥檛 keen on reading want to read them.

Andy Seed, Scott Garrett

For some reason people can be a bit sniffy about non-fiction, but for a lot of children 鈥� and, anecdotally, particularly boys 鈥� it can be what really gets them reading. This (and others by the same author) are great for dipping into to find funny and interesting facts about all kinds of things. And if your boy has read all of Andy鈥檚 fact books and is keen for more, try .

Chris Bradford

Around the age of 11, my son tentatively announced that he didn鈥檛 think he liked reading. About a week later, he discovered this series and eagerly raced through all eight books in five weeks. With a similar pace to the Harry Potter novels, they鈥檙e the story of a young English boy, sole survivor of a shipwreck in the 17th century, who is adopted by a Samurai and taught the way of the warrior.

Jo Cotterill, Cathy Brett

Part book and part graphic novel, the Electrigirl stories are terrific both for confident readers and those who might be a little more reluctant. There鈥檚 something of a myth in publishing that boys won鈥檛 read books with a girl as the central character (I wrote more about that ) but I really don鈥檛 believe that holds if the story is good enough, which these 鈥� action-packed, yet with real heart and depth 鈥� definitely are.

AF Harrold, Emily Gravett

The Imaginary is a beautiful, lyrical, suspenseful and at times scary tale of an imaginary friend cut loose from the child who has imagined him, and pursued by a monstrous man who wants to eat him. I鈥檓 aware of how weird that sounds, but it really is a brilliant book, perfect for any child with a strong imagination.

Jonny Zucker

If your son is obsessed with football (like mine is), then he鈥檚 going to want to read about football, and Striker Boy is a great place to start. The premise 鈥� a 13-year-old is recruited to play for a Premier League side 鈥� may sound unconvincing, but Zucker makes it feel entirely plausible, and adds in a healthy dose of intrigue and danger.