All Aboard the Bedtime Bus by Karl Newson and Tim Budgen, Little Tiger, £7.99
Ding! Ding! The Bedtime Bus is on its way in this friendly, cuddly, pastel picture book, with gentle repeating verses to help toddlers wind down to sleep.
How We Share Cake by Kim Hyo-eun, translated by Deborah Smith, Scribble, £12.99
Sharing can be challenging as one of five children, and this funny, acutely observed picture book for 4+ brilliantly distils the struggle for sibling justice over everything from fried chicken to chores, bathroom time to birthday cake.
The Fairy Queen by Chrissy Donoghue Ward, illustrated by Monika Mitkute, Little Island/Skein Press, £14.99
In this gorgeous 5+ Irish picture book, the Travellers, oppressed by a greedy king and queen, are turned into leprechauns by the Queen of the Fairies and given magical powers to defend their home. Preserving the voice of Donoghue Ward, an oral storyteller in the Traveller tradition, its lush green illustrations are full of involving detail.
Michael Rosen’s Totally True (and Totally Silly) Bedtime Stories illustrated by Emily Fox Wren & Rook, £14.99
Jaunty black-and-white illustrations heighten Rosen’s imaginative leaps in this rambling, ambling, splendidly silly collection of five-minute stories for 6+. They’re perfect for the drifting mind at bedtime, whether they involve meeting a massive shark on the beach or turning a flat into a hummingbird hospital.
Blitz: One Family’s War by Martin Impey, Harbour Moon, £19.99
Via brief lines of text and enthralling watercolour vignettes, Impey evokes a family history of everyday fear and courage as Mum, Nan and children adapt to survival in blitz-torn London while Daddy is away fighting. A special, unusual and moving illustrated history book for 7+.
Rosa by Starlight by Hilary McKay, illustrated by Keith Robinson, Pan Macmillan, £12.99
Rosa lives with her horrible aunt and uncle, who keep her locked up and have grim plans for her future. Fortunately, though, she has help from Balthazar, a wise and magnificent black cat, and when she finds herself abandoned in Venice, there are other cats to guide her way. A strange, enchanted 8+ tale of courage, adaptability and feline magic.
Nature Tales by Dawn Casey, illustrated by Anja Sušanj, Templar, £16.99
This wide-ranging 8+ collection of traditional tales and myths touches on metamorphosis and repair, humans in harmony with the natural world – or suffering from the lack of it. Casey’s assured, understated retellings are complemented by Sušanj’s enticing full-colour illustrations.
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Shadow Creatures by Chris Vick, Zephyr, £8.99
Tove is 12 and Liva nine when the Germans occupy Norway and their small village becomes a prison. But there are ways to fight back, especially when the girls’ brother Haakon joins the resistance, slipping through shadows to carry out dangerous acts of sabotage. And the girls themselves have their parts to play. Tense, evocative and compelling, this 9+ story of wartime resilience is inspired by the author’s own family history.
History for Beginners by Andy Prentice and Tom Mumbray, illustrated by Paul Boston, Usborne, £9.99
Focusing on whos and hows, rather than straightforward facts and dates, this invaluable guide invites 8 or 9+ readers to consider what history is and how it’s created, weighing evidence and developing habits of critical thinking. What do online empire-building games suggest about colonisation? How does geography affect human stories? Who has the power – and how do they use it? With bright, lively layouts and stimulating text, it will prompt young historians to ask the right kind of questions.
The Seamaiden’s Odyssey by Berlie Doherty and Tamsin Rosewell, UCLan, £14.99
When Sasha’s marine sanctuary becomes home to a wounded sea-girl, she finds it hard to contemplate releasing her – but when Sasha hears the story of Merryn, who also had to fight for her return to the sea, she understands why she must do so. With spectacular silhouettes and intense, rippling blues and greens, Rosewell’s illustrations combine with Doherty’s poetic text to create a stunning, powerful fable for 11+.
Rani Choudhury Must Die by Adiba Jaigirdar, Hodder, £8.99
Meghna’s parents think their daughter’s old friend Rani Choudhury can do no wrong. Meghna disagrees, especially when Rani makes the finals of a prestigious science competition while Meghna is knocked out. Then Meghna discovers that her boyfriend, Zak, has cheated on her – with Rani! There’s nothing for it – her nemesis must be defeated. Unless she’s really a victim too? As the two girls reluctantly team up to expose Zak’s misbehaviour, their feelings for each other begin to change in this funny, insightful romcom by the author of The Henna Wars.
Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao, Rock the Boat, £16.99
In the sequel to the bestselling Iron Widow, revolutionary Zetian has suffered a great loss – but also acquired extraordinary power. To wield her new influence, Zetian must share Huaxia’s throne with the dangerous emperor Qin Zheng, whom she resurrected but cannot control. Betrayal lurks on every side, and even the world she lives in and the gods who preside over it are not what she has always believed them to be. Can she carry out reform before one of her enemies kills her – or is she doomed to become more tyrannous than those she replaced? Pulse-pounding, thought-provoking, ambitious and outrageous, this huge YA sci-fi tale amply delivers on the promise of the first volume.
Black Girl Power, edited by Leah Johnson, Scholastic, £7.99
This joyous anthology of YA stories spans genres and subjects from pastry-based magic to sleepover self-consciousness, parental pressure to malignant dollhouses. With superb writing from Kalynn Bayron, Tolá Okogwu, Dhonielle Clayton.