Children’s Literature News August 2025
Children’s book news for August 2025: classroom reading picks, prize winners, nature writing, humour awards, YA headlines, festivals, and policy moves shaping libraries and school resources.
Recommended reading books for primary & secondary aged children in the UK
Moira Butterfield is a British children’s author with a wide-ranging catalogue of fiction and non-fiction books for readers aged under five to twelve. Her work spans picture books, board books, and educational titles, with a strong focus on the natural world, global cultures, and early learning concepts.
She studied English Literature and Graphics at university before beginning her career in children’s publishing as an editor. She later became a full-time writer and has authored dozens of titles published internationally. Her books have been translated into multiple languages and are frequently used in schools and libraries.
Butterfield’s notable titles include the Look What I Found series, created in partnership with the National Trust and illustrated by Jesús Verona, which encourages outdoor exploration and nature discovery. She is also the author of the Children Like Us series, which introduces young readers to daily life around the world and promotes cross-cultural understanding.
Other recent publications include Welcome to Our World, The Secret Life of Oceans, and Does a Monkey Get Grumpy?, which combine engaging illustrations with informative text. Her writing is often developed in collaboration with illustrators and consultants to ensure accuracy and appeal for young audiences.
Children’s book news for August 2025: classroom reading picks, prize winners, nature writing, humour awards, YA headlines, festivals, and policy moves shaping libraries and school resources.
Animal stories for children – our reading suggestions with first chapter books, middle-grade fiction, teen novels and picture books by writers including Iona Rangely, Joe Wicks, Satoshi Kitamura, Moira Butterfield, Toon Tellegen and Nina Bawden.
Ancient Egyptian topic books for Key Stage 2, including titles by David Long, Emma Carroll, Emily Bone, David Weitzman, Marcia Williams, Joe Todd-Stanton, Laura Wood and Terry Deary.
Animals nonfiction books for children with wildlife, behaviour, conservation, endangered species, animal diversity and evolution titles by Mike Barfield, Julie Beer, Ed J Brown, Dieter Braun, Susan Martineau, Brooke Barker and Moira Butterfield.
Here’s our selection of top new titles coming out in Summer 2025. These reading recommendations include picture books, poetry, early and middle-grade fiction; young adult novels and non-fiction.
Anglo-Saxon topic books for children aged 7-11 in KS2. This list includes nonfiction books and stories by Tony Bradman, Rosemary Sutcliff, Terry Deary, Karen Wallace, Robert Fowke and Anita Ganeri.
Spring themed books for children with books by Cicely Mary Barker, Eric Carle, Ruth Brown, Sam Usher, Gabby Dawnay, Moira Butterfield and Daniel Thompson and more.
Maps, mapping and atlases for children and teens, including nonfiction titles by Vivian French, Collins Maps, Emily Hawkins, Thiago de Moraes, Lonely Planet, Joshua Foer, Tim Marshall and Dorling Kindersley.
Architecture, buildings and home books for children with titles by Charlotte Guillain, Britta Teckentrup, Moira Butterfield, Roman Belyaev, Andrea Beaty, Mick Manning, Brita Granström, Jenny Jacoby, Paul Farrell and more.
Here’s our selection of top new titles coming out in Autumn 2024. These reading recommendations include picture books, early and middle-grade fiction; young adult novels, poetry and non-fiction.
Here’s our selection of top new titles coming out in Spring 2024. These reading recommendations include picture books, early and middle-grade fiction; young adult novels and non-fiction.
‘A Trip to the Future’ will challenge pupils to think, imagine, be creative, and look for solutions – all of which can be expressed in creative writing, oracy – in the form of debates or short films for home-learning, and deeper philosophical argument in persuasive writing.
Here’s our selection of top new titles coming out in Summer 2020. These reading recommendations include picture books, early and middle-grade fiction; young adult novels and non-fiction.
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Our latest reading national curriculum year group recommended reading lists:
Picture books for the under 5s | Books for Reception | Books for Year 1 | Books for Year 2 | Books for Year 3 | Books for Year 4 | Books for Year 5 | Books for Year 6 | Books for Year 7 | Books for Year 8 | Books for Year 9 | Books for Year 10 | Books for Year 11