Titles in this preview are published in October
Simon Stephenson, Reggie Brown (illus) The Snowman Code
HarperCollins Children’s Books, 23rd, £7.99, PB, 9780008668792
Paperback publication of this festive story about the friendship between a 10-year-old girl and a 600-year-old snowman.
Steve Williams Teachers vs Aliens vs the Nativity!
Duckworth, 16th, £7.99, PB, 9781788425896
Aliens invade on the day of the school play so Finley and his best friend Lyra go “toe-to-tentacle” to fight off the invaders. Second in a series.
Máire Zepf, Andrew Whitson (illus) The Cloud Kingdom
Little Island, 4th, £16.99, HB, 9781915071859
Nancy’s cat Pangur becomes the storyteller for the Faery Kingdom in this collection of fairytales and fables, the English-language debut from an award-winning Irish-language children’s writer. Published in a hardback gift edition.
Fiction 9-12
Alexandra Benedict The Merry Christmas Murders
Simon & Schuster Children’s, 23rd, £7.99, PB, 9781398540873
Adult crime writer Benedict is behind this festive mystery, in which a series of murders occur around a schools’ mince pie competition. Five neurodivergent children turn detective to try to find the killer, while hoping that their out-of-school club is not closed forever.
Jeffrey Boakye Kofi and the Brand New Vibe
Faber, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9780571396436
Kofi and his crew are now stars in their local area and in their newest story a youth club opens, giving them a new world of opportunity.
Hugh Bonneville Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room
Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 9th, £14.99, HB, 9781526685964
Rory must learn how to get on with the new kids on the block in this
adventure about a circus, inspired partly by an event from the author’s childhood, when a fellow pupil came to school on the back of an elephant. Bloomsbury says Bonneville’s debut is a classic tale reminiscent of Just William and Paddington.
Katherine Child The Notted Island Flying Eye Books, 9th, £16.99, HB, 9781913123147
A girl called Tisky lives on an island that is not yet blessed with colour
but has a “Notte”, a deity responsible for drawing the curtain of night. When an Automated Night Sky salesman comes to town, forcing the islanders to doubt the ability of their Notte, Tisky sets off on an adventure to bring unity and colour to Last Island. A deeply original debut.
Alex Cotter Ice Dancer Nosy Crow, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9781805133025
Dina is determined to make her dream of ice- skating come true in this Sheffield-set drama. From the author of The House on the Edge.
Various, Rikin Parekh (illus) Charlie and the Christmas Factory
Puffin, 23rd, £8.99, PB, 9780241618783
Authors including Adam Kay, Hannah Gold and Konnie Huq contribute to this collection of Christmas stories, set in the world of Roald Dahl. Previously published in hardback.
Marti Dumas, Kristina Kister (illus) Nina and the Keeper of the Keystone
DK Children, 2nd, £7.99, PB, 9798889641131
Second book in the fiction series based on the Rebel Girls brand. In this adventure Nina and her friends give advice based on what they know from history, but when someone they have counselled almost blows up the science wing they have to take their operation underground.
Lucy Edwards Ella Jones vs the Battle Noise
Scholastic, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9780702337970
In this sequel to Ella Jones vs the Sun Stealer Ella faces up to the god Homodos, who is hunting Hercules’ famous shield and wants to throw the world into chaos.
Simon Fox Avalanche Nosy Crow, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9781805133018
Tom’s mum leaves him in the hi-tech house of her boss in a luxury ski resort. When kidnappers take over the chalet and an avalanche falls, Tom must find a way to get out before it is too late. From
the author of Deadlock and Running Out of Time.
MC Grammar The Adventures of Rap Kid: The G.O.A.T.
Simon & Schuster Children’s, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9781398537644
Second instalment of the Rap Kid series from MC Grammar, whose performance of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt at Glastonbury is currently going viral on social media.
Phil Hickes, Oriol Vidal (illus) The Last Day of October
Barrington Stoke, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9780008748517
Cody and his friends decide to investigate the McBride house, where two young children died in a fire 100 years previously. Hickes’ first novel for Barrington Stoke is a scary page- turner, publishing ahead of Halloween.
Liz Hyder, Tom De Freston (illus) The Twelve
Pushkin Children’s, 9th £9.99, PB, 9781782694007
Paperback publication of Hyder’s mystery novel about a girl who disappears, and the brother who does not understand why no one can remember that she ever existed.
Cariad Lloyd, Ma Pe (illus) The Christmas Wish-tastrophe
Hodder Children’s Books, 23rd, £7.99, PB, 9781444971491
Lydia, who has been sent to live at Lady Partridge’s mansion, tries to avoid being sent away and makes a magical wish. Previously published in hardback.
Stephen Mangan, Anita Mangan (illus) Barry Saves Christmas
Scholastic, 9th, £10.99, PB, 9780702344176
The hero of the Mangans’ new story is Barry, a St Bernard, whose human owners discover a top-secret network of underground tunnels accessed by climbing into post boxes. These tunnels are used to transport Father Christmas’ presents, so when a mysterious elf seems to be set on sabotage, Barry and the children must stop him and save Christmas.
Kate McKinnon ( 6) The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science: Secrets of the Purple Pearl
6
HarperCollins Children’s Books, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9780008710774
The sisters and Millicent Quibb are on the trail of the legendary Purple Pearl, a source of power that is rumoured to be lost at the bottom of Kagloopy Lake.
Sibéal Pounder Sprouts Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9781526639424
Paperback publication of Pounder’s madcap festive adventure, in which Gryla Garland, a banished witch, and Santa’s daughter try to return the festive magic in a world where Christmas is celebrated every day.
Scott Reintgen The Rise of Neptune Rock the Boat, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9781836430957
Lunar prepares his allies for an attack in this sequel to The Last Dragon on Mars, pitched at fans of the Skandar series.
Martin Seneviratne, Krystal Sutherland Time Lions and the Chrono-Loop
Piccadilly Press, 21st, £7.99, PB, 9781800785229
Sutherland, author of Our Chemical Hearts, worked with her husband Seneviratne on her first middle-grade book, which is a time-slip adventure in which 12-year-old twins Pearl and Patrick decide to test Pearl’s time-travelling machine. But when their escapades threaten to break the world as we know it, they turn to the legends from their homeland of Sri Lanka to save the day.
Lauren St John The Lion Cub’s Secret Orion Children’s Books, 9th, £8.99, PB, 9781510113848
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of The White Giraffe in 2026, St John is publishing a new story in the White Giraffe series, in which Martine and Ben rescue a lion cub and are drawn into a deadly adventure.
Jeremy Strong, Heegyum Kim (illus) Fox Goes North
Scholastic, 9th, £7.99, PB, 9780702341571
Paperback publication of Strong’s charming story about Bear, Moose and Toucan, and their journey to see the Northern Lights.
Piers Torday Midnight Treasure: Wolf Crown
Quercus Children’s Books, 9th, £14.99, HB, 9781786541451
Tibor and Roza must defeat the White Prince but to reclaim the
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JACKIE ABBOTT
Books Children’s Previews
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