Reading is simply magic: people - authors, poets, lyricists, playwrights - build palaces with paragraphs (yes – a nod to one famous lyricist in particular!); the words, the grammar, the everything coming together to create something that others can consume, absorb, imagine. It takes courage to be an author: no matter what a writer creates, it’s a baring of one’s soul. But it also takes courage to become a reader: it’s a pleasure indeed (for some) and that which we find pleasurable, we want to do more of. 

But what about those who have not yet been able to experience the magic of reading? In this, the National Year of Reading, its inception arising from the recognition that so few engage in reading nowadays, the initiative aims to change this. There’s so much competing for our attention nowadays but we can better encourage each other – and the children we work with – if we come prepared with recommendations, especially if those recommendations are specific to the intended reader. And time and space – physically and metaphorically – needs to be ringfenced too. So, whatever you like to read, ‘Go All In’ and encourage family, friends and colleagues to do so too! To help, we’ve curated a selection of titles where there’s magic within … in more ways than one!

Short Chapter Book for Younger Readers

Wands Away: Spell Class by Emma Farrarons
(Simon & Schuster, 23rd April 2026)

In this second book of the series, Ramona Spellstar returns to her school. It’s a forest school of sorts: the children in attendance are actually witchlings! But there isn’t the sort of adversary one might expect of a book set in what is – essentially – a boarding school. The pupils and their warm-hearted teacher are good-natured, funny and kind. Inspired by a bicycle ride that the author made on the family cargo bike when taking her own children to Forest Camp, she was struck by a thought: how might witches get to school and what if that school were to be set in a magical forest? 

Then a new boy arrives and doesn’t seem at all impressed by the school. In fact, he seems overly confident and not a little boastful. Ramona – although no pushover – sees the good in others and when she notices that the child – Cosmo – seems to be exhausted each day, she and her friends follow him. He’s in a spot of bother but once the children’s bravery saves him, it all comes tumbling out: Cosmo isn’t confident at all. It’s all been for ‘show ‘and he feels a bit daft. He’s been sneaking out at night to try and practise the craft of Witching so that he feels less of a failure at everything…

A story of kindness, acceptance and empathy. Perfect for children who are finding their feet with independent reading of chapter books. Cebu-born author illustrator has woven snippets of her heritage into the story and adds such fun to the text through the illustrations and pages: some of these are graphic-novel-esque. 

Novel

The House with Chicken Legs Runs Away by Sophie Anderson
(Usborne Publishing Limited, 9th April 2026)

This is the sublime sequel to The House with Chicken Legs (Anderson, 2018). So much has happened in the world since, and it’s a comfort to be able to return to the world of a book from before. But Marinka’s world is changing too. Her house – a place of sanctity that has steadfastly taken Marinka, Baba Tatyana, winged-friend Jack and, more recently, her friend Benjamin to where they are needed, has started to behave strangely. It’s as if the house has become unwell: there’s the crumbling and splintering of wooden beams; silences where before there had been none and now Marinka isn’t so sure that the house and all who reside in it will be able to perform their duty in guiding the dead to the afterlife…

The rich, sumptuous storytelling is beautiful to read and to imagine but what’s even more remarkable is the way in which Anderson sensitively manages grief and the myriad emotions it evokes. A core theme here is guilt and we think that that’s a powerful thing to acknowledge with children: that it’s normal to carry guilt in life and normal to feel burdened by this. Perfect for children in UKS2 who enjoy both the whimsical as well as the very ‘real’ themes explored.

Narrative Non-Fiction Graphic Novella

The Hospital for Mythological Creatures by Cathy Evans, illustrated by Ed Brown
(Cicada, 7th May 2026)

This is an incredible take on using literature to help demystify experiences that may be frightening by explaining ideas in a matter-of-fact way whilst still retaining humour and ‘child-friendliness’! The reader is taken on a tour of the hospital, exploring several medical disciplines. Everything happening is explained clearly but with warmth and humour. Added to this, there’s a level of technical detail that is matter of fact: perfect not to just reassure but also to whet the appetite of any young aspiring medic. And what’s so delightful is the character choices - both in characteristics that are more than well-matched to their role within the hospital as well as their names. The nominative determinism is fabulous: the vampiric pathologist called Vlad; Dr Corazon who is a heart specialist (Corazón being Spanish for heart!) and patient Mrs Crawley – a caterpillar who has just had twelve knee replacements! Replete with an extensive glossary of medical terminology, this is a book that would be ideal for pretty much all primary-aged children especially when they, a family member or class member is requiring hospital treatment.

Our own Anthony Legon, Co-Founder and Co-CEO popped a very insightful post on LinkedIn just before this literature review was published. In the post, he talked about the need for joy in literature, yes, but also the need to be real with children and that focusing on hope might be the better way forward right now. This is about truth-telling and also that, by and large, children feel safer when they know what to expect. And to return to this month’s review theme: there is magic in the mythical creatures and humour – yes – but so too is there magic in hospitals with extraordinary people performing extraordinary magic on a daily basis.