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 Later, with illustrator Amy Evans, it was also selected by dPICTUS for The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.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.
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.
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.
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