Autumn 2020 – best new children’s and YA books – our picks

Here’s our selection of top new children’s books coming out in autumn 2020 (September, October, November, December). These reading recommendations include picture books, early and middle-grade fiction; young adult novels and non-fiction for children aged 5-13.

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Autumn 2020 new children’s books – our recommendations

New picture books for autumn 2020

We Planted a Pumpkin by Rob Ramsden
How Jack Lost Time by by Stéphanie Lapointe and Delphie Côté-Lacroix
Arlo The Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep by Catherine Rayner

Migrants by Issa Watanabe
A Story About Afiya by James Berry and Anna Cunha
Last by Nicola Davies

Dog by Shaun Tan
Moon: night time around the world by Patricia Hegarty and Britta Teckentrup
What We’ll Build by Oliver Jeffers

Pirate Stew by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell
The Hospital Dog by Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie
The Grinny Granny Donkey by Craig Smith and Katz Cowley

New fiction 5-7 books for autumn 2020

Isadora Moon Goes to a Wedding by Harriet Muncaster
Sofia Valdez and the Vanishing Vote by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
Because You’re Mine by Nancy Tillman

The Goody by Lauren Child
The Adventures of Parsley the Lion by Michael Bond and Rob Biddulph
Roar by Katerina Kerouli

Claude at the Palace by Alex T Smith
The Robin and the Reindeer by Rosa Bailey and Carmen Saldaña
Butterfly Brain by Laura Dockrill and Gwen Millward

New fiction 7-9 books for autumn 2020

Amelia Fang and the Trouble with Toads by Laura Ellen Anderson
Isadora Moon Goes to a Wedding by Harriet Muncaster
The Ickabog by J K Rowling

The 130-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
The Accidental Prime Minister Returns by Tom McLaughlin
Dog Man 9: Grime and Punishment by Dav Pilkey

Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers by Dav Pilkey
A Remarkable Ear by Anne Fine
Trouble on Planet Christmas by Kate Saunders and Neal Layton

New fiction 9-12 books for autumn 2020

Glassheart by Katharine Orton
October, October by Katya Balen
A Secret of Birds & Bone by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

The Monsters of Rookhaven by Pádraig Kenny
The Acrobats of Agra by Robin Scott-Elliot
The Puffin Keeper by Michael Morpurgo

The Night Bus Hero by Onjali Rauf
The Castle of Tangled Magic by Sophie Anderson
On the Move: Poems About Migration by Michael Rosen and Quentin Blake

Deny All Charges by Eoin Colfer
The Otherwhere Emporium by Ross MacKenzie
Tamarind & the Star of Ishta by Jasbinder Bilan

The House of Clouds by Lisa Thompson
The Griffin Gate by Vashti Hardy
The Ten Riddles of Eartha Quicksmith by Loris Owen

Shoe Wars by Liz Pichon
Lori and Max and the Book Thieves by Catherine O’Flynn
The Midnight Swan by Catherine Fisher

New 12-16 young adult novels for this autumn

Ali Cross by James Patterson
This Winter by Alice Oseman
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Wolfpack by Amy Wambach
Serpentine by Philip Pullman
The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan

Apple by Eric Gransworth
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

Daisy and the Unknown Warrior by Tony Bradman
The Silent Stars Go By by Sally Nicholls
Witch by Finbar Hawkins

The Girl Who Became a Tree: A Story Told in Poems by Joseph Coelho
How it all Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi
Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

New non fiction children’s books for the autumn

Britannica All New Children’s Encyclopedia: What We Know & What We Don’t by Christopher Lloyd and J.E. Luebering
Escape Room – Can You Escape the Museum?: Can you solve the puzzles and break out? by Gareth Moore and Beatriz Castro
Why do we need art? What do we gain by being creative? And other big questions by Michael Rosen and Annemarie Young

How Do Bridges Work? by Roman Belyaev
The Homes We Build: A World of Houses and Habitats by Anne Jonas
Fearless by Gattaldo

Infographic Guide to the Globe by Lonely Planet Kids and Gwen Keraval
Polar: Getting to Know the Arctic and Antarctic by Alicia Klepeis and Grace Helmer
Music: A Fold-Out Graphic History by Nicholas O’Neill, Susan Hayes and Ruby Taylor

Dare to Be You: Defy Self-Doubt, Fearlessly Follow Your Own Path and Be Confidently You! by Matthew Syed
I am fabulous by Nicola Louise Bedenham
The Body Image Book for Girls: Love Yourself and Grow Up Fearless by Charlotte Markey

It Isn’t Rude to be Nude by Rosie Haine
Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity: Words That Changed the World by Carl Wilkinson and James Weston-Lewis


This page was first published on Aug 27th 2020 and last updated on Feb 6, 2021 @ 3:52 am.


To order all the books in this list, or to bulk order class sets of books, click here.


For more top picks and new books why not read our Book of the month page?, our books for KS1 or our books for KS2 pages?

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About Tom Tolkien

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Tom Tolkien is a highly qualified (BA Hons, PGCE, QTS) children's literature expert and teacher with over 25 years of experience. He has led inset courses, developed curriculum materials, spoken at conferences, advised on longlisting for several international children's literature literature awards and written for educational publishers including contributing to a BETT award-nominated app. Social profiles: Twitter | Linkedin