Kids books summer 2018

The New Neighbours by Sarah McIntyre

A charming picture book for very little ones that is all about embracing difference. Some new ratty neighbours arrive in Pickle Rye flats with their different foods and smells, and spook the residents. But soon the animal inhabitants discover how friendly and welcoming the rats really are, and learn to leave their judgements and prejudices behind.

Sarah McIntyre is also coming to Waterstones in Covent Garden this summer.

For ages 3 - 5. Buy it here.

Oi Cat! by Kes Gray and Jim Field

According to Frog ...

Cats sit on gnats,

Dogs sit on logs

This funny sequel to Oi Frog, Oi Frog, the award-winning Kes Gray and Jim Field return with another rhyming read-aloud picture book about a poor Cat who doesn't like sitting on gnats, actually, as they keep biting his bottom.

For ages 3 - 5. Buy it here.

Billy and the Beast by Nadia Shireen

Billy and the Beast made headlines for being one of a depressingly few new British kids book featuring a hero from a minority background. But it also boasts a heart-warming story of little Billy who uses her cunning (and hair!) to defeat the Terrible Beast and save her friends, the rabbits. This is a sweet story about the strength of a brave little girl.

For ages 3 - 5. Buy it here.

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Missing Masterpiece by Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton

One for future little art lovers: this is the story of Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam who arrive in Paris, baking their magnificent gingerbread Eiffel Tower for the 'Galerie Bonbon' exhibition, when a fox steals their masterpiece and floats off down the Seine with it.

For ages 3 - 5. Buy it here.

Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls 2 by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo

No doubt, the biggest kids book release of the year last year was Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. If you haven't already bought, poured over and loved it, now is the time. If you have, then get your hands on the second instalment; filled with more stories about girls around who aimed higher, fought harder and changed the world as we know it - from J.K Rowling to Beyonce.

Ages 5 - 9. Buy it here.

The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

Winner of the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year 2018 (among the other glittering awards this book as won), The Lost Words is about the slow disappearance of the language we use to describe the natural world, and the magic it takes to bring it back. This is a truly stunning book filled with imaginative spell-poems and rich illustrations that track how the old-world of nature and child's play is slipping away from us. Hold your tears.

For ages 8 - 12. Buy it here.

Lifters by Dave Eggers

Pulitzer-nominated author of The Monk of Mokha and Her Right Foot returns with a heroic story about a young boy who moves to a town where mysterious forces lurk inches beneath his feet, forcing him to find a way to save the town from danger.

For ages 8-12. Buy it here.

Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean

Set in the summer of 1727, this The CILIP Carnegie Medal shortlist book is for the brave of heart. With Lord of the Flies vibes, Where the World Ends follows a group of men and boys put ashore on a remote land to collect birds. But their friends never returned to collect them...

For ages 9 - 12. Buy it here.

The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day by Christopher Edge

This highly imaginative adventure book nips from gripping story-line into existential crisis and back again, as Maisie discovers a blackness outside her front door and a world trapped in ever-morphing dimensions. Will physics, and love, be enough to bring reality back?

Ages 9 - 12. Buy it here.

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

Buy this one for your teenagers – but then read it yourself. Winner of the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year 2018, and the Waterstone's Children Book Prize 2018, and on the cusp of becoming a 'major motion picture', The Hate You Give is inspired by Black Lives Matter in the USA and delves into police violence, prejudice and inequality in America. It follows 16-year-old Starr who, born into poverty but educated in a posh school, who witnesses the shooting of her unarmed best friend.

For teenagers. Buy it here.

A Skinful of Shadows, Frances Hardinge

The Costa Award-winning novelist Frances Hardinge returns with a crepuscular story full of mysticism, set during the English Civil War, in which a brave young girl fights the ghosts who haunt and possess her. Charming, other-worldly and about courage, this is a blissful book for your young teens to float away with on the beach.

For teenagers. Buy it here.

Run Riot by Nikesh Shukla

This striking YA novel from the author of The Good Immigrant, gives us a heart-racing story about the power of standing up for good. This urban tale follows MC Taran and her twin bother Hari who move to a despised tower block when their father's cancer leaves him unable to work, and they discover the sinister goings-on in the block.

For teenagers. Buy it here.

It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne

Author Holly Bourne has rocketed into the national consciousness this year with her first adult novel How Do You Like Me Now – which we recommended as part of our summer reads (for grown-ups). Until this year, she was a children's author – and so if your children haven't already read it – we recommend buying them It Only Happens in the Movies, which is a very funny YA romance novel that we love.

For teenagers. Buy it here.