Exciting Autumn Reads for Ages 5-8

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As the summer nights make way for an autumnal chill, get cosy and snuggle up with one of our recommended Autumn reads – to be enjoyed alone, or even better, with the family. 

[Why not also check out our Autumn reads for 0-5, 8-12 and teens?]

Thank You by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Sam Usher, published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

Tatenda says thank you every day, wherever he can. Thank you to Mum and Dad for making breakfast, thank you to the post lady for delivering his favourite comic, thank you to his teacher for marking his work and thank you to the shop assistant stacking shelves. But lately, it seems no one can hear his thank yous: their heads are too foggy with worry. So Tatenda decides to say his biggest ‘Thank you’ ever. He stands on tiptoe, brings his arms down like a huge rainbow… and this time, his thank you helps the whole community feel better!

This beautiful story from an award-winning author and illustrator team was inspired by the coronavirus pandemic and the NHS Thursday clap and helps to show children how they can celebrate the key workers in their lives. By buying a copy of this book you are making a donation of 3% of the retail price to Groundwork, a charity that helps some of the UK’s most disadvantaged communities deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books

For more than thirty years, this Dr. Seuss classic has carried us through life’s ups and downs – from fun times and triumphs to lurches and slumps!

Take an entertaining look at the adventures life has in store for all of us in this very special thirtieth anniversary edition of the timeless story.

Claude at the Palace by Alex T. Smith published by Hodder Children’s Books

Claude and Sir Bobblysock just happen to wander accidentally into the royal palace on a very special day indeed – the Queen’s birthday! Unfortunately the royal nanny, Nanny Stern-Bloomers, has had to take herself off for a lie-down and there’s no one to make sure the royal children stay neat and tidy for the big party. But . . . Claude and Sir Bobblysock could step in to babysit, couldn’t they? After all, princes and princesses are always on their best behaviour . . .

The Nine Lives of Furry Purry Beancat: The Pirate Captain’s Cat by Philip Ardagh and illustrated by Rob Biddulph, published by Simon & Schuster

Just like every other cat, Furry Purry Beancat loves a catnap but unlike other cats, she wakes to find herself in a different one of her nine lives! In her first adventure, we find Furry Purry Beancat as a pirate captain’s cat on the high seas, helping her shipmates defeat a rival pirate crew!

Monster Doctor by John Kelly, published by Macmillan Children’s Books

Are you . . .

A dragon with indigestion?

A blob with a cold?

A yeti with a sore foot?

Then book an appointment with the MONSTER DOCTOR. No THING too small, no creature too big!

Ozzy is just an ordinary human boy – until he gets a job at the monster doctor’s surgery! He’s now spending his summer helping the doctor cure her strange and wonderful monster-patients, and he has to find a way to help her save the surgery . . .

The first in a howlingly hilarious series of monster adventures written and illustrated by John Kelly that will have you laughing your head off . . . literally.

School’s Cancelled, by Serena Patel, illustrated by Emma McCann, published by Usborne

I’ve been working sooo hard with Milo and Govi to make our super-erupting volcano for the school science fair. I really thought we might win first prize – a trip to the National Space Centre. But now we’re in BIG trouble.

One minute we were in the lab practising our science demo, and the next thing we knew, our volcano exploded and flooded the corridors. School had to be cancelled!

But did we really get our project so wrong – or is someone else trying to win first prize? Looks like a case for Anisha, Accidental Detective!

The Princess Rules: It’s A Prince Thing, by Philippa Gregory, illustrated by Chris Chatterton, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books

The sequel to THE PRINCESS RULES sees rebel princess, Princess Florizella, going on even more adventures, but this time, she also has a little brother in tow…

Once upon a time, there was a princess who broke all the rules, and dared to be different…
 
So when that same princess – Florizella – finds a baby boy delivered by stork to her parents’ palace, she is shocked to discover that he will one day be king and inherit her kingdom! For every prince is given a permit which allow them to do whatever they like in the same way that every princess is given a set of rules that they have to live by.

As soon as Princess Florizella’s brother is big enough to have adventures, she takes him all over the land, fighting pirates, wrestling with a sea serpent and rehoming a woolly mammoth.
 
Can Florizella prove that girls having rules and boys having permits isn’t right? And that princes and princesses, and girls and boys, should be anything that they want to be…

Pippi Longstocking Goes Aboard, by Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Lauren Child and published by Oxford University Press

This flagship gift edition illustrated by Lauren Child is a glorious celebratory tribute to the strongest girl in the world, Pippi Longstocking, in her 75th anniversary year.