Dogs, Dogs, Dogs by John Devolle, Pushkin, £12.99
“Old dogs, young dogs, dogs on wheels, dogs that want to eat your meals” – this “very silly book about dogs” is a polychromatic picture-book treat for little canine fans, full of bold graphic artwork and audacious rhymes.
More! by Ged Adamson, Moon and Bird, £12.99
Best friends Squirrel and Mouse are on a blissful walk together, but Squirrel keeps wanting more – a hat, a tie, a boingy stick! – until he realises it’s all pointless without Mouse to share it. A slyly hilarious anti-consumerist picture book that encourages small readers to pore over its delightful background details.
The Tale That Time Sews by Sita Brahmachari, illustrated by Jane Ray, Templar, £12.99
A little girl waits for her new sibling to be born while Nana stitches together family stories in a quilt that will wrap them both in this 5+ picture book; a lyrical, beautiful account of displacement, migration and learning to flourish in new places while remembering your roots.
Little Minotaur by Gaia Alessi, Walker, £14.99
In ancient Crete, a boy with a bull head is cherished by his sister Ariadne and mother Pasiphaë. Though he struggles to form words, he rejoices in the natural world. But when fearful rumours rise up, he must find his place – and a better ending to his story – in this dreamy, beguiling picturebook Minotaur retelling for 5+.
Pomona: Stories of the Cat Witch by Tor Freeman, Guppy, £14.99
Pomona the cat witch lives in the forest, surrounded by pals including Ratso, Elfis and Prince Frog. It’s here that she discovers empathy while dusting her house, finds a friend for a lonely caterpillar and helps Ratso break an annoying curse. These daft, whimsical, highly illustrated stories are perfect for 5+ readers with a taste for thoughtful silliness.
A Year of Fairy Tales by Sophie Anderson, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli, Usborne, £25
This sumptuous hardback collection – one story for every month – features retellings of classic fairytales like Jack and the Beanstalk as well as original tales rooted in world folklore. Anderson’s lively, adventurous writing marries with Paganelli’s swirling, soaring artwork to create a treasure trove for 7+ readers to share at bedtime or explore solo.
Lumi and the Wolf by Lottie Saahko, Hachette, £14.99
Sent to stay with relatives in Lapland, autistic Lumi struggles to adapt, and her family warns her that a dangerous white wolf is lurking. When she befriends the wolf, Lumi and local boy Oskár set out on a perilous journey to the national park where Wolf can be safe – though she will have to use all her sharp senses and stored knowledge to get him there. Atmospheric and fast-paced, with intricately drawn illustrations, this tense, heartfelt 9+ animal adventure deals both with the impact of climate change on traditional Sami ways of life, and the deep human need to find where you belong.
The Rambler’s Curse by Mikey Please, HarperCollins, £14.99
Things are going well for the magical Café at the Edge of the Woods until a terrifying customer arrives: a human. His appearance sets off a chaotic chain reaction, involving a temperamental wizard’s staff, a red motorbike, a stolen gold hoard and a blanket of carnivorous moss. Can chef Rene and waiter Glumfoot defend the Woods from catastrophe in this laugh-out-loud, shaggy-dog spiral of purposes mistook? Developing the world and characters of Please’s Waterstones prize-winning picture book, this is the first in a trilogy for 8+.
Girl With a Sabretooth Tiger by Jasbinder Bilan, Chicken House, £7.99
In prehistoric England, 11-year-old Swallow, afraid her baby sister will die, undertakes a dangerous quest: to fetch a piece of green jadeite from the heart of a mountain god. Ishi, a village boy, insists on coming too – but it’s the spirit of the great tiger whose tooth she wears that will guide and protect her in this poetic, powerful, pared-back 9+ story of love, determination, courage and shared resource.
Anger Is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo, Hot Key, £8.99
Lil is on probation. She needs to be New Lil – staying head down and out of trouble until her next court hearing – but Old Lil, barely contained, is desperate to make bad, impulsive decisions. Then her brother Aldwin, hundreds of miles away at college, starts talking about hearing voices, and Lil realises she’s the only one who can help. But can she get to him without sacrificing her freedom? A poignant, complex, thought-provoking YA novel by a Carnegie-winning author.
Nightcurse by Emma Hinds, Usborne, £9.99
Revenant Emrys Swift has been 17 for 157 years, living a cloistered life in a secret magical library and trying to remember his own death. When three important books go missing, he must collaborate with his nemesis, charismatic shapeshifter Aubrey Vale, to figure out where and why, but as spectral warnings rise around them, and the secrets of Emrys’s death and Aubrey’s life are laid bare, could their antipathy be changing to attraction? A gorgeously readable queer enemies-to-lovers romantasy, set in a richly realised magical world.
Flarestorm by Moira Buffini, Faber, £9.99
In a world where telepaths called Torches are either oppressed or exalted, an uprising is under way, seeking equality for all. The rebels are marching on the Capital, but Torches Elsa and Kaira are struggling to break out of their underground prison, while Rye, in captivity, is being forced to track powerful Torch Petra as she flies into the unknown. And where will conniving Zara Swan decide her ultimate loyalty lies? Messy, explosive, bloody and brutal, the concluding volume of the bestselling YA Torch Trilogy resolves multiple storylines and perspectives in a blaze of pain, fear, loss and glory.
