Welcome to our monthly book recommendations post for September! The days are getting shorter now, and the grey weather gave us the perfect excuse to stay indoors and do some reading (well, except for a jaunt to some bookshops in Norfolk!). Check out below what books we enjoyed over last month.
Fiction
The Last Resort – Erin Entrada Kelly (pub. Scholastic)
As we head into Autumn and the season of spookiness, we thought we would include a suitably creepy title we’ve already come across this month.
Lila is a bit (well, a lot!) of a drama queen. It’s only the start of the summer and she’s already feeling that her friends are avoiding her, so when her grandfather dies and her parents say they are going to drive to his home in Ohio (over 1,000 miles away), Lila feels her summer can’t get any worse. But it seems Grandpa Clem may have been murdered and his home, Castle Hill Inn, has secrets that might hold the key…
Full of past crimes, malevolent ghosts, and unfinished business, this is a suitably chilling start to The Last Resort series. And there’s a sneaky little surprise if you scan the book’s QR code that’s definitely worth doing!
Next up, we’ve read two books that we think are ideal for readers who love Lottie Brooks and Dork Diaries, both published by Simon & Schuster.
The Unfamous Diaries of Daisy Brewster: The Frenemies – Jenny Valentine and Hannah McCaffery (pub. Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)
With the holidays just beginning, budding thespian Daisy Brewster has made a list of holiday resolutions to help her achieve her dream of becoming an award-winning star of the stage. But first, she needs to get a part in the Drama Club play, Bugsy Malone.
If only her cousin Margaret, now known as Maxxy, star of the US TV show Moonbeams, would show more interest in the family. No worries though, as at least Maxxy Bloom is in Los Angeles pouting at her phone, and of course she’ll stay there. Won’t she?
Strap in for the numerous highs and ground-touching lows of Daisy’s summer with an influencer twist in this hilarious diary!
Cringe Club – Emily-Jane Clark and Wotto (pub. Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)
Join the group chat ‘Cringe Club’, with Kennedy, Devon and Liv. Three friends (one has been FORCED to move to London) on their cringe-worthy experiences settling into senior school …or not!
From Kennedy’s over enthusiastic introduction in class and Dev’s football techniques, to Liv’s twin baby siblings, each day they share their most “cringe binge” events in this laugh-out loud new series.
Meet the Victims of Cringe and enjoy the trials and tribulations which make up daily school (and home) life, all through text chats between family and friends. You’ll love them!
The Terrible Trio: The (Not So) Superheroes – Swapna Haddow and Minky Stapleton (pub. Scholastic)
We are great fans of Haddow, and are thrilled to be reading her hilarious new series!
When the news gets out that all animals will be given superpowers, Zeb the zebra can’t wait to join the queue along with his best friends Barry the lemur and Margarine the penguin. But the three friends are right at the back, behind a buffalo’s rather large rear! Safe to say that their powers aren’t quite what they hoped…
Stapleton’s brilliantly comic illustrations complete what we’re sure will be a great hit with younger readers.
Non-fiction
Unbelievable Football: Superstar Strikers! 3 Amazing True Stories – Matt Oldfield and Alex Patrick (pub. Wren & Rook)
Oldfield is well known for his brilliant football books for confident readers, so it’s wonderful to see this new series for younger footie fans to get their teeth into.
With three colourful eye-catching short stories about Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Rashford and Brandi Chastain, and facts about the world’s greatest strikers, this is a series that is sure to score a goal with all children.
And don’t forget to watch out for Oldfield’s other recent book, Animal Antics, featuring amazing animal footie!
Think Big: The Speed of Light – Simon Chapman and Wenjia Tang (pub. Nosy Crow)
The concept of the speed of light is not straightforward to explain, but the second title in this brilliant science series, written in conjunction with the University of Cambridge, goes a long way to simplifying the subject for KS2 pupils.
Starting with Einstein and the theory of relativity, it’s broken down into manageable sections opening with useful questions such as: how fast is light? Are you sitting still? How can speed change the sounds we hear?
Each question is dealt with clear and detailed bite-sized explanations with bold illustrations. An ideal way to introduce a part of physics that can be tricky to get to grips with.
Are Wolves Afraid of the Dark? – Huw Lewis-Jones and Sam Caldwell (pub. Thames & Hudson)
Wolves are animals that have been feared for centuries, but really they’ve suffered from bad press, as Lewis-Jones points out in this engaging book. Setting the book up like an expedition, it gives us all we might need to know about finding and identifying wolves. It’s packed with details about the first wolves, their lives and habitats, and how some species are literally being pushed to the edge of extinction – and which may have sadly already disappeared.
With illustrations that capture the true splendour of these animals, we’re asked ‘do wolves need some love too?’ We believe they do.
I Am Big I Am Small – Vicky Woodgate (pub. Scholastic)
Staying on the animal theme, but this time with a book for younger children, I Am Big I Am Small is a collection of opposites that will certainly capture the attention of young nature lovers!
With large, boldly-coloured illustrations, this looks at the many opposites in the animal kingdom: soft and spiky, loud and quiet, scaly and smooth, and many, many more. There’s definitely some unusual animals in there that we weren’t expecting to see.
A fascinating book for home and school, especially as you read through and try to spot all the hidden animals on each page – so it’s worth a second (or third) look!
Graphics/Picture books
Pets Tell Tales: Ancient Egypt – Rik Worth and Jordan Collver (pub. Wren & Rook)
It’s always something extraordinary when non-fiction is presented in the graphic novel format, and the first in the Pets Tell Tales history series is definitely informative and fun!
What better way to get the ins and outs of Ancient Egyptian history than from the animals the Egyptians worshipped and considered sacred? We meet the ibis that’s the living incarnation of Thoth, the sacred scarab beetle (Ra), baboon bodyguards, and cats that were so beloved by their owners that they joined them in the afterlife. Also, watch out for the mysterious Set, an animal with a forked tail!
With hilarious illustrations that capture the stories and life of this ancient land and those who called it home, this book is a really unusual treat for those interested in ancient history. We look forward to Ancient Rome releasing next year!
The Big Monster Bake – Fiona Barker and Eve O’Brien (pub. Happy Yak)
It’s Halloween on Monster Street, and two young monsters have made a ‘monster cake’ that they want to share with their neighbours.
Feeling a bit shy, they knock at each door to find that their neighbours are all celebrating their own traditions – and they’re only too happy to share their treats with the youngsters!
From barmbrack for Samhain, to a home full of dazzling lights that banish darkness, this book’s bold, bright illustrations and rhyming text carries the message that food is a great way of learning about different cultures and bringing people together.
Don’t miss the pumpkin loaf and spicy hot chocolate recipes in the back!
That’s it for September’s recommendations – join us on Threads/Instagram, Bluesky, or Twitter/X, and let us know what you’ve been reading!
If any of the books have grabbed your attention, then you can pick up a copy of them via our recommendations list below.
(Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.)
If you’re looking for more book round-ups, check out our previous reviews here.
