Age 4–11: Hottest New Titles for Autumn 2024

Ideal for that fresh, front-facing library display, an enticing update to the whole school's classroom libraries, or brand-new recommendations for your core book list, these are the must-have books for Autumn 2024. Combining exceptional writing and outstanding illustration, packed with features that maximise value in the classroom, our Hottest New collections will exceed your expectations and level up your library into a powerhouse for promoting reading for pleasure.

Books for Reception:

What the Crow Saw Below by Robert Tregoning

This gorgeous picture book features a brilliant rhyming text and an enjoyable, fable-like story about what you miss out on if you focus on your fears. A curious young crow is instructed to look down for signs of danger, but, when she looks around she sees that the dangers are less than imagined and when she looks up there is a whole sky to explore! The illustrations are strikingly beautiful, the writing engaging, and the language lovely. We highly recommend this book and are sure it will become a class favourite. 

A Wild Walk to School by Rebecca Cobb

This picture book is an absolute delight to read, charming, funny and beautifully illustrated. The talented Rebecca Cobb has created a brilliantly observed imaginary world of two girls getting ready and going to school. The familiar school morning routines and games of tightrope walking on a low wall or imagining the cracks in the pavement to be lava, will resonate strongly with young children and they will be enchanted by the twist at the end! Every page is thoroughly enjoyable and promotes reading for pleasure amongst the youngest in your school.

Books for Year 1:

Natterjack Toad Can't Believe It! by Sean Taylor

This funny story of a toad relishing eating his Chocolate Chunk Crunchy Munch Cookies is hugely entertaining, has a satisfying narrative, and features repetition and a playful use of language. Each time the toad tries to take a bite of his favourite snack he spots a danger, something that would spell disaster if he munched on something that crunched! Entertain and share reading for pleasure with your class while developing their vocabulary and language skills with this brilliant book.

Victor, the Wolf with Worries by Catherine Rayner

Iris & Isaac, Abigail, and Harris Finds His Feet; Catherine Rayner's books are always stunning, but Victor, the Wolf with Worries might be our favourite so far. It is not only beautiful to look at and comforting to read, but also one of the best books we have seen exploring the emotion of worry. It promotes a resilient approach; encouraging young children to understand that worry is a part of life, that it comes and goes and what to do to ease it. At the end of the book Victor is confident that he knows what to do the next time he feels worried and your class will too. An enjoyable book at any time and a useful resource for exploring emotions as part of the PSHE curriculum and promoting class discussions.

Books for Year 2:

The Elephant & the Sea by Ed Vere

This exquisite picture book from the award-winning author-Illustrator Ed Vere is a delight to read, absorbing to look at, and has an emotional depth delivered with a light touch. Meet Gabriel, an elderly elephant, his 'face has as many lines as the sea has waves' but once he was young with dreams of joining the lifeboat crew. Gabriel's is a touching story of purpose, determination, grit, hard work, a daring rescue in a fearsome storm, and a life well-lived. The beautiful illustrations, a homage to the Cornish coast, are vivid, textured and evocative; and the text is rich, and lyrical with a satisfying rhythm and refrain. This is a book to revisit and return to many times and we highly recommend it for your core book list.

The Little Wooden Robot & the Log Princess by Tom Gauld

This celebrated, award-winning, modern fairytale will engage readers with surprising twists and turns and appealing illustrations. The author-illustrator is a renowned cartoonist, and this is reflected in the unusual use of illustration which tells the story using graphic novel-like features. Strikingly different and packed with adventure, this charming story of a brother and sister has a satisfying narrative, leaves room for the reader's imagination and has broad appeal. The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess is a superb book for supporting pupils' own storytelling and we are sure it will be a very popular pick from your library shelves for years to come.

Books for Year 3:

Betty Steady & the Toad Witch by Nicky Smith-Dale

This fast-paced, ridiculously fun, and joke-packed adventure story is outrageously entertaining and will win over the most reluctant of readers. Betty Steady guards the kingdom, she has trounced all their enemies single-handed and does not think she needs any help, ever...until she is shrunk to the size of a hamster by the evil Toad Witch and finds herself in need of friends. We loved this exuberant character, you cannot help but cheer Betty on, and the playful and irresistible use of language that your pupils will pick up and run with. 'Twadlle cakes!' What are you waiting for, it's time to 'lick the toenails of adventure!'

Lenny Lemmon & the Alien Invasion by Ben Davis

If you have not yet met the irrepressible Lenny Lemmon then this is the perfect place to do so. We have been enjoying watching this entertaining series for readers in LKS2 grow for a couple of years now and love the perfect blend of humour and empathy, skilfully written by Carnegie nominated author, Ben Davis. In this book Lenny is trying to save the dwindling town from death by giant mall by staging an alien invasion. As always, his heart is in the right place but his decisions are dubious and it takes all his powers of persuasion to get his friend, Sam, to dress up as an alien! It is only a matter of time before they are unmasked but how will the community react to the hoax? This book is not only enormously fun to read, it can also be used to discuss the motives and feelings of different characters and to open other discussions about right and wrong. We think of this book as 'reading for pleasure +'.

Books for Year 4:

Flora Stormer & the Golden Lotus by Isabella Harcourt

This unexpected gem of a book really surprised us and it's always great to discover a shorter confident read for Year 4 that develops language skills and expands pupils' vocabulary over fewer, nicely illustrated, pages. It is beautifully written historical fiction with a touch of Jumanji-like magic, lovely language, and a brilliant neurodiverse protagonist. Flora is a talented young artist with Tourette's Syndrome who finds herself on a quest for a rainforest flower that can cure all ills along with a pantomime baddie and her new friend and inventor extraordinaire, Pavan. There are scenes of historical prejudice and Flora herself wants to be cured until she accepts that she is not ill and that her tics are to be welcomed as part of the amazing whole person she is. We will be keeping an eye out for more from the author of this excellent historical romp that showed a subtle awareness of the issues around the historic collection of plants and artefacts and sensitively explored the challenges of neurodiversity and inequality, while remaining at all times a thoroughly enjoyable magical adventure.

The Stone Age Clash by Josh Lacey

We always keep our eyes open for brilliant books that bring the history curriculum alive for your pupils, and The Time Travel Twins series is a superb example. In this perilous adventure the twins visit two different time periods in the Stone Age showing the transition from hunter/gatherers to the settled people who built Stone Henge. Both times the twins are separated so that their different points of view can be compared and contrasted, and a richer understanding of the time period explored. Experiences include: seeing mammoths, meeting a Neanderthal, joining a small tribe of early humans, a ceremony at the site that would become Stonehenge, pulling the first stone to the site and seeing it erected. We love the way that readers feel as if they have met different people from the Stone Age and how this book is both an exciting read and an excellent resource for Stone Age project work, deepening pupils' understanding of the topic. You are going to want to find space on your classroom and library shelves for this one.

Books for Year 5:

I Am Rebel by Ross Montgomery

Rebel is a loyal dog on a quest to find his Tom, a farm boy who has marched off to war in a rural kingdom in the 16th century. Along the way, he befriends other animals and faces great peril with fierce love and determination. This book has the feel of a classic, it is emotionally engaging, well-crafted and the relatively accessible text disguises a rich narrative that can be read on many levels. This book is much more than the story of a loyal dog and his companions; reading and rereading can draw out themes of embracing change, growing up, recognising the needs of others, and valuing the 'small nothings' that make life worth living and are worth fighting for. We always expect outstanding storytelling and a narrative with depth and breadth from Ross Montgomery, but this book exceeded all our expectations and gave us the most lovable canine protagonist.

The Letter with the Golden Stamp by Onjali Q. Raúf

This brilliant recount is told mostly through the vehicle of a police interview and is a fine example of this alternative writing style. The protagonist is a young Welsh carer, and stamp collector, who has gone to the extreme measure of posting herself to her estranged father in the hope of securing money to help her mother who has become bedridden with arthritis. The plight of young carers and family poverty are not shied away from but are handled with a sensitive and light touch in this warm and entertaining story that features great kindness alongside great challenges. Ultimately, it is the community that steps up to provide for the family in this absorbing and entertaining read, giving us another inspiring call to support those in need from the author of The Boy at the Back of the Class.

Books for Year 6:

The Boy to Beat the Gods by Ashley Thorpe

Inspired by Yoruba culture and set in a mythical Africa where a family of demigods demand sacrifices from the village tribes, this stand-out fantasy is steeped in West African tribal culture. When young Kayode's village is visited by the gods and his sister is taken, he eats the fruit from the tree of the gods to grant him the power to challenge them. He is accompanied in his quest by a trickster god in the form of a goat, a warrior princess from another tribe and a young boy who has lost his parents.  We found the tribal culture and African landscape interesting and immersive, the immense presence of the gods dramatic, and the forging of alliances across divided tribes powerful in this brilliant debut.

Wolf Road by Alice Roberts

Alice Roberts has used her understanding as an anthropologist and experience as an author, broadcaster and Professor of Public Engagement in Science to bring the Ice Age alive for readers in Year 6. In her fiction debut, readers follow a small tribe's seasonal journey from their winter hunting grounds to a camp where tribes gather together to enjoy the abundance of spring. Along the way, there is conflict and division within the tribe and between different tribes, new alliances, survival and death, grief and joy, hunting and gathering, shamanic practices, and a life-changing encounter with a Neanderthal. Professor Roberts spent time with the Sami people to research this book and this is evident in the rich detail of everyday life, the beautifully described world of the tribe and their profound connection to the landscape in which they live. We loved this vivid portrayal of life in the Ice Age, the rich detail that transports readers from the classroom to a tiny camp in a vast thawing wilderness, and the gripping drama of the perilous journey.

Poetry for KS1:

A Ticket to Kalamazoo! by James Carter

From the award-winning author of Zim Zam Zoom!, and energetically illustrated by the fabulous Neal Layton, comes 19 brand new zippy poems to read aloud. This exuberant collection is instantly engaging, perfect for developing children's interest in poetry, and brilliant for supporting their own performance and writing. We are sure that this book will become a staple of KS1 classrooms, one to return to over and over again for poetry lessons, for a quick five minute poetry fix, and for fun.

Poetry for KS2:

Colossal Words for Kids by Colette Hiller

Irresistible to read and fantastic fun to share, this poetry book not only entertains but also introduces and defines a fabulous array of words usually only available to the most eloquent but made accessible to children through humorous rhymes and illustrations. Challenging your class to use words like voracious, replete or querulous in their writing, encouraging them to take pleasure in new words, and discovering the joy of using the perfect word is made easy and fun with Colossal Words for Kids. This book will certainly extend your pupils vocabulary in a memorable way, introduces a novel purpose to poetry that will be widely enjoyed, and stimulates the mind and creativity in interesting ways. We highly recommend this book for scintillating lessons.