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They may fit awkwardly into a stocking, but no one can receive too many books at Christmas – especially not children.
Inspire young minds with incredible adventures, transporting bedtime reads and stories that will stay with them for life this festive season…
ALICE WITH A WHY by Anna James
Published in hardback by HarperCollins Children’s Books, £12.99
While a copy of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll ought to be a staple in any child’s library, this companion piece by Pages & Co writer Anna James also makes a rather lovely addition. The standalone story revolves around Alyce, the granddaughter of the original Alice, who, in 1919, is invited to a very special tea party. War rages in Wonderland, and Alyce must find a way to make peace with help from the Cheshire Cat and Mad Hatter.
BERT AND THE BUBBLE by Kim Hillyard
Published in paperback by Ladybird, £7.99
What would you do if you found a giant bubble that all of your friends wanted to play with, eat or pop? This is the conundrum faced by Bert, whose smiley bubble draws such a crowd of admiring frogs that he is forced to barricade himself and his bubble away. Eventually, Bert’s friends Sandra and Norman persuade him to come out and he realises that sharing can be fun.
DONUT SQUAD: TAKE OVER THE WORLD! by Neill Cameron
Published in paperback by DFB Phoenix, £9.99
Shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2025 award, this madcap comic from Phoenix Comics imagines the world domination plans of, you guessed it, doughnuts. Up against a dastardly crew of bagels, a squad of five doughnuts (including Sprinkles, Spronky and Jammyboi) have very grand dreams. Great for budding illustrators too – there are tips in the back for creating your very own comic.
SKIPSHOCK by Caroline O’Donoghue
Published in paperback by Walker Books, £16.99
If the YA reader in your life has ticked off the Hunger Games and Divergent series, nab a copy of the time-bending Skipshock by podcaster and author Caroline O’Donoghue. Margot falls asleep on the train to Dublin and wakes up in another dimension, where travel between a series of interconnected worlds is outlawed, except for salesmen like the charismatic Moon. Haunting, smart and incredibly imaginative, this is book one; hopefully there are many to come.
THE CAVE DOWNWIND OF THE CAFÉ by Mikey Please
Published in hardback by HarperCollins Children’s Books, £14.99
The Café at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2025, and The Cave Downwind of the Café is the equally enchanting, rhyme-laden sequel. Glumfoot dreams of eating a decent meal, but keeps being handed his dad’s disgusting bogey broth instead, and now the cafe at the edge of the woods is under threat from a ravenous ogre.
SLEEP TIGHT, DISGUSTING BLOB by Huw Aaron
Published in paperback by Puffin, £7.99
In Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob, Huw Aaron flips the narrative by wittily showing us the bedtime routines of creatures that are usually the harbingers of restless nightmares. There’s Dracula brushing his teeth, a Demon having Calpol, a Sentient Meteor snuggling down in its cot, and a family of Disgusting Blobs dodging Lego and reading stories together. Very clever, strangely moving and brilliant to read aloud, this picture book will become a bedtime staple.
SECRETS OF THE STARS: 15 BEDTIME STORIES INSPIRED BY NATURE by Alicia Klepeis
Published in hardback by Neon Squid, £14.99
This super gifty, cloth-bound non-fiction book shimmers with silver, making it feel like a special anthology to sit down with. Packed with five-minute-long stories about the animals that make the world their own when darkness falls, budding naturalists will learn about ethereal snowy owls, a flying fox enjoying a moonlit swim, and the dung beetles that use the stars to chart their way.
ALWAYS REMEMBER: THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX, THE HORSE AND THE STORM by Charlie Mackesy
Published in hardback by Ebury Press, £22
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by illustrator-author Charlie Mackesy was a smash hit in 2019, with its pages still shared across social media to remind people they are not alone. The follow-up, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, The Horse and The Storm, has the same swirly sketch style, and in it, the Boy must summon up his courage to brave emotional and meteorological dark clouds.
IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES: THE POISONED KING by Katherine Rundell
Published in paperback by Bloomsbury Children’s Books, £14.99
No one is writing kids’ adventure stories quite as deftly as Katherine Rundell. The Poisoned King is book two in her fantastical Impossible Creatures series, and sees our hero Christopher awoken by a tiny dragon before being reunited with the mythological creatures that populate the secret Archipelago. Expect a rescue mission, castles, more dragons and a whirlwind of a girl called Anya, who travels with the birds.
THE ROOTS WE SHARE: 100 WORDS THAT BRING US TOGETHER by Susie Dent
Published in hardback by Puffin, £16.99
This might be a book all about words, but it really doesn’t feel like doing homework. Countdown’s Susie Dent brings us a collection of weird, wonderful and moving words that connect and bind us, from conjobble (having a natter over food) to goodwilly (being kind and compassionate).
