July 2024’s set of recommendations for book clubs features historical thrills, tear-jerking biographies, animal crime mysteries, laugh-out-loud capers, sporting facts, cli-fi action, and toxic relationships. July 2024’s picks include titles by Anna Fargher, Antonia Maxwell, Jan Dunning, Jennie Cashman Wilson, Jerome Martin, Alice James, Tom Mumbray & Micaela Tapsell; Meg McLaren, Nadia Shireen, Steve Smallman and Tim Collins.
July 2024 book club recommendations
Doggy Dance Off by Steve Smallman
Doug and Duke compete in a doggy dance competition, both looking to win – until a masked dancer steals the show. With vibrant illustrations by Robert Starling, this rhyming tale celebrates inclusivity and unexpected friendships and will keep 3-6-year-olds engrossed. Doggy Dance Off is perfect for storytimes – using lively storytelling to encourage children to celebrate differences and embrace rhythm and movement.
3-6 year-olds | Author’s website
Becoming Brave by Jennie Cashman Wilson
Jennie Cashman Wilson shares her journey of resilience and courage with musician Abram Wilson. This poignant and memorable picture book explores themes of love, grief, and personal growth. With vibrant artwork, it will inspire 5-8-year-olds to confront fear and believe in themselves. Encouraging resilience and self-expression, KS1 teachers will find this a useful text to read and share with classes.
5-8 year-olds | Author’s website
Watts & Whiskerton by Meg McLaren
Meet Watts and Whiskerton – an endearing dog and cat detective duo – in this charmingly illustrated series debut for 5+ year-olds. When aspiring writer and reluctant detective Watts, visits Whiskerton Manor, he teams up with Pearl Whiskerton to unravel complicated mysteries. From upended rose bushes to unexpected dinosaur bones, young readers will love the relatable characters and puzzles to solve. It’s an ideal first-chapter book reading for KS1 children. Read our full review.
5+ year-olds | Author’s website
Grimwood Party Animals by Nadia Shireen
The fourth book in Nadia Shireen’s hilarious series – Grimwood Party Animals, finds Ted, Nancy, Willow, and friends helping Sharon the Party Crow regain her missing mojo. Children aged 7 and up will love the funny illustrations, dance moves and madcap plot. Emphasizing teamwork and friendship, Grimwood Party Animals is also a good choice for group reading with less confident KS2 students. Read our full review.
7+ year-olds | Author’s website
Sherlock Bones and the Mischief in Manhattan by Tim Collins
Sherlock Bones and Dr Jane Catson aid New York police in solving a masked villain’s chaotic riddles in this animal detective mystery. From Manhattan to Niagrowl Falls and Mount Ruffmore, they unravel clues and puzzles to unmask the culprit. This fifth Sherlock Bones book will grab young readers with clever artwork, problem-solving challenges and activities, offering a uniquely engaging mystery that 7-9-year-olds will feel they are right at the heart of.
7-9 year-olds | Author’s website
100 Things to Know About Sport by Jerome Martin, Alice James, Tom Mumbray & Micaela Tapsell
100 Things to Know About Sport is a comprehensive exploration of sports facts for 8+ year-olds. With 100 bite-sized topics and vibrant illustrations, this substantial book explores diverse facts from equipment and historical milestones to impressive world records. Ideal for sharing, this book offers sporting diversity, highlighting adaptive sports for individuals with disabilities, and it promotes awareness of physical fitness benefits. Highly recommended for KS2 libraries. Read our full review.
8+ year-olds | Author’s website
Delta and the Lost City by Anna Fargher
This thrilling historical adventure thrusts 9-11-year-olds into 79AD Pompeii. The story follows Delta, a courageous wolfdog, as she faces multiple dangers – being accused of a crime and the impending eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Can her loyal friend, Bellona the golden eagle, help Delta to rescue her family and escape the city before it’s too late? With vivid storytelling and captivating illustrations by David Dean, readers will be thoroughly immersed in ancient Pompeii. Highly recommended for KS2. Read our full review.
9-11 year-olds | Author’s website
Terra Electrica: The Guardians of the North by Antonia Maxwell
In a gripping post-melt Arctic, The Guardians of the North follows 12-year-old Mani as she confronts a world ravaged by a deadly force called Terra Electrica that eats electricity and threatens civilisation. Suitable for children aged 10-14 it’s filled with pertinent themes of resilience, environmental awareness, and survival, making it perfect for children and early teens who care deeply about dark ecological issues and the dangers of climate change. Read our full review.
9-14 year-olds | Author’s website
The Last Thing You’ll Hear by Jan Dunning
Jan Dunning presents this stylish thriller about sisters Wren and Lark, whose rivalry intensifies when they meet music producer Adam and DJ Spinner. Who will Wren decide to believe and how will it affect her sister Lark’s safety? 14+ year olds will be engrossed in themes of sibling rivalry, toxic relationships, and obsessive fandom. Perfect to elicit discussion about the impact of toxic masculinity, ambition and influence, we think The Last Thing You’ll Hear will be a hit with KS4 readers.
14+ year-olds | Author’s Instagram
Themed day / social media opportunities for July 2024
These hashtag days might provide current and relevant talking points for secondary-aged pupils aged 13+ in KS3, KS4 and KS5, especially when linked to related literature.
- #NationalMoonDay on July 20th celebrates the Moon landing and inspires us to look up and learn about the moon and its phases. There’s also #SleepUnderTheStarsNight in the following month. There are free resources from the Museum of Flight website. Don’t forget NASA’s stunning website with resources for learning about the phases of the moon and Google’s Earth’s interactive view of the moon.
- #PlasticBagFreeDay takes place on July 3rd and forms part of #PlasticFreeJuly. There’s an official website with lots of free educational ideas and an annual challenge.
- #PicnicMonth takes place each July and #TeddyBearPicnicDay on July 10th may well be of interest to teens with younger siblings. Cedars Bourton has lots of good ideas to celebrate the day.
- #CowAppreciationDay has mooved to July 9th this year. The steaks are high, so it will behoove your school to amoose your students. An udderly important event, perhaps we can steer you towards this useful resource.
- July, for many represents school transition, whether from KS5 to university, KS4 to KS5, college, employment or apprenticeship, or from primary to secondary school. BBC Bitesize offers a range of videos, resources and activities for KS2 children about to transition to secondary school. Mental health charity Anna Freud features a downloadable free toolkit for teachers to support children who are anxious. The Scottish Association for Mental Health has created a set of tips to help smooth the transition from secondary school to college. Devon LEA offers an advice page for teachers looking to support students’ transition to further education, employment or training. The Asperger’s Syndrome Foundation has produced an information sheet about creating a transition plan to provide longer-term support for students leaving secondary education.
- #PandemoniumDay will suit your school on July 14, especially since it’s nearly the end of term.
Extension activities:
- Have a look at our writing competitions for July 2024.
Other recently released titles to have a look at:
- Our latest July 2024 books of the month.
- Our rundown of the best books coming out in summer 2024.
- Our July 2024 books of the day on Twitter. These can also be viewed on uk.Bookshop.org.
- Our guide on how to run a school book club, which covers both primary school book clubs and secondary school book clubs.
Click one of the buttons below to buy all this month’s recommended book club titles, or class sets of any of these books, from Bookshop.org UK or Amazon.co.uk. As an Amazon Associate schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases.
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