Most popular children's books 27 July - 2 August 2015

Books for Babies and Toddlers

1		What's the Opposite? Oliver Jeffers Julia Eccleshare's Book of the Month, July 2015  Award-winning Oliver Jeffers’s endearingly simple Hueys are always asking interesting questions to help them find out more. This time they want to know more about opposites. Some opposites are easy. Everyone knows ... Download free opening extract
2		Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll This beautiful board is the perfect first introduction to Alice. Babies and toddlers will love the playful and quirky characters Alison Jay brings to life with her own unique perspective whilst encapsulating the zany other-worldness of Carroll's novel. ... Download free opening extract
3		Baby's Very First Slide and See Under the Sea Fiona Watt An engaging, interactive board book, specially designed for very young children, full of vivid colours, stylish illustrations and friendly sea creatures. Simple slider mechanisms allow the pictures to be transformed, as a group of playful seals swim around, a hermit ... Download free opening extract

Featured Books for Young Adults

1		Because You'll Never Meet Me Leah Thomas July 2015 Debut of the Month   The story of an unusual but increasingly close friendship, this is a totally original and engrossing novel. Ollie and Moritz strike up a friendship through letters. They are far from each other geographically, but ... Download free opening extract
2		The Accident Season Moira Fowley-Doyle July 2015 Debut of the Month   Each October Cara’s family must endure the accident season when for four weeks, no matter how much their mother tries to protect them, covering every surface in padding, removing electrical gadgets, hiding knives, they ... Download free opening extract
3		Fire Colour One Jenny Valentine July 2015 Book of the Month  Guardian Prize winning author Jenny Valentine’s long-awaited new novel is clever, beautifully written, full of ideas. It tells the story of sixteen-year-old Iris: lonely and desperately unhappy, she finds self-expression and release through starting ... Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 3+ readers

1		Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll This is the perfect story of Alice to share with younger readers.  Tony Ross has done a great job in the retelling for a younger audience and the book is full of his delightfully humourous illustrations too. Building a love ... Download free opening extract
2		Albert and Little Henry Jez Alborough Albert loves making up stories, and his mum and dad love listening to them. But when his baby brother Henry arrives, no-one seems to have time to listen to stories any more. With everyone fussing round Little Henry, Albert feels ... Download free opening extract
3		Where the Bugaboo Lives Sean Taylor Julia Eccleshare's Book of the Month, July 2015 Brilliantly conceived, this hugely attractive picture book is also a sophisticated ‘chose your own adventure’. Floyd wants to go exploring down the valley behind the house where he lives. But his mum ... Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 5+ readers

1		Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf Catherine Storr The first in a collection of stories for young children in which the resourceful and kind Polly outwits the enthusiastic but dim wolf over a number of encounters which are close enough to be alarming while funny enough to be ... Download free opening extract
2		Wigglesbottom Primary: The Shark in the Pool Pamela Butchart The pupils at Wigglesbottom Primary have very active imaginations and are quick to believe that there’s a shark in the swimming pool, a dinosaur skeleton under their vegetable garden and that Miss Ranger’s play parachute bestows invisibility. Their poor teachers ... Download free opening extract
3		The Day the Crayons Quit Drew Daywalt Winner of the UKLA Award 2015 in the 3-6 years category. Award-winning Oliver Jeffers and Drew Daywalt’s highly-entertaining new book mean that colouring will never be the same again! When Duncan goes to take out his crayons one day he finds ... Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 7+ readers

1		The Complete Alice Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There Lewis Carroll Julia Eccleshare's Book of the Month, July 2015  The classic stories of Alice and her journeys into Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are celebrating 150 years in print. These wonderfully imaginative stories have influenced children’s books ever since they ... Download free opening extract
2		I Believe in Unicorns Michael Morpurgo Michael Morpurgo pulls on the heart strings in a short book into which he has packed a number of strands, richly woven together. Tomas lives for the outdoors: he hates books, reading and stories. But one day, his mother forces ... Download free opening extract
3		My Brother is a Superhero David Solomons July 2015 Debut of the Month  Oh the anguish! Luke is a comic-reading super-hero expert, but he’s gone for a wee at the crucial moment when an alien arrives in his tree-house and it’s his never-read-a-comic-in-his-life brother Zach who gets ... Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 9+ readers

1		A Year in the Life of a Total and Complete Genius Stacey Matson July 2015 Debut of the Month  Arthur Bean seems pretty sure of himself, in no doubt that he’s a brilliant writer with a life of prizes, fame and adulation ahead of him. At least that’s the image he projects in ... Download free opening extract
2		The Forbidden City John McNally July 2015 Book of the Month   OK, pay attention – you’ll need to concentrate because the action in the Infinity Drake series moves at the speed of light: Infinity Drake, aka Finn, gaming fan, just about to turn thirteen, and ... Download free opening extract
3		House of Robots James Patterson James Patterson knows just how to write page-turning stories, and he puts that skill to excellent use in his books for children. House of Robots is the first in a new series created with Chris Grabenstein and tells the story ... Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 11+ readers

1		Magisterium: The Iron Trial Cassandra Clare, Holly Black July 2015 Book of the Month  From the remarkable imaginations of bestselling authors Cassandra Clare and Holly Black comes a heart-stopping, mind-blowing, pulse-pounding plunge into the magical unknown.  Magisterium has already been optioned for film and fans of Philip Pullman, ... Download free opening extract
2		Bulletcatcher Chris Bradford July 2015 Book of the Month  Interest Age 8-12 Reading Age 8 Troy is quietly reading a Batman comic when all hell breaks loose. He’s caught up in a terrorist attack that kills his parents – so far so Bruce ... Download free opening extract
3		The Potion Diaries Amy Alward July 2015 Book of the Month  When the princess of Nova accidentally bewitches herself with an illegally brewed love potion, resulting in the biggest self-crush since Narcissus, there’s an urgent need for an antidote. The kingdom’s alchemists are sent out ... Download free opening extract

Featured Books for 13+ readers

1		All My Secrets Sophie Mckenzie July 2015 Book of the Month    Sophie McKenzie is the master of psychological thrillers for teens, and this is a typically gripping page-turner. Everything Evie Brown has put her trust in is suddenly revealed to be false, even her parents ... Download free opening extract
2		Survivor Tom Hoyle None of it would have happened if I hadn't missed a bus… Fifteen-year-old George's life is sent careering down a cataclysmic course when he misses his bus by seconds, notices a fire and selflessly rescues a baby from the flames. ... Download free opening extract
3		The Village by the Sea Anita Desai Winner of the Guardian Fiction Award, this story of life in village India, where children are forced so young to be adult, will appeal to a wide range of ages. Hari and Lila are the eldest of a poor family ... Download free opening extract