Recommended reads

The fascinating history of chocolate told for children just beginning to read. Follows the story of the world's most popular treat from its origins in the rainforests of Central America to shops and factories everywhere.

It was Benjamin Postlethwaite's job all his long life to make sure the light shone brightly high up in the lighthouse on Puffin Island. Not once in all his years as the lighthouse keeper had he ever let his light go out. But sometimes even the brightest light on a lighthouse cannot save a ship.

Which bird can fly backwards? How do penguins keep warm? Does an ostrich really bury it's head in the sand? Find out the answers to these questions, and lots more, in this book featuring dancing, hooting, running and pecking birds.

It's been almost a year since Sila's mum travelled halfway around the world to Turkey, hoping to secure the immigration paperwork that would allow her to return to her family in the United States.

Africa's wild animals are awesome! Bold, vibrant photos and engaging text bring readers up close with elephants. Includes information on habitat, behaviour, life cycle, and threats to these amazing creatures.

Erik and Hans admire swallows over the rooftops of Berlin, little thinking that one day they will be flying above England, risking their lives in a war they both detest.

Ruby and Kate, great friends despite their differences, find themselves racing towards a danger that neither of them could possibly have imagined.
Meanwhile Rupert and Clarry work secretly for peace - and a brighter future for them all...

A powerful, moving collection of first-person accounts of the Second World War. Contributors include a rear gunner who took part in sixty bombing raids, a Jewish woman who played in the orchestra at Auschwitz, a Japanese man who survived Hiroshima and Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 children by setting up the Kindertransport program from Czechoslovakia. Many of the interviews were conducted by children, and the book is being published in association with award-winning children's newspaper First News.

An unexpected gift leads to trouble for Hetty on Christmas Day at the Foundling Hospital.

Cosy up for Christmas with this festive story, starring everyone's favourite Victorian foundling, Hetty Feather!

Join in the fun with these three funny, festive stories about Father Christmas and his bonkers family - nothing goes to plan when the Christmases are about!