11-14

The Wild Before is a captivating animal adventure filled with hope and friendship. With timely themes of climate change and animal conservation, this extraordinary adventure is perfect for introducing young readers to big ideas.

Themes: Climate change | Friendship | Hope

The YA fiction debut from bestselling author Bryony Gordon, Let Down Your Hair is a modern twist on Rapunzel featuring a hair influencer who develops alopecia – and her quest for a different sort of happy ever after.

Themes: Social media | Online safety | Mental Health | Alopecia

Help KS2 children discover the extraordinary ways nature has survived and thrived in the face of environmental challenges in this beautifully illustrated collection of hopeful stories from around the world, written by marine biologist and broadcaster, Dr Helen Scales. With additional tips about the different habitats that animals and plants around the world call home and how they can help to make positive change.

Download a free chapter extract to share with your classroom.

Themes: Environment | Climate Change | Nature and Animal Kingdom | Eco

A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a white police officer, drawing connections with real-life history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes.

Themes: Race & Identity | History | Prejudice

An outrageous theft. A huge reward. Two friends on the run. POP! is an uproariously funny, action-packed new adventure about the power of courage, standing up for what’s right, and fizzy drinks, from the award-winning author of Kick, Mitch Johnson.

Tackling themes of consumerism and the environment, this is a great book for starting discussions and projects with children aged 9+. These resources have been created by Shapes 4 Schools.

Watch a video from the author here.

A timely and original masterpiece that explores the connections between the past and the present, between civilisation and wilderness. From David Almond, the multi award-winning author of Skellig and one of this generation’s finest storytellers.

Watch David’s Authorfy Introductions video

Discover the magical and mysterious world of NEVERMOOR in this spell-binding series for readers aged 9+ and fans of His Dark Materials. The accompanying resources, linked below, are full of classroom ideas and cross-curricular activities for KS2, ideal for use in literacy lessons or as extra-curricular activities.

Themes: Magic | Family | Literacy

These Teaching Notes focus on the opening pages of Wilder by Penny Chimes to introduce the themes and ideas in the story. The notes include book cover prompts, reading questions for pages 1–14 that support children’s reading comprehension, inference and predictive skills, accompanying activities, and a ‘spotlight’ extract from Chapter One.

A beautiful and enthralling adventure about love, belonging, the delicate balance of nature – and the wildness within us all, for fans of The Last Wild and Where the Crawdads Sing, for 9+ readers.

Download an extract here.

Discover the amazing true stories of the heroic animals saved by the nation’s Supervet, Noel Fitzpatrick!

This inspiring memoir recounts the incredible stories of Noel’s animal patients, celebrating the unbreakable bond between humans and animals. Supported by curriculum-linked activity sheets.

Subjects: English | Science | Art & Design | PSHE (The World of Work)

An unmissable new guide to human history from award-winning geneticist and bestselling author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived and How to Argue with a Racist. Uncover where we came from, exploring evolution, demystifying genetics and prompting important conversations about what race is and what it really means to be human.

Supported by downloadable KS2 resources linked to the science, history and PSHE curriculum.

Themes: Evolution | Science | History | Race & Identity | Family

An enchanting new series brimming with mystery and magic, for children age 9+. Books 1, 2 and 3 are out now.

Themes: Adventure | Fantasy | Nature and Wildlife | The Sky | Learning Together

My Period is the one-stop first period book from bestselling author Milli Hill – covering everything kids need to know, from what to expect and what period products to use, to learning how to track their cycles and feel proud of their amazing bodies.

Themes: Puberty | Body Positivity | PSHE