Children’s Book Week – what is your favourite read?

By Hayley Sewell

From May 6-12, it is Children’s Book Week, which aims to celebrate impactful children’s literature for all age groups.

We love storytelling at Media Cubs and a good read. Here’s our top recommendations for you to get stuck into from your local library:

7-11

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Wonder features 10-year-old August who was born with a face that looks different to the people around him. He wants nothing more than to be ‘normal’, but his new classmates make his life tricky. Follow ‘Auggie’ as he battles with confidence and friendships – this book will make you laugh and might just make you cry.

Recommended age: 9+

If you love: First person writing, family, books with film adaptations

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Rauf

The Boy at the Back of the Class is a unique and bestselling story about Alexa and her three friends, who decide to befriend new boy Ahmet. He is a refugee from Syria who joined their school in the UK, and the group creates a daring plan to reunite him with his family. The book includes beautiful illustrations to retell Ahmet’s story, and will make any reader smile, teary, and full of inspiration to be kind.

Recommended age: 8+

If you love: Learning, friendship, kindness

Moon Juice and Cloud Soup by Kate Wakeling

If you prefer something different to your usual fiction, Moon Juice and Cloud Soup are two fantastic poetry books for anyone in KS2 (and adults alike!). Filled with fabulous illustrations and poems of all kinds, these books are perfect for short reading and people with wild imaginations! This is truly a recommendation for all readers.

Recommended age: 7+

If you love: Poetry, short chapters, to laugh

Teens

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

In a world where an app tells you the day that you’re going to die, Rufus and Mateo form a fast and exciting friendship in order to live out their best last day. As the unlikely pair deal with friendship, feelings and grief, this story will leave you with a new outlook on life and a love (or hate) for Adam Silvera for putting you in your feels.

Recommended age: 13+

If you love: LGBTQ+ stories, fast-paced stories, friendship

Game Over Girl by Naomi Gibson + Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

These books are for all of the gamers out there, even if you’ve never delved into fiction before – these virtual-reality books will have you at the edge of your seat the whole way through. Game Over Girl follows Lola, who has been selected to test a virtual reality game at her boarding school. She can play as much as she wants as long as she doesn’t create real people, places or memories in the game. But Lola doesn’t follow the rules, and something from her real past is haunting her virtual present… Don’t forget the plot twist!

Otherworld equally follows a student trying out a new virtual world, but can Simon separate his real life from his virtual one, all whilst staying safe? Written by Jason Segel (known for his character Marshall in sitcom How I Met Your Mother) and co-writer Kirsten Miller, this book gives vivid descriptions of a virtual world and leaves you wanting your own character to play… Or will it?

Recommended age: 12+

If you love: Ready Player One, gaming, plot twists

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Five students at Bayview High walk into detention on a Monday afternoon. Only four of them walk out alive… Suspiciously, on Tuesday, Simon had planned to reveal juicy gossip about his four classmates, which now makes all four of them suspects of his murder. Watch the mystery unfold in this book as you try to figure out the truth: who is lying? Karen M. McManus will have you guessing until the very end.

Recommended age: 14+

If you love: Crime, mysteries, books with Netflix adaptations

Ready to dive in? Find your local library here