Recommended reading books for primary & secondary aged children in the UK
Zoe Arena is a UK-based picture book author.
As an army child, Arena moved around a lot, but writing stories always felt like home. Her offbeat stories are rooted in friendship, self-acceptance and our place in the world, inviting gentle discussion in EYFS and KS1 classrooms about difference and identity.
Zoe’s debut, Mandy is Still a Banana, was chosen for BookTrust’s Best Children’s Books of 2025 by Iqbal Hussain. The story began as the winning text for a writing competition judged and sponsored by Little Tiger Press and I Am In Print. Later, with illustrator Amy Evans, it was also selected by dPICTUS for The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
Mandy is Still a Banana was published by Hachette Children’s in hardback in September 2025 (ISBN: 9781444980646) and will be available in paperback from February 2026. (ISBN: 9781444976311)
Arena is represented by James Catchpole of The Catchpole Agency.
Books to help teach diversity to children in KS1 and KS2 in primary schools – with characters and settings to introduce age-appropriate discussions of the diversity of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, education, disability, identity, nationality, religion, sexuality, neurodiversity, social background, and beliefs.
100 picture books for EYFS to read before you are 5 years old. A selection of picture books which are ideal for children who are learning to read in Nursery, Early Years, infants and Pre-Prep schools.
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