Here is a selection of some of the
best books published in the past year, for all ages from babies to Young
Adults. Which one will you ask Santa for? 😉
Bathtime for Little Rabbit by Jörg Mühle
Little Rabbit is going to have a
bath and he needs your help if he is going to be squeaky clean! Can you help him
turn the tap? How about blowing away the bubbles on his head? And can you rub
him dry? A lovely, interactive book for very little ones! (ages 0-3)
Yoga Babies by Fearne Cotton and Sheena Dempsey
‘We’re the yoga babies, see what
we can do!’ Roll out your mats and pull on your yoga pants for this one! Follow
a tribe of babies as they try a range of simple poses explained through bright,
friendly illustrations and a bouncy rhyming text. Whatever the mood (cranky, lazy
or over-excited), there’s a pose for that! (ages 2-6)
Triangle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
Cheeky Triangle, who lives in a
triangular house with a triangular door and triangular windows, wants to play a
good joke on its friend Square (who lives in a square house, etc.). This is a
really funny story where the humour is carried by very few words and
wonderfully expressive minimalist pictures. This new book from the
award-winning duo who gave us the brilliant Sam
and Dave Dig a Hole is a gem! (ages 4-7)
Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
Jabari has passed his swimming
test. He is ready to jump off the diving board. At least, that’s what he’s
saying… It will take the gentle guidance of his dad and his own pluck to help
Jabari through his self-appointed challenge. Fabulous illustrations of a sunny
day at the pool will have you long for summer. (ages 4-7)
Charlie and Mouse by Laurel Snyder and Emily Hughes
Follow brothers Charlie and Mouse
as they go about their day, attending an imaginary party or trying to make a
couple of coins selling rocks. Three stories in a book that will bring lots of
smiles to young readers’ faces (and their grown-ups’, too). Charlie and Mouse is ideal for beginner
readers who can combine sounding out and their knowledge of tricky words to
make their own way through the book. (ages 5-7)
This Is How We Do It by Matt
Lamothe
How do kids around the world go to
school? What do they wear? What games do they play? And what do they get for
breakfast? Find out all about it and much more in this beautiful book following
one day in the lives of real families in Japan, Uganda, Russia, Iran, Peru,
India and Italy. (ages 5-8)
Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend
An action-packed and magic-filled
adventure featuring Morrigan Crow who is a perfectly nice and normal girl
except… except that she is cursed! Anything that goes wrong (from burnt toast
to heart attacks) is blamed on her and to top it all she is meant to die on her
eleventh birthday. It’s no fun being Morrigan Crow! But then the mysterious
Jupiter North turns up and everything changes… If you’ve loved Harry Potter,
this is one for you! (ages 9-12)
Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans
When Fidge finds herself
accidentally falling into a magical world in her awful cousin Graham’s basement,
the last thing she expects to meet is a bunch of toys from her little sister’s bedroom.
Toys that have somehow come to life and, for some of them, developed very nasty
personalities. There’s tons going on here and it’s so, so funny. A brilliant
read! (ages 9-12)
The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters by Kara
Lareau and Jen Hill
Sisters Kale and Jaundice Bland
LOVE their very boring lives: always the same, always predictable, no
surprises, be they good or bad. But when they get kidnapped by a bunch of crazy
pirates, things are thrown upside down and they don’t like it one little bit. Come
aboard for a zany adventure, you won’t regret it! (ages 9-12)
The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donoghue
and Caroline Hadiladsono
Meet the Lotterys, a family of two
dads, two mums and seven children, plus an assortment of pets all living in the
rambling house of Camelottery. Life is a bit mad for narrator Sumac with so
many siblings and grownups to deal with, but it’s nothing compared to what
happens when Grumps (a cranky grandad she’s never met) comes to live with them.
(ages 12+)
Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans
Elliot’s life is hard enough as he
tries to hide the fact that Mam is slowly but literally losing her mind. Yet
things are going to get a lot more complicated as a young Greek goddess lands
in his garden shed and as they accidentally free the Daemon of Death from his millennial
prison under Stonehenge. Cue a mad race to track him down and bring him back
behind bars with the help of a crew of mad gods who are nothing like what you’d
expect. Action-packed and hilarious! (ages 12+)
Marvel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Shannon
Hale and Dean Hale
Squirrel Girl has the tail of a
squirrel and its amazing abilities for jumping, running, gliding and stocking
nuts in her cheeks. But Squirrel Girl can’t let anyone know about her powers.
She’s just moved to a new town where she’s trying hard to blend in, make new
friends and figure out where the recent wave of crime is coming from. Squirrel Girl is awesome and super
funny, and it pokes fun at Iron Man: what’s not to like? (ages 12+)
Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais
Hakima, Mireille and Astrid have
been voted winners of the Pig Pageant, that is to say ugliest girls in school.
Once the initial shock of the news has subsided, what are the girls going to do
about it? Mireille has the answer: they’re going to show the rest of the world
that they don’t care! Follow the girls as they hop on their bikes for a
hilarious road trip through France, it will put a spring in your step! (Ages
14+, Young Adult)
For more great book ideas, head over to Inis magazine, where you will find books for all ages in English
and Irish. Your local library should also have a copy of this year's Inis Reading Guide, which contains
over 250 quick reviews of books for babies to young adults: picturebooks, early
readers, chapter books, big, fat novels, fact books and poetry.
