The Good Deed Dogs by Emma Chichester Clark, Walker, £12.99
Three very good dogs’ attempts to help others keep backfiring with chaotic consequences – until they pull off a successful kitten rescue in this exuberantly charming picture book.
Auntie’s Bangles by Dean Atta and Alea Marley, Orchard, £12.99
Everyone misses Auntie, especially the jingle of her jewellery; but eventually Theo and Rama are ready to put on her bangles and dance to celebrate her memory. A sweet, poignant picture book about loss, joy and remembrance.
Grandad’s World by Michael Foreman, Scholastic, £12.99
Jack loves spending time with his grandad, watching wildlife in the woods and round the village pond. But when rubbish pollutes the water, it’s up to Jack and Grandad to put things right in this absorbing picture book, full of soft blues and greens and the fascination of the natural world.
Jake in the Middle by Michael Catchpool, illustrated by Shanarama, Otter-Barry, £8.99
Jake lives with his bossy older sister and shoe-stealing baby brother at No 3 Maple Street, enjoying gentle, child-friendly adventures such as a trip to the city farm with his grandpa or setting up a school museum. This engaging 5+ chapter book will delight newly independent readers.
Postman Planet by Ben Davis, Gallery Kids, £7.99
Postman Planet pretends to be the best postman in the universe, but despite his moustache he’s only nine years old. Now he and his new part-robot dog assistant have to make an urgent helium delivery to the Planet of Fluffy Unicorns – but can they dodge the Space Vikings who want to steal their cargo? A laugh-out-loud, highly illustrated interstellar caper for 6+ by an author who’s also a real-life postman.
Donut Squad 2: Make a Mess! by Neill Cameron, DFB, £9.99
As Anxiety Donut goes on a mindfulness retreat and Dadnut teaches Li’l Timmy the meaning of life, everyone’s favourite glazed pastry treats are back – but the aggressively savoury Bagel Battalion have plans to banish them from their own book in this rip-roaring 7+ graphic novel sequel, just as funny, silly, clever and addictive as volume one.
The Golden Monkey Mystery by Piu DasGupta, Nosy Crow, £7.99
Aspiring doctor Roma is amazed to discover a golden monkey near her Indian boarding school, far away from its home in Assam. Despite two English children tagging along, bandits on her tail and the malign influence of a cursed jewel called the Snakestone, Roma is determined to return the monkey to where it belongs in this full-tilt, thrilling 8+ historical adventure.
The Experiment by Rebecca Stead, Andersen, £7.99
Eleven-year-old Nathan has always known that he’s from another planet, part of a long-running Earth-based experiment that seems to be coming to an end. But as Nathan’s peers start disappearing and his own family are called back to the Mothership, he begins to question everything he’s believed to be true … An imaginative, humorous coming-of-age sci-fi story for 9+ by an award-winning author.
The Monsters at the End of the World by Rebecca Orwin, illustrated by Oriol Vidal, Puffin, £8.99
Everyone knows that the monsters infesting the sea near Sunny’s tiny town are violent and terrifying – until Sunny meets one, and finds out that what everyone knows is wrong. But Seawaren’s elders won’t listen to Sunny, even though someone in the town is keeping a monstrous secret of their own. This gripping post-apocalyptic debut for 9+ emphasises empathy and curiosity as essentials even in the toughest of times.
The Night I Borrowed Time by Iqbal Hussain, Puffin, £8.99
Zubair is a seventh son, but it’s not until his granny arrives from Pakistan and gives him a strange amulet that he discovers he has the ability to time-travel. When he attempts to fix his parents’ marriage, however, Zubair finds that meddling with the past presents a lot of pitfalls in this funny, touching, thought-provoking 10+ story, richly imagined and deeply inventive.
Ghost Boys: The Graphic Novel by Jewell Parker Rhodes, illustrated by Setor Fiadzigbey, Orion, £9.99
The story of 12-year-old Black boy Jerome, who is shot dead by a police officer while playing with a toy gun, and whose ghost meets the spirit of Emmett Till in the afterlife, has now been given a hauntingly powerful graphic novel treatment, with chapters alternating between Dead and Alive. A moving, enraging version of the original novel.
Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet, Scholastic, £8.99
What would happen to Louisa May Alcott’s March girls if one of them was murdered? A compulsive, sometimes gory reimagining of Little Women as a modern YA thriller, told from all four sisters’ perspectives.
Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones, Hot Key, £14.99
Eli doesn’t know other witches exist until he meets the gorgeous James and is inducted into the Arcana, a magic society ruled over by the mysterious Majors. Eli and his newfound family are threatened by a curse rooted in the Arcana’s history – can they face the secrets of the past to break free of it? This whimsical, inclusive, queer debut YA graphic novel is inspired by the tarot deck.
Queen of Faces by Petra Lord, HarperFire, £16.99
In Caimor, the rich can pay to change their ailing, ageing bodies, but 17-year-old Ana is trapped in a dying male form that will kill her if she doesn’t trade it for a better one. Her last hope of survival is to become an assassin for Caimor’s elite school of magic – but as the terrifying dark mage Khaiovhe incites a gathering rebellion, Ana’s missions become steadily more dangerous and confusing, forcing her to re-evaluate her loyalties and beliefs. A hugely ambitious, wholly riveting 14+ fantasy debut.
