Here are some lovely children's books for them to read on long car rides or airplanes... or just for fun!

Tadpole Summer by Catherine Bruton

From the multi-award-winning author of No Ballet Shoes in Syria, comes a story of sibling love and loss, healing and hope.

"Catherine is a wonderful storyteller" - Phil Earle

Frog has always known her younger brother Tad is unwell. He has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (called SMA-PME for short) but that has never been an obstacle for their unbreakable bond.

They share a room and do everything together, Frog happy to do whatever Tad needs. But when Tad is taken into hospital, Frog finds it difficult to be in their bedroom alone and starts camping in the garden. She only plans to be there while Tad is away but she finds an unexpected calm amongst the sounds and smells of nature and a space of her own that she's never had before.

When Tad comes up, their bedroom has to change to accommodate all his hospital equipment and Frog isn't sure where she fits in their family anymore. She retreats back into the garden, using the excuse of a sponsored camp out for charity. But as Tad's condition worsens, Frog needs to face the truth that she may not have much longer with him.

Working to bring the small wonders of the natural world to Tad, can Frog find a way to make this last summer together unforgettable?

More beautiful stories by Catherine Bruton: No Ballet Shoes in Syria, Nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2020, Bird Boy, Nero Book Awards Shortlist for Children's Fiction 2024

Shorelines by Ruth Ennis

When proud mermaid Muireann flees her climate-ravaged ocean in search of hope on land, she confronts human cruelty and body-shaming as she struggles to find her true home and voice. Caught between a dying ocean and a divided world, she must grapple between the sea that made her and the surface that might break her – in this stunning verse novel that reimagines The Little Mermaid.

Muireann is a mermaid - fierce, curious and proud of the body that keeps her warm beneath the waves. But life in the ocean is becoming impossible. The merfolk are at war with the human ramifications of climate change: food is scarce, and her twin sister has been killed in a mass-fishing net. With her mother lost in grief and her world falling apart, Muireann longs to escape to the surface to find some answers. But the human world isn’t the haven she hoped for. It’s colder, crueller - and here, her large body is seen not as strength, but as something to be ashamed of.

In this beautiful novel-in-verse, Muireann must find her voice and fight for where she belongs – whether that be beneath the waves, or above them.

 

 

Impossible Creatures - Katherine Rundell

‘There was Tolkien, there is Pullman and now there is Katherine Rundell. Wondrous invention, marvellous writing.’ – Michael Morpurgo

There’s a place where all the wildest stories began … The first novel in the award winning and globally best-selling Impossible Creatures series is the story of two children's epic adventure to transform the world.

Christopher is stunned when he discovers a Way-Between from our world to the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures of myth still live and breed and thrive in their thousands. There he meets Mal: a girl from the islands, who is in possession of a flying coat and a baby griffin, and who is being pursued by a killer. Together they embark on an urgent quest to discover why the creatures are suddenly perishing, voyaging across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, in a bid to save both the islands and the world beyond them from a rising evil – before it's too late.

We Were A Two by Eoin McLaughlin

ONE UNUSUAL FAMILY, ONE UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER . . .

A true story brought to life by superstar bestselling duo, Eoin McLaughlin and Emma Chichester Clark, paired together for the very first time!

'A smile on every page, a joy from beginning to end. A truly adorable book.' Michael Morpurgo

'A very special book. I loved it.' Polly Dunbar, author/illustrator of Penguin

The caravan was in a field behind a hedge.

And beyond the hedge was the sea. The caravan smelled old and damp. The caravan smelled like you were on holiday .

Eoin lives with his Nana, and every year they make their way to their caravan for the whole of the summer .

There Eoin has the freedom to go off with his friends for hours on end, and to roam the beach.

One day the waves come up really high - will they get through to the other side? A warm, cosy story full of laughter and adventure about one epic summer spent in a caravan. An homage to alternative families, based on the author's own childhood.

 

 

The Seal on the Beach by Mara Bergman

An inspiring picture book story of hope and survival written and illustrated with lyricism, empathy and warmth. The perfect read for animal lovers who dream of making a difference. Little Maggie is on holiday with her aunt and uncle.

Meanwhile her mum waits for Maggie’s baby brother to come home from hospital. On a walk across the wild Norfolk shoreline, Maggie finds a seal pup stranded on the beach, all alone. She is the sweetest thing Maggie has ever seen.

But without her mum, how will the seal survive? Who will rescue her and will she ever be returned to the sea, and find her family again? Expressed through her vivid dreams and thoughtful actions, Maggie longs for the rescue and survival of this dear little seal pup. And, all the while, she hopes with all her heart to be reunited with her own mum and baby brother again.

 

 

The Seriously Epic Holiday of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby

From hilarious MEGA-BESTSELLING author Katie Kirby comes a brand-new story in the phenomenal LOTTIE BROOKS series! Pack your bags, and put on your helmets, for Lottie’s latest hilarious diary! She’s off on a ONCE IN A LIFETIME skiing holiday - what could possibly go wrong?!Amber has seen the light and returned to the QUEENS OF EIGHT GREEN. PHEW! And now she’s invited Lottie on her family skiing holiday – RESULT! One tiny problem...

Lottie’s never been skiing before and she doesn’t know her piste from her poles! How hard can it be though? Join Lottie as she learns how to ski with old and new friends, tries fondue for the first time and discovers what the banana of destiny has in store for her. Will this be the best holiday ever or is it all downhill from here?

'Read at breakfast, walking downstairs, tea time, in the bath. My 9-year-old daughter devoured it in two nights, and all I could hear from her was giggling and the occasional "Mum! Listen to this! This is SO me!". My 12 year old reluctant reader took this book, read 100 pages in one night and proclaimed it 'the best book ever' Katie has managed to capture the essence of what this group think and feel in a positive, life-affirming fashion.