Constable & Toop Gareth P Jones A darkly comic Dickensian ghost story from Blue Peter Award winner Gareth P. Jones: it’s not the dead you’ll need to worry about! Sam Toop lives in a funeral parlour, blessed (or cursed) with an unusual gift. While his father buries the dead, Sam is haunted by their constant demands for attention. Trouble is afoot […] Family, Funny, Historical Fiction, Monsters, Mystery/murder AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 BILLY PLONKA and the Grot Laboratory Ian Billings Billy Plonka – the Prince of Stink, the Monarch of Muck, the Sultan of Slime, the Duke of Dregs and the King of Kak. He’s the most extraordinary maker of GROT in the entire world and he is inviting five individuals to visit his world-famous GROT LABORATORY. And, do you know who Marley Sucket is? […] Funny Pug Hug Zehra Hicks A very cute pug really wants a hug, but no-one wants to hug him! Cat doesn’t like hugs, Hamster just wants to run in her wheel and Rabbit’s chomping carrots, unconvinced by Pug’s nice red bunny ear costume. What is a pug in need of a hug to do? Fortunately, Pug’s very huggable little girl […] Animals, Emotion/ Feelings, Family, Fiction, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Rotten & Rascal Paul Geraghty Rotten and Rascal are quarrelling twin baby pterosaurs, who yell, shout, screech, howl, scream and snarl at each other all day long. One day a terrible argument begins and one by one the other dinosaurs try to resolve their noisy dispute. But the two terrible pterosaur twins prove impossible to shut up. Until, that is, […] Family, Fiction, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 The Dinosaur That Pooped A Planet Dougie Poynter & Garry Parsons & Tom Fletcher In this laugh-out-loud rhyming picture book, Danny and Dinosaur are off on an adventure in space! But when Danny realises he’s forgotten Dino’s lunch box, the very hungry dinosaur eats everything in sight, including their only way back home: the rocket! How will Dino get them back down to earth? Find poop, planets and pandemonium […] Animals, Dinosaurs, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Act Normal And Don’t Tell Anyone About the Present Machine Christian Darkin It started off as a way for computer coding fan Jenny to pick birthday presents for her friends. But Jenny and her brother Adam are soon being chased across the world by sinister magic fairy dolls, robot forklifts, and a mad party planner… In Act Normal And Don’t Tell Anyone About The Present Machine there […] Fiction, Funny AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 Rabunzel Gareth P Jones & Loretta Schauer A uniquely silly and rebellious twist on a favourite fairy tale – with a fabulously foiled cover! “Rabunzel, Rabunzel, let down your ears!…” Rabunzel has a teeny tufty tail, a twitchy nose and two wide brown eyes. She also has VERY long ears – so long that her mother worries they will make her easy […] Fairy tales and folk tales, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 The Ugly Five Axel Scheffler & Julia Donaldson Who’s that singing on the savannah? It’s the top-five ugly animals in Africa! The wildebeest, warthog, vulture, hyena and marabou stork swagger proudly across the savannah, rejoicing in their ugliness – and delighting their babies, who think they’re perfect just the way they are. Inspired by the real-life Ugly Five safari animals, Julia […] Animals, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Cookie and the Most Annoying Girl in the World Konnie Huq In her second brilliantly funny story, science-mad Cookie is ready to save the planet! When Cookie finds herself with two tickets to see popstar Aliana Tiny, Suzie Ashby suddenly wants to be her best friend. One small problem – Suzie is the most annoying girl in the world. UGH! So how is that Cookie manages […] Adventure, Fiction, Friendship, Funny AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 I am a Sensible Gibbon Claudia Boldt & Will Mabbitt A very sensible story with ABSOLUTELY NO SILLINESS! From the author of I Can Only Draw Worms! Gibbon would like to make it very clear that this is a sensible book for sensible people. Anything that looks like it might be FUN or SILLY is absolutely forbidden. Animals, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 I Can Only Draw Worms Will Mabbitt At the beginning of this apparently simple picture book, the writer/illustrator confesses that he can only draw worms. And worms is what we get – helpfully differentiated by one having glasses, one being yellow for no particular reason, and one being tragically cut in half as the result of an experiment gone wrong. Some of […] Animals, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Invasion of the Supervillains (Raps and Rhymes to Worry the Galaxy) Chris White & Neal Zetter A follow-up to the popular first comic book in the series, Here Come the Superheroes. This time it s the turn of the galaxy s supervillains to feature in top performance poet Neal Zetter s witty, acute poems. Meet Stink Bomb (who s got an aroma, that will put you in a coma?), Red […] Adventure, Fantasy/ Supernatural, Funny, Poetry AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 Here Come the Superheroes (Raps & Rhymes to Save the Galaxy) Chris White & Neal Zetter Get disengaged boys (and girls) into reading with this unique full-colour comic book format collection of raps and rhymes celebrating the galaxy’s newest superheroes, by top performance poet Neal Zetter. Additional secret data includes the protagonists’ top powers, planets of origin, deadliest enemies and other fascinating facts. Meet Captain Polystyrene (“Weedy as a tiny […] Adventure, Fantasy/ Supernatural, Funny, Poetry AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 Yuck and Yum (A Feast of Funny Food Poems) Joshua Seigal & Neal Zetter & Scoular Anderson Two celebrated performance poets in one bumper collection join together to make not just a meal but a feast of funny poems about foods that you might like and some that you will hate. Food, Funny, Poetry AGES: 7-10 Cloud Soup Elina Braslina & Kate Wakeling Cloud Soup is a collection of children’s poems by Kate Wakeling, illustrated by Elīna Brasliņa. Cloud Soup is the sequel to Moon Juice, the 2017 CLiPPA Best Children’s Poetry Book award-winner. “Bodies, bodies everywhere” knees and noses, hands and hair, bodies big and bodies small, bodies keen on volleyball, hairy nostrils, lengthy shins, juicy ear […] Adventure, Animals, Funny, Poetry AGES: 7-10 Weird Wild & Wonderful James Carter & Neal Layton Expect to hear the moon speak, explore a magic wood and play air guitar. You’ll meet wolves, elephants and a dung beetle; you’ll get close to a gorilla and sing a lullaby to a woolly mammoth; you might even meet an alien in a library. Funny, Poetry, School/ Learning AGES: 3-7 AGES: 7-10 Vi Spy Maz Evans A hilarious new adventure from the author of the bestselling Who Let the Gods Out? series! Divorce is tough for any kid. But when – like Vi’s parents – your mum is ex-secret service and your dad is a retired bad guy, ’till death do us part’ takes on a whole new meaning. And […] Adventure, Fiction, Funny, Government, law and crime, Mystery/murder AGES: 7-10 One Potato, Two Potatoes Adam Guillain A laugh-out-loud, sing-along counting romp, based on the traditional rhyme, perfect for fans of Supertato! One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four… playing hide and seek – hang on! Who’s inside the drawer?! Four more energetic, excitable potatoes, that’s who! And the potato pals are about to receive an exciting invitation: to take part in […] Food, Funny, Learning, Picture Books, School/ Learning AGES: 3-7 My Big Mouth Chanté Timonthy & Steven Camden ‘They think I’m cool.’ Dom’s face wrinkled up, ‘Who does? Who cares?’ But I did. I cared. When Dad leaves, ten-year-old Jay has questions. Where has he gone? Why did he go? When no one can give Jay the answers he needs, he makes up his own stories, setting off a chain reaction that sees […] Family, Fiction, Funny, Personal/social issues, School/ Learning AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 Just Like Tomorrow Faiza Guene & Sarah Ardizzone Fifteen-year-old Doria isn’t in a good place. Or to be precise: she’s in the sadly misnamed Paradise Estate on the outskirts of Paris. Her father has gone off back Morocco to find a wife who can give him a boy, and her illiterate, non French-speaking mother is having to fend for herself with a cleaning […] Adventure, Communication, Emotion/ Feelings, Family, Fiction, Funny, Government, law and crime AGES: 14+ Emily Lime, Librarian Detective: The Pencil Case Dave Shelton It’s the start of a brand new term at St Rita’s School for Spirited Girls, and that means big changes all round – starting with the school’s brand new headteacher, Miss Woolley, who seems to be severely underestimating just what a riotous bunch the St Rita’s pupils are. And when Emily Lime – the fabulously […] Fiction, Friendship, Funny, School/ Learning AGES: 7-10 Chicken on the Roof Hannah Asen & Matt Goodfellow there’s a chicken there’s a chicken there’s a chicken on the roof The only way she’s coming down is chicken parachute! Dance through deserts and crawl through caves. Discover a sorcerer’s wand or a slice of lunar lemon. Hide in the fur of an African goat, check for rain snakes and gobbling goblins – and […] Funny, Poetry AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 Buck ‘n’ Bronco: Hit the Road! Guy Bass & Steve May When the Happy Ranch theme park closes down to make way for a futuristic new adventure land, park mascots Buck and Bronco are out of a job and out of a home. While Buck thinks its time for them to spread their wings and take the show on the road, Bronco wants nothing more than […] Adventure, Crime/ Thriller, Fiction, Funny AGES: 7-10 Oof Makes an Ouch Duncan Beedie Oof and Pib come from an ancient tribe. They know hardly any words – in fact they only know how to say their own names – but it doesn’t stop them from being the best of friends and doing everything together . . . Until Oof starts inventing all sorts of NEW words, and Pib […] Animals, Friendship, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Pet Defenders: Escape from Planet Bogey Gareth P Jones Illustrated by Steve May The Pet Defenders Code: 1. The safety of Planet Earth depends on you. 2. Humans MUST NOT know the truth. GOOD LUCK – you’ll need it… Animals are disappearing from Nothington-on-Sea and the Pet Defenders suspect alien activity. Secret agents Biskit and Mitzy find themselves caught up in the Planet […] Adventure, Animals, Crime/ Thriller, Fiction, Funny AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 A Dollop of Ghee and a Pot of Wisdom Chitra Soundar Illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy Here is a bunch of dung-dropping, sweet-stealing, luck-jinxing villains! Four stories about young Prince Veera, who, along with his friend Suku, helps his father, the king, solve some of the problems he is having with his subjects. Trickster tales with lots of humour and colour, based on traditional Indian folktales. Fairy tales and folk tales, Faith/ Culture, Family, Fiction, Funny, Personal/social issues AGES: 3-7 The Last Zoo Sam Gayton Pia lives on the last zoo: a floating armada that houses the strangest collection of creatures the world’s ever seen, from genies to mirror-orangutans to hummingdragons. Collectively called ‘voilas’, they each have a special ability, and everyone hopes these will help save the world from environmental catastrophe. Pia looks after the angels, their greatest hope. […] Adventure, Animals, Fantasy/ Supernatural, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Magic, Mystery/murder AGES: 10-12 AGES: 12-14 Archie Snufflekins Cat Katie Harnett Archie, Cupcake, Oliver, Valentine… the cat who lives on Blossom Street is called something different by everyone, and loved by all. But there is one house on the street that he hasn’t visited yet… In this sweet story, Katie Harnett explores how one well-loved cat can change a lonely woman’s life and bring a small […] Animals, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Growing Up & the Facts of Life, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 I’m Actually Really Grown-Up Now Maisie Paradise Shearring The grown-ups are having a party, and Meena would really love to join in but instead she’s sent to bed. Only grown-ups get to stay up late. So the next day she makes a very important announcement to her parents: “I’m actually really grown-up now!” In this very funny story we join Meena as […] Celebration, Family, Funny, Growing Up & the Facts of Life, Identity, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Anna and Otis Maisie Paradise Shearring Anna and Otis the snake are great friends and they love having fun together. But Otis knows people are scared of snakes, so he usually just plays at home or in the garden. He is nervous when Anna suggests a new adventure. At first people are afraid, and Otis feels he isn’t welcome in […] Adventure, Emotion/ Feelings, Fear, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Growing Up & the Facts of Life, Identity, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Mouse & Mole James Mayhew What will Mouse and Mole find to do tomorrow? They set out their plan: a picnic of cheese and cucumber sandwiches if it is a fine day, or roasted chestnuts and toasted muffins in front of an apple wood fire if it is wild and wintry. But what will they do if it is an […] Adventure, Animals, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Nature/ Outdoors AGES: 3-7 Don’t Worry, Little Crab Chris Haughton In the rockpool above the sea, live two crabs: Big Crab and Little Crab. Today, they’re going for a dip in the sea. “This is going to be so great!” says Little Crab. But then Little Crab catches a first glimpse of the water… Oh. The waves! They’re ENORMOUS. “JEEPERS!” Will Little Crab be brave […] Animals, Bravery, Funny, Growing Up & the Facts of Life, Picture Books, Water AGES: 3-7 My Worst Book Ever Bruce Ingman Picture books are such good fun and so is making them but who knew there were so many things that could go wrong? This is the story of a picture book doomed from the very start. Allan has a good idea for book about a crocodile, but every time he sits down to write he […] Fiction, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 AGES: 7-10 The Runaway Dinner Bruce Ingman Talk about fast food! A hilarious, high-speed tale from the inimitable Allan Ahlberg – catch it if you can! The celebrated Allan Ahlberg is in his element in this fast-paced, funny story about what happens when dinner decides that it doesn’t fancy being eaten. Just as hungry little boy Banjo is about to tuck into […] Fairy tales and folk tales, Fiction, Food, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 AGES: 7-10 Laura Norder: Sheriff of Butts Canyon Guy Bass Laura Norder lives her life by the Golden Rules and so should everybody else. But being Sheriff of Butts Canyon at the age of ten is a big job to handle, and when a no-good rule-breaking bandit causes chaos in the town, enough is enough! It’s time for Laura to step up to the plate […] Adventure, Fiction, Funny AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 Skeleton Keys: The Unimaginary Friend Guy Bass Greetings! My name is Skeleton Keys and these fantabulant fingers of mine can open doors to hidden worlds… Join me for the curious tale of Ben Bunsen, whose only friend is a figment of his imagination … until now. Ben can’t believe it when his imaginary friend the Gorblimey becomes unimaginary. The Gorblimey is loyal […] Fantasy/ Supernatural, Fiction, Funny, Spooky/Scary AGES: 7-10 You’ve Been Werewolfed Tom McLaughlin A laugh-out-loud mystery series with a new hilarious case for our heroic nerds to crack in each book. When Tyler is sent to summer camp, she can’t resist packing one of her latest science projects – the Hologramaphone 3000. Problem is, some of the phone’s functions have EXTREME side-effects, the kind that can turn […] Adventure, Fiction, Funny AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10 I Am Henry Finch Alexis Deacon For budding philosophers of all ages, this is the uplifting story of Henry Finch the loveable little bird who strives for greatness, gets it all a bit wrong, then makes it right again in a very surprising way – truly becoming great. I Am Henry Finch is a book for everyone – from the very […] Animals, Family, Fiction, Funny, Learning, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Sneaky Beak Tracey Corderoy Is your bath BUBBLY enough? Is your bed BOUNCY enough? Is your cereal CRUNCHY enough? Don’t delay – call Sneaky Beak TODAY for deals beyond your wildest dreams! Bear and Hamster are perfectly content… until gadget-mad salesman, Sneaky Beak, arrives. But when they finally have it all, will Bear and Hamster really be happier? A […] Animals, Fiction, Funny, Natural History Museum, Tring, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Humperdink Our Elephant Friend Claire Alexander When Humperdink the baby elephant joins the children’s playgroup, he seems friendly enough, but it soon becomes clear that he’s not very good at the usual games the children play, like dressing up or hide-and-seek. When he breaks the children’s favourite slide, everyone feels sad. But with a little patience and understanding the children soon […] Animals, Creating art/ Imagination, Empathy, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 I’m Sticking With You Smriti Prasadam-Halls Bear and Squirrel are best friends. Wherever Squirrel goes, Bear follows. Bear vows to stick with Squirrel whether he’s grumpy, or silly, or mad–which is put to the test when Bear sinks Squirrel’s canoe. And catapults him from the seesaw. And breaks his favourite mug. Finally, Squirrel has had enough. He tells Bear he needs […] Animals, Fiction, Friendship, Funny, Picture Books AGES: 3-7 Henry and Boo Megan Brewis Henry isn’t happy when an uninvited guest suddenly interrupts his tea break. And he is less than thrilled when the little creature decides to stay along with its annoying habit. With the unwelcome visitor getting under his feet all day, it’s easy for Henry to miss the signs that a dangerous and hungry bear has […] Animals, Fiction, Funny, Growing Up & the Facts of Life, Picture Books, Tolerance AGES: 3-7 Graphic Canon of Children’s Literature Rachael Ball The original three-volume anthology The Graphic Canon presented the world’s classic literature – from ancient times to the late 20th century – as eye-popping comics, illustrations and other visual forms. In this follow-up volume, young people’s literature through the ages is given new life by the best comics artists and illustrators. Fairy tales, fables, fantastical […] Fairy tales and folk tales, Fantasy/ Supernatural, Fiction, Funny, Graphic Novel/ Comic AGES: 10-12 AGES: 12-14 AGES: 14+ Emily Lime, Librarian Detective: The Book Case Dave Shelton Daphne is off to St Rita’s, an exclusive girls’ boarding school. It sounds awfully respectable and Daphne herself is awfully respectable too. She loves to read, and is delighted to be offered the chance to interview for Librarian’s assistant’s assistant immediately upon arrival. But it turns out nothing is quite what you’d expect at St […] Adventure, Crime/ Thriller, Funny, Government, law and crime, Mystery/murder AGES: 10-12 AGES: 12-14 Cookie and the most annoying boy in the world Konnie Huq Cookie’s life is basically over. Her best friend in the whole world is moving to Solihull because one of her dads has a new job there. Solihull?! Where even is that?! Cookie begs her parents for a pet to fill the void but they have given her an absolute NO. It would be way […] Fiction, Funny, Growing Up & the Facts of Life, Mental Health and Wellbeing, School/ Learning AGES: 10-12 AGES: 7-10
