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Find out moreThe stories and novels in this section cover a range of themes from family issues to mystery adventures. You can find stories about the relationships between grandparents and grandchildren, to sibling rivalry and blended families, suitable for the smallest children up to young adults.
A giant baby is on the loose and everything in the Kingdom is about to be destroyed! He tramples the forest and flattens houses and bridges, he sits on the train station and shakes the passengers out of a double decker bus. Neither the soldiers or the airforce can stop him. As he approaches the castle, the King and Queen shake in terror and call a meeting of all their best advisors. What is to be done to save the kingdom? Only the Princess has an answer. As she keeps saying, he is only a baby…Young readers will love this playful and imaginary realisation of a familiar family drama which is vividly captured in Bruce Ingman’s large scale illustration which blend real and imaginary worlds perfectly.
A gorgeously illustrated book about friendship and looking past differences from the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal winner Catherine Rayner. Bear is walking through the forest, minding his own business when he comes across another bear. The Other bear is different. The two bears wander along, thinking different thoughts, and looking in different directions. Soon the two bears come across another bear and then another bear and eventually find a bear stuck in a tree. The bears realise that perhaps they aren't that different after all and perhaps they could be friends?
When Lissa spends the summer with her dad on his boathouse, she can't help but feel a little lonely. She misses her mum and sister back home, and her dad's job means that he can't spend as much time with her as she'd hoped. Then one morning during a paddle boarding lesson she spots a lost seal pup in the river trying to find its way home. Lissa wants to help her, but can she protect the young seal without scaring her away? A heartwarming story about family from best-selling author Holly Webb.
Elsie has a crush on Ada, the only person in the world who truly understands her. Unfortunately, they've never met in real life and Ada lives an ocean away. But Elsie has decided it's now or never to tell Ada how she feels. That is, until her long-lost best friend Joan walks back into her life. In a summer of repairing broken connections and building surprising new ones, Elsie realises that she isn't nearly as alone as she thought. But now she has a choice to make. A lyrical contemporary story about falling in love and finding yourself in the process, for fans of The Black Flamingo, The Falling in Love Montage and Alice Oseman.
A suitcase of stories from Grandpa Jazz connects Frank to his rich Mauritian heritage and is also the start of an epic adventure.
This is adventure number six for the Bolds, a family of hyenas living happily in Teddington disguised as humans. Let’s hope there will be more too, because there are very few stories more joyful, cheering and entertaining than these and only Paddington to compare for characters as lovable and inspirational. If you’ve read previous Bolds books, you’ll know that they’re always ready to help other animals and to open their doors to those in need. Of course therefore they give homeless aardvark Annika a warm welcome and set out to track down her missing friends, escapees from the same zoo, Charlie the skunk and Fergie the fruit bat. The latter, we discover, have been camping out in Parliament Square with friendly eco-warriors. Can the Bolds find them somewhere permanent (and quieter) to live? This is the Bolds, so of course the answer is yes. Gloriously silly, genuinely heart-warming and beautifully plotted, it all ends with a special party for twins Betty and Bobby Bold, and an ‘au revoir’ to another friend, Fifi, the singing poodle superstar. She promises to return, ‘Wherever life might take me, my heart belongs with the Bolds.’ That will be true for all the dear readers too, this one included.
Discover the joy of dancing and the importance of family, whatever your culture, ability or style with Luna! When Luna dances, she feels like the world's volume turns up, like all colours brighten, like sunlight sparkles behind every cloud. But when she takes her dance exam she ducks, dives, spins and... falls. Luna thinks she can't be a real dancer now. Can Luna's family convince her otherwise? From the team that brought us Luna Loves Library Day, Luna Loves Art, and Luna Loves World Book Day, celebrate every culture and every style of dance with Luna, featuring a glorious fold out carnival page.
Cassie's older brother Byron has fallen in with the wrong crowd - it's soon clear these boys are wild, reckless and not human at all. They are tylwyth teg - Fair Folk, who tempt humans down into the dark places of the world. And Byron is tempted. When he goes missing, Cassie and her cousin, Sian, follow his trail to an old abandoned railway tunnel which goes down and down into Annwn, the underworld. Here they find that the tylwyth teg are restless - and angry. Their leader, Gwenhidw, wants to protect Annwn from the damage humans are doing to the world. Byron is part of her plan. But Cassie won't let her big brother be part of anyone's plan. Can she rescue her brother before it is too late?
Elsie witnesses the rise of antisemitic fascism in 1930s London in this gripping new story from award-winning author Tanya Landman. Life has always been tough on the streets of Stepney, where Elsie and her brother Mikey are growing up in a vermin-infested slum nicknamed Paradise . But the rise of antisemitic fascist Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts in the 1930s stirs up trouble between families who have lived closely together for years, and Elsie sees friendships torn apart. When Elsie and Mikey attend a Mosley rally, intending to heckle and cause trouble, they soon see how dangerous the situation has become, but out in the streets the fascists find that people will stand and fight against them and against hatred in what becomes the dramatic Battle of Cable Street.
Albert is desperate to get a pet, so he’s really excited when Dad finally brings one home. There’s just one problem: it’s a potato. Potatoes can’t do anything a proper pet does . . .can they?! A funny story with a sweet, green-fingered resolution for any child who’s ever begged their parents for a pet!
There are billions of families, a million ways to be. But in my magic family it's Mummy, Mum and me! Let's tell our family stories - fantastical and true - and we'll find out who's who to me, and who is who to you. In this celebratory, reassuring rhyming story a little girl with two mummies shares the magic of her family and discovers how magic all her friends' families are too. This is a warm, funny read-aloud that's perfect for opening up conversations about different families in a playful, creative way.
May 2022 Debut of the Month | Dealing with big emotions, bravery, bullying and harnessing an extraordinary gift to “make people’s lives that bit better”, Ellie Clements’ The Wondrous Prune is a heartfelt joy. Readers will be moved by adorable Prune’s magical, courageous superhero-esque quest. Talented artist Prune and her big brother Jesse have just moved into her grandparents’ old house with their mum, which means starting at a new school, where the horrid, bullying Vile-let girls make her life miserable. This move also heralds the start of Prune’s incredible gift — whenever she feels big emotions, incredible colours swirl before her eyes. What’s more, if she focuses on her emotions while drawing, her images come to life! When her gift starts to make mayhem, Prune sets about learning to control it, and realises that “there was a lot of good I could do with my power”. This becomes all the more pressing when a bully leads Jesse off the rails, and it falls to the Wondrous Prune to harness her talent to save the day.
