School Reading List podcast hosted by Tom Tolkien

Season 1: Episode 40

For transcripts, resources & show notes: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/podcasts/series-1-episode-40/

Part 1
Book post

• I Am Ray's Imaginary Friend by Brian Moses
• Locked in the Museum by Leisa Stewart-Sharpe
• Mo's Stick by Fiona Lumbers
• Tick Tock Around the Clock by Ruth Brown
• Sea Safari by Julie Sykes and Emily Jones
• Marty Moose: The Great Stamp-ede by Claire Powell
• The Elementals: Wanzu Sets Sail by Love Ssega and Erika Meza
• Cruise Ship Kid: Kidnap at Sea! by Emma Swan
• On the Streets of New York by Sarah Kay and Ryan Johnson
• The Cheat Book (Vol.3) by Ramzee
• Always Angel by Kimberly Whittam
• Made for Each Other by Georgina Taylor
• Dragonborn by Struan Murray
• War & Peas by Robert Muchamore
• Burn the Water by Billy Ray
• All the Cursed Creatures by Amie Jordan
• When I Was Death by Alexis Henderson

Rundown - top 30 children's and YA books in April 2026

• The Last Death Poet by Stephen Daly
• What Stephen Lawrence Has Taught Us by Benjamin Zephaniah
• How to Question Everything by Susan Martineau & Vicky Barker
• Nico the Donkey's New Home by Elena Mannion
• Camping in the Wild by Nicholas Oldland
• SPYGLASS: Mastermind of Mayhem by David Solomons
• Piper at the Gates of Dusk by Patrick Ness
• Two is a Crowd by Cath Howe
• Wide Eye by Jennifer Liss
• Dead Straight Line by Malcolm Duffy
• A Million Tiny Missiles All at Once by Lucas Maxwell
• Kamizen: Fortress of Lost Memories by William Dobson
• Guinea Pig Rescue by Pamela Butchart
• Saving Species by Jess French
• Wild Footprints by Judy Wise
• Once Upon a Time in the Woods by Anthony Browne
• Whale Song by Nicola Davies
• Once Upon a Planet by Pierrick Graviou
• How to Build a Chocolate Bridge by Roma Agrawal
• Izzy Dobson is Definitely Different by Abigail Balfe
• Survival Show by Juno Dawson
• My Art Book of Peace by Shana Gozansky
• Song I Wrote for Charlotte by Caitlin Devlin
• The Seriously Epic Holiday of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby
• Lost by Tom Adams, Daniela Martin Del Campo
• The Whisperwicks: The Vanished Key by Jordan Lees
• Hercules vs the Minotaur by Tom Vaughan
• The House with Chicken Legs Runs Away by Sophie Anderson
• The World's Last Mammoth and Other Missing Marvels by Mike Barfield & Franziska Hollbacher
• Woodlore by Kevin Parr

April 2025 books of the month

• Fiction: Dead Straight Line by Malcolm Duffy
• Nonfiction: How to Question Everything by Susan Martineau & Vicky Barker
• Picture book: The Dream by Gideon Sterer & Nik Henderson

Part 2
Cricket books

New book pitches: Little Poets: A Poem A Day by Tara Ali, Ask To Learn Booklets by Anjennis Walrond & Sally the Spider’s new shoes by Clodagh Ryan

Part 3
How to spot which books will appeal to 14-16+ year olds based on social media trends

Credits & licensing
Sounds are licensed. Audit: https://bit.ly/3TFkwsl

Support the show

School Reading List podcast hosted by Tom Tolkien

Season 1: Episode 39

For transcripts, resources & show notes: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/podcasts/series-1-episode-39/

Part 1
Book post

• Carnival Fantástico by Angela Montoya
• Insectarium Junior Edition by Emily Carter and Dave Goulson
• When Tad Kicked Vlad by Julian Gough and Ross Collins
• Don't Do It, Doug by Maudie Powell-Tuck
• I Am Strong Just Being Me by Laura Dockrill and Kip Alizadeh
• Happy Hills: Cheesy Bob Strikes! by Sophy Henn
• The Great Glacier Hotel Heist by Meg McLaren
• Detective Stanley and the Green Thumbed Thief by Hannah Tunnicliffe
• The Galaxy World Cup by Alan Joyce
• How to Speak and Be Heard by Sam Hutchinson and Vicky Barker
• Stitch Head by Guy Bass
• The Last Wolf by Rob Biddulph
• Mixed by Emma Slade Edmondson
• Boy vs Reality by James Fox
• Escape! by Sophie McKenzie
• Day of Now by Miranda Reason
• Control Alter Delete by K. L. Kettle
• Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman

Rundown - top 30 children's and YA books in March 2026

• Tick Tock Around the Clock by Ruth Brown
• Her Hidden Fire by Clíodhna O’Sullivan
• I Am Ray's Imaginary Friend by Brian Moses, illustrated by Bethan Welby
• The STEM Encyclopedia of Wildlife Words by Jenny Jacoby
• Mr Norton’s New Truck by Huw Lewis Jones
• The Elementals: Wanzu Sets Sail by Love Ssega
• The Whale That Sings in the Deep by Yuval Zommer
• Big Brilliant World by Matt Ralphs
• On The Streets of New York by Sarah Kay & Ryan Johnson
• When I Was Death by Alexis Henderson
• War and Peas by Robert Muchamore
• All the Cursed Creatures by Amie Jordan
• Death by Chocolate by Anna Brooke
• The Future Book by Mac Barnett
• Big Words by Luke Palmer
• Keeping Possession by Eve Ainsworth
• The Aztecs by DK
• Lost Robot by Joe Todd-Stanton
• The Big Book of Pi by Jean-Baptiste Aubin & Anita Lehmann
• The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel
• The Mubbles by Liz Pichon
• A Degree in a Book: Physics by Sidney Perkowitz
• Kidnap at Sea! by Emma Swan
• Fang Attack by Kieran Larwood & Joe Todd-Stanton
• Rise of the Badbots! by Jack Noel
• Monkeypig by Huw Aaron
• The Overthinkers’ Club by Nat Luurtsema
• Burn the Water by Billy Ray
• These Shattered Spires by Cassidy Ellis Salter
• A Soul Full of Shadows by Derek Landy
• Dave Vs Dave! by Swapna Haddow

March 2025 books of the month

• Fiction: I am Ray's Imaginary Friend by Brian Moses, illustrated by Bethan Welby
• Nonfiction: Locked in the Museum by Leisa Stewart-Sharpe
• Picture book: Mo's Stick by Fiona Lumbers

Part 2
Survival and bushcraft books

New book pitches: Little Poets: A Poem A Day by Tara Ali, Ask To Learn Booklets by Anjennis Walrond & Sally the Spider’s new shoes by Clodagh Ryan

Part 3
“Only 10% of boys aged 14-16 read daily for pleasure”. What can we as teachers do about it?

Credits & licensing
Sounds are licensed. Audit: https://bit.ly/3TFkwsl

Support the show

School Reading List podcast hosted by Tom Tolkien

Season 1: Episode 38

For transcripts, resources & show notes: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/podcasts/series-1-episode-38/

Part 1
Book post

• Small Poems for Big Imaginations by Neal Zetter, illustrated by Will Hughes
• How to Survive an Apocalypse by Coby Coonradt and Cameron Hardy, illustrated by Victoria Stebleva
• Tree Thing by Piers Torday, illustrated by Matthew Taylor
• Tyrannosaurus Veg by Smriti Halls and Katherina Manolessou
• The Map of Me by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Olga Shtonda
• Goldilocs by Ella McLeod and Rochelle Falconer
• The Spectacular Space Loop by Javi De Castro
• From AI to WI-FI by Craig Steele, illustrated by Terri Po
• Magpie Girl by Rowan Foxwood
• Escape from the Child Snatchers by Sufiya Ahmed
• The Monsters at the End of the World by Rebecca Orwin
• The Not-So Great Escape by Emma Green
• Quill and the Last Generation by C. M. Lewis
• New You Forever by Steve Cole, illustrated by Chris King
• Sweet and Sour by Monique Turner
• Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet
• Catch by Sarah Brill
• Arcana - The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones

Rundown - top 30 children's and YA books in February 2026

• Tiny Hercules by Jon Lock
• Bridge of Storms by Philip Reeve
• The Impossible Gladiator by M. G. Leonard
• Hari Kumar, Ultimate Superstar by Rashmi Sirdeshpande
• The Day My Brother Got Famous by Jen Carney
• When the World Ends by Joanna Nadin
• At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp
• Tomorrow I'm in Charge! by Jörg Mϋhle
• Advice from a 12-Year-Old Nobody by Helen Rutter
• Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman
• There Is Not Usually a Hole by Daisy Hirst
• Kill Me Now by Helen Price
• Escape! by Sophie McKenzie
• Day of Now by Miranda Reason
• They Call Her Regret by Channelle Desamours
• Write Your Own Family History by Jane Bingham
• The Fabric of Us by Aditi Anand
• YOU VS The Poison Plot by Josh Hicks
• Raindrops by Robin Boyden
• Alan, King of the Universe by Tom McLaughlin
• Murder at the Ivy Hotel by Emily Hourican
• Chicken Hill by Beccy Blake
• The Moonhaven Chronicles: The Last Wolf by Rob Biddulph
• The Blitz Sisters by Judith Eagle
• Kid Potato by Neil Coslett
• Cheesy Bob Strikes! by Sophy Henn
• The Beasts We Raise by D. L. Taylor
• Always Angel by Kimberly Whittam

February 2025 books of the month

• Fiction: Carnival Fantástico by Angela Montoya
• Nonfiction: Insectarium Junior Edition by Emily Carter and Dave Goulson
• Picture book: When Tad Kicked Vlad by Julian Gough and Ross Collins

Part 2
Dead Straight Line by Malcolm Duffy

New book pitches: The Collaborator by TG Trouper, Sally the Spider’s new shoes by Clodagh Ryan, Anna Denton & The Water of Life by Vaughan Hawthorne-Nelson

Part 3
How Book Censorship Creeps into UK Schools and How to Respond

Credits & licensing
Sounds are licensed. Audit: https://bit.ly/3TFkwsl

Support the show