Children’s Books to Put a Spring in your Step

Bookworms rejoice! Spring is here and we’ve just celebrated World Book Day, it’s officially time to come out of hibernation and jump into our latest Children’s books! This selection of universe-building fantasy, charming picture books and epic graphic novels will delight young readers and adults alike. From a beautifully illustrated exploration into ancient fossils, to an enchanting marine adventure about a girl-turned-mermaid… oh and a picture book on pigeon-counting, there’s really a book here for everyone!

A lyrical story featuring charming characters, encouraging nature connection, empathy and positive action. Illustrated in stunning detail by Erin Brown, children will enjoy spotting a multitude of accurately depicted creatures and gain understanding of the interdependence of species. Old Oak and Mr Shield, his shield bug friend, are worried: summer has been long and dry, and there are fewer insects and birds in the Barley Field. The harvest is poor, the farmer troubled. At a dramatic meeting Stag Beetle tells the winged insects it is time to leave and find food elsewhere. But the farmer has already made a plan: Old Oak and his friends celebrate when the Barley Field transforms into a glorious wild flower meadow, welcoming back old friends and new.

A one-of-a-kind STEM gem! Join fellow science lovers in this creative non-fiction, poetical exploration surrounding the history, and little known origins, of the ice age and the La Brea Tar Pits – including what scientists are learning about climate change. For tens of thousands of years, animals and plants fell into the natural trap of what we now call the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Millions of fossils, from hundreds of species, have been collected in this one unique site. Follow author Joyce Uglow’s lyrical lines and Valerya Milovanova’s evocative illustrations, guiding readers into an entire ecosystem of plants and animals — stuck!

“Thousands of years ago… Surrounded by sagebrush, Mugwort, and water fleas, Sloth searched: Browsing, Munching on grass and twigs, Seeking water. But stepped into sticky stuff instead. Sloth struggled. Slowed. Stopped. Stuck!”

Sidebars include details such as how changes in the shape of the dire wolf’s skull and snout are tied to climate changes and that there are no dinosaurs among the fossils because they died out 63 million years ago. An author’s note at the end provides additional historical and scientific details.

Juva hates female blood readers. They are celebrated for their clairvoyance, but are nothing but commoners who play on people’s fears. Juva is a descendant of blood readers, but has vowed never to be one of them. However, when her family is threatened by the Vardari — those who are immortal and never-ageing — she goes on a hunt for a dark secret that once changed the world and possibly will again. But to survive, Juva has to confront the terrifying childhood memory she fought to forget: she saw the devil as a child… Iron Wolf is a new spellbinding fantasy mystery from Siri Pettersen, built on a Norse foundation, about blood, desire, and addiction. It’s the first book in the trilogy Vardari, an independent series set in the universe of the award-winning fantasy phenomenon The Raven Rings.

At long last, a hardback collected edition of Blake & Mortimer is published in English! A Cinebook exclusive, not even available in French, this Complete Collection will gather two or three books per volume, in the original publishing order, plus another book’s worth of fascinating extra material on the series and the author, as well as sketches and historical notes — unmissable for any true fan! Four volumes will come out in 2025, with the next four already scheduled for 2026. This first one brings together the three episodes of our heroes’ very first adventure, The Secret of the Swordfish, introducing their nemesis Olrik, their habit of saving the world… and Jacobs’s love of airplanes!

This second volume collects together what are probably the most emblematic Blake & Mortimer titles: the two-parter Mystery of the Great Pyramid, and above all the incredible Yellow M. Graphic quality, narrative rigour, and that touch of the unreal that are the trademark of the series — it’s all there. Along with, of course, 40 pages of extra material on the creation of such seminal stories!

Telling a story about pigeons should be simple. But what’s a narrator to do when the number of feathered friends is constantly changing? Can our intrepid storyteller use maths facts to keep up with the unstable quantities… or is this pigeon-centric tale doomed? Here is the perfect starting point for bringing addition and subtraction to life — and encouraging young students to write their own maths stories.

Between 2014 and 2016, an outbreak of Ebola virus disease occurred in West Africa. Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia experienced the highest burden, although there was some spill-over in other countries — Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, USA, UK, Italy, and Spain. This was not the first Ebola outbreak, but it was exceptional for its severity and length. At the time, no vaccine or drugs were available to prevent the disease or to cure those affected.

The Secret of the Bush is a ‘lived experience’ story, based on Dr Grazia Caleo’s work in Sierra Leone with Doctors Without Borders, at the time of Ebola. Baby Fatou, a 10-year-old girl, and her beloved grandmother, Grand Mammy Hawa, a traditional healer, share a close emotional bond, and together face the arrival of Ebola in their beautiful and peaceful village. This is a story of healing and repair, aimed at removing stigma and enhancing community cohesion, and acknowledges the strength and compassion of children and the elderly. It will be especially appreciated by children over seven and young adults. A collaboration between Dr Grazia Caleo, doctor and writer, and Kremena Dimitrova, illustrator.

All people deserve to be respected and valued. Regardless of where we were born, how much we have, what we believe or think, or our age or the colour of our skin — all lives are important and we deserve to live them with satisfaction, justice, safety, and freedom. There are many different kinds of human rights and many people who have fought to establish and protect those rights. Here you can learn about rights for indigenous, workers, children, and LGBTQ+ people, the right to go to school and have a home, the right to think a certain way and practice the religion of your choice — rights we may not even realise weren’t always protected. Human Rights is an oversized, graphically vibrant book with timelines, short and easy-to-understand explanations, important people who fought for changes in human rights law, and a chapter on protecting future rights. It’s an essential visual reference that explains all there is to know about our human rights and the laws and doctrines that protect them.

Marine mystery, adventure, and a wonderful friendship! For as long as she can remember, Alea has felt drawn to the sea. But she is also afraid of it because coming into contact with water could be fatal to her — or at least that’s what Alea’s mother told her foster mother before she disappeared. One day, Alea joins the Alpha Cru kids, who live on a sailboat and spend their time sailing the sea. During the first big storm, Alea is swept overboard. Instead of fear, she is filled with a profound calm, and feels totally safe in the water. She can swim like a fish… and she can also breathe like one. The ugly lumps behind her ears, which she has always hidden under her hair, have developed into gills, and those between her fingers are now webs. The secret she never knew she had is that she can turn into a mermaid… After that, nothing is the same again.

How do we speak with our children about wars that took place where generations of our ancestors once called home? How can we explain that those wars continue to reverberate in our lives, many years or even decades after the combat has ended? And why is it so difficult, complicated, and even painful to dream of our return?

I Want You to Know is a poem of possibility, of legacy, and of hope. Damluji originally wrote a version of this poem for her daughter on the morning of the 20-year anniversary of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, a place where Damluji’s parents met and fell in love, a place they were forced to leave and where they cannot return safely. Her daughter has heard many family stories about life in Iraq, but there have also been many silences. I Want You to Know opens a conversation that helps to fill that void.

Welcome to the magical world of PocoKins! Five stories about little pocket pals who help when big feelings hit. In this lovingly told and illustrated tale, we meet eight PocoKin buddies and their mini pocket pal friends. Today they’ll travel to five kids who need care, because when BIG feelings hit, Pocokins will be there! In a quiet farm town to give courage In big city to bring joy; On a tropical island to teach calm; In an old village to relieve worry; On a ranch to bring sweet dreams. Come with them as they travel the world visiting children in need!

Join the Winx Club, a group of fairies who fight evil using their unique magical powers while attending the Alfea College of Fairies in the land of Magix! Collecting the first nine stories — ‘Bloom’s Discovery’, ‘Secrets of Alfea’, ‘The Boys from Red Fountain’, ‘A Friend for Bloom’, ‘Prisoner of the Dark’, ‘The Swamp Monster’, ‘The School for Witches’, ‘Heart of a Fairy’ and ‘A Job for Bloom’.