Recommended reading books for primary & secondary aged children in the UK
Kate Williams is a children’s poet and long-standing workshop leader for schools. She has run poetry sessions in classrooms and libraries across England and Wales for over two decades, helping pupils explore rhythm, rhyme and performance.
Her debut collection, Squeak! Squawk! Roar!: Amazing Animal Poems, illustrated by Hannah Asen and published by Otter-Barry Books, is her first solo volume. The book gathers more than fifty poems celebrating creatures great and small, offering playful language for reading aloud and classroom use.
Squeak! Squawk! Roar! has been reviewed and recommended for primary settings by School Reading List, with guidance indicating suitability for readers aged 6–9. The collection was first published on 9 January 2025.
June 2026’s book club includes titles by Marjoke Henrichs, Philip Ardagh, Ian Eagleton, Hayley Wells, Mary Hoffman, Ros Asquith, Tony Bradman, Bec Manser, Clare Pollard, Patrick Gallagher, Jamie Gregory, Mitch Johnson & Matt Goodfellow.
Children’s poetry for 7-11-year-olds with collections and anthologies by Michael Rosen, Joseph Coelho, Carol Ann Duffy, Brian Moses, Benjamin Zephaniah, Zaro Weil, Kate Wakeling, Neal Zetter, John Agard, T.S Eliot, Maya Angelou, Kaye Webb and more.
Squeak! Squawk! Roar!: Amazing Animal Poems is a brilliant resource for schools but equally fun for bookcases at home and bedtime reading. Each poem is unique, offering different perspectives, styles, and playful uses of language, including wordplay and alliteration.
Here’s our selection of top new titles coming out in Spring 2025. These reading recommendations include picture books, early and middle-grade fiction; young adult novels and non-fiction.
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