Posted on: 08/01/2025
As ever, we’re astonished at the calibre of new literature that is sent to us from publishers and publicists alike at Literacy Tree HQ for review. It’s always incredibly difficult to choose just a few of the titles. Nonetheless, we’ve found a book for each season that previously featured in a literature review. We’ve also been able to give you just four titles that are due to publish in the first few months of 2025… what treats there are in store in the world of children’s literature!
I love Hate Books by Mariajo Illustrajo
(Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 29 Feb 2024)
Published at the end of February and included in our March review this year was the brilliant I Love Hate Books by Mariajo Illustrajo (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.) The protagonist is OUTRAGED at the injustice of being asked to read an actual book during the school holidays. Aren’t the holidays for relaxing and having fun? Reading isn’t fun, well not for her anyway. Venturing to the library to choose something to read her sister suggests a book that she herself enjoyed when younger… Under the expert tutelage of a little fennec fox, the child has no choice but to join in the adventure. She is – quite literally – spellbound! And, thrillingly, this book is on the nominations list for the 2025 YOTO Carnegie Awards, rubbing shoulders with many other books we’ve reviewed this year.
Queer and Fearless by Rob Sanders and Harry Woodgate
(Penguin Workshop, 16 April 2024)
Reviewed in June for our PRIDE month edit, and with our message that PRIDE is still a protest, was the empowering and uplifting Queer and Fearless by Rob Sanders and Harry Woodgate (Penguin Workshop).
This utterly joyous, hope-filled poetry anthology penned by two favourite author/illustrators of ours is hugely accessible. Each poem distils the moment(s) of heroism alongside a potted-biography of the person featured. All of the poems (all different in form, we should add!) tell stories of bravery and determination to continue to stand; to protest for equal rights for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Essential reading both for children to be able to see themselves within literature but also to encourage allyship. And because intersectionality is so cleverly observed, this makes this a book that so many of our children and young people will identify with.
Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold
(Harper Collins Children’s Books, 26 Sep 2024)
We were privileged to hear Hannah talk about her deeply personal new novel this summer when she joined us on our English Subject Leader session. Sumptuously illustrated by Levi Pinfold, Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold (Harper Collins Children’s Books) explores new territory both by the characters within as well as the author’s choice of theme. Silver’s family is in turmoil: her parents yearn for a second child but the IVF they’ve endured hasn’t worked and this has taken its toll on them all. An extended stay in Costa Rica to help protect the dwindling turtle population seems just the ticket. Poignant and extremely brave, this explores an often overlooked – maybe even taboo – subject from both adult and child’s perspective. Important literature, filled with adventure.
The Time Travellers: Adventure Calling by Sufiya Ahmed
(Little Tiger, 1 Feb 2024)
We loved reading the first in a brand-new series from the brilliant Suffiya Ahmed, Time Travellers – Adventure Calling by Sufiya Ahmed (Little Tiger). Suhana Shah from Stratford is astonished when, by way of a hacked-phone-turned-portal, she and new-found friends Mia and Aayan find themselves transported back in time to the Edwardian era. She’s further astonished when she realises that brown-skinned people just like her were living in London all those years ago: not something of which she was aware.
Suhana is curious and clever but so lonely: she’s a looked-after child, currently being fostered and school should really be a place of safety and belonging for this plucky protagonist. Can Suhana use the courage she garners from protesting with the like-minded women of 1911 to protest with Fridays for Future climate activists? Well-researched and brilliantly written, Ahmed has drawn upon both her parliamentary experience as well her work for the BIBI Foundation – established by Ahmed herself with the aim of arranging visits to the Houses of Parliament for diverse and underprivileged school children.
Ice Apprentices by Jacob North
(Simon and Schuster Children’s UK, 30 Jan 2025)
At the end of January – perfectly timed to land when the UK is deep in winter – comes Ice Apprentices by Jacob North (Simon and Schuster Children’s U.K.) Newcomer, North, debuts with a glittering, exciting fantasy centred around outsider Oswin Fields. Oswin is a ‘stray’. Parents certainly dead, a letter written to Oswin from Grandmaster Penny Yarrow instantly envelops the reader into the narrative where the boy’s roots are explained. But bitterness-filled Lullia burns the letter and takes the treats and tokens also sent to Oswin for herself. Will the boy ever grow up to know his true origins and fulfil his destiny? Spellbinding!
Bunny’s New Brakes by Caroline Crowe and Jess Pauwels
(Faber and Faber, 27 Feb 2025)
A brilliant picture book that we can look forward to for younger readers is Bunny’s New Brakes by Caroline Crowe and Jess Pauwels (Faber and Faber). Due to publish at the end of February, this delightful rhyming text features Blade – a bunny who would rather scoot (at lightning speed) than slowly lollop. But when Blade’s brakes fail, the Easter Egg display is ruined. Will she be able to put things right in time for Easter? A lovely spring book with the message that ‘different can be good’.
My Name is Samim by Fidan Meikle
(Floris Books, 22 May 2025)
The poignant, evocative novel from Fidan Meikle, My Name is Samim (Kelpies) will publish in May. This novel – ideal for children in Year 6 and up – tells the story of Samim, who has risked it all to escape dangerous Afghanistan. We meet Samim as the authorities are trying to decide what to do for him. Alone since the age of nine, he has the memory of his friend Zayn for comfort. Although Zayn has died, the friendship and strength that Samim draws from the memory of his friend is powerful and sees the boy through very difficult times indeed. A social worker realises that a terrible mistake has been made, in that Samim isn’t as old as he appears. When he is moved out of the adult detention centre, will the teen’s fractured life slowly be mended and put back together, albeit differently to before? Moving, insightful and well-researched, this is an exciting debut from a Scotland-dwelling Azerbaijani-British writer, linguist and translator.
Pia’s Pet Club by Serena Patel and Emma McCann
(Usborne, 8 May 2025)
May will see the publication of the first in an illustrated series of three titles: Pia’s Pet Club by Serena Patel and Emma McCann (Usborne). This new release – Puppy Problem – features pet-crazy protagonist Pia who lives between the houses of her separated parents. She is being looked after during the summer holidays by her almost-16 year-old sister, Anjali (which displeases Pia greatly) while her dad is at work. Pets are ‘her thing’… except she doesn't actually have a pet… not yet, anyway. This promises to be the perfect read for confident Year 2 readers in the summer term and for children in LKS2. Lovely representation of separated families included!
Posted in: Literature Review | Bibliotherapy
KS: Lower KS2
Year Group: Year 5
