Welcome to our monthly book recommendations post for October! There are still a few spooky titles in our list from last month, but we were also looking forward to non-fiction November.
Fiction
Easy Classics: The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow – Washington Irving, adapted for young readers by Gemma Barder and Nick Moffatt (pub. Sweet Cherry Publishing)
It’s always good to see new books that help to introduce younger readers to classic titles, so we are pleased to catch up with Sweet Cherry’s Easy Classics series. Although there are a range of titles, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow seemed apt for this time of year!
With short chapters, clear well-spaced text, and added illustrations, this is an accessible retelling for 7+ that hits all the important story beats without anything inappropriate or too adult. There is also a QR code inside for a free audiobook, which we love to see!
Me and My Brian – Helen Rutter and Claudia Petrazzi (pub. Barrington Stoke)
Brian is Josh’s brain (due to a mispronunciation when he was young), and it can be really helpful. But sometimes Brian can be more of a hindrance, especially when Josh’s mum and older brother argue. That’s when Brian really starts plaguing Josh with worries and accusations, not letting him sleep and, what’s worse, getting him into trouble at school.
So Josh is sent to stay with his grandma who he hasn’t seen since he was a baby. It’s there, as he gets to know his grandma, that he finds out that he’s not the only one with a troublesome ‘Brian’ – and that there are in fact ways to take control.
This is another genuine and touching story from Rutter about mental health, providing useful guidance and techniques to support children who may have a difficult ‘Brian’ of their own!
Spooksmiths Investigate: The Cinderman – Alex Atkinson (pub. Usborne)
Serenity Funerals is the family business, but neither Indigo nor her brother Rusty believe in or have ever seen any ghosts. That’s until Indigo finds the secret crypt under their home and upends an urn full of ashes.
Suddenly the fact that both children can now talk to ghosts, along with the knowledge that they are marked out as Spooksmiths, might come in handy when the Cinderman comes to take over Greyscar and everyone in it…
A spooky, funny adventure filled with unlikely ghosts, an even more unlikely sidekick pheasant, and two bantering siblings who are going to have to work together. This is a fantastic debut to what we’re sure will be a cracking new series!
Non-fiction
Happy Days: 365 Facts To Brighten Every Day Of the Year – Emily Coxhead (pub. Walker Books)
A book to make you smile every day, this is a wonderful one to share with children of all ages – and adults too! From humorous to serious or just plain silly, each day has a new fact together with a bright, bold illustration.
Find out how many dimples a golf ball has, what is the only bird that can fly backwards and much, much more in this uplifting and wholesome book perfect for bite-size reading and dipping into daily.
Spooky Celebrations Around the World – Matt Ralphs and Veronika Kotyk (pub. Phaidon Press)
From well known celebrations like Halloween, to lesser known ones such as Ouidah Vodun Festival, this book covers 21 of the most intriguing and atmospheric celebrations held around the world. Although different in many ways, it’s surprising how they are often also quite similar; wearing costumes, taking part in traditional foods and activities, telling stories, remembering the dead, or scaring away evil spirits.
With backgrounds on the origins of each festival, this highly-illustrated compendium is a must for anyone interested in the traditions of ‘spooky celebrations’!
A Little Blue Dot: Meet the Planets Of Our Solar System – Maren Hasenjäger, translated by Leah Francis (pub. Mama Makes Books)
This is a clever and imaginative introduction to the solar system for young readers. Each planet is introduced by ‘a little blue dot’, our own planet Earth, who laments about how special her neighbours are. With each planet’s characteristics clearly described, together with some of their probes or moons, this is a fun book with the planets projected as friends orbiting the sun.
Finally, the little blue dot, declaring how uninteresting she is, finds herself corrected not just by other planets but also a child on Earth. It’s a lovely and informative non-fiction picture book to start youngsters on space!
Picture Books
Colin’s Castle – Holly Swain (pub. Farshore)
Colin has moved into his dream castle, but Colin is not alone. An equally determined duck fully intends to take up residence there as well, and this is too much for Colin. The duck must go!
With wonderful illustrations that capture Colin’s (and the duck’s!) frustration, this is a humorous book about sharing a space…or perhaps not. You do get the feeling though that, in the end, vampire and duck will live happily ever after!
Alive With Poppies – Tomos Roberts and Sharon Rentta (pub. Scholastic)
This is a beautiful and moving picture book based on the poem first performed by Tomos Roberts at the Royal British Legion (RBL) Festival of Remembrance in 2021.
The evocative black and white illustrations, with only the poppies strikingly picked out in red, tell the story of the poppy from WW1 and how it came to symbolise the hope and sacrifice of others to build a peaceful world for future generations.
The RBL receives a contribution of 50p for every copy sold.
Escape from Castle Dracula – Sam Fern and Adam Allori (pub. Big Picture Press)
Picture book or puzzle book? Given the level of illustration involved in this volume, it would be impossible to say it’s only one or the other.
Transported to Dracula’s Castle, it’s up to the reader to solve the puzzles on each page to make their escape. Each double-page spread is based on a different classic horror story, such as The Phantom of the Opera or Frankenstein, and the images are meticulously detailed.
The puzzles themselves range from finding things and mazes, to solving riddles and mysteries (though none too complex obviously), making this an engaging and unusual puzzle book for the whole family!
That’s it for October’s recommendations, with a range of eerie and intriguing books perfect for reading well into Autumn. Let us know on Threads or Twitter/X which ones you like the look of!
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.
