Episode 45 - Should Every School Be Legally Required to Have a Library?

School Reading List podcast hosted by Tom Tolkien

Season 1: Episode 45

For transcripts, resources & show notes: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/podcasts/series-1-episode-45/

Part 1
Book post

• Bang!: Join the adventures of a boy and his grandad! by Sam Usher
• I Saw a Tree by Kes Gray, illustrated by Jim Field
• How to Scare Blue Monster by Petr Horáček
• The Search for Our Cosmic Neighbours by Chloe Savage
• Who Said Boo? by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald
• A Smile by Raoul Follereau, illustrated by Hoda Hadadi
• Frankenkitty by Maudie Powell-Tuck, illustrated by Mini Grey
• Rapunzel is a Lettuce: Poems to Grow With by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Shirley Hottier
• Behind the Scenes by Hannah Cockayne, illustrated by Åsa Gilland
• Ghost and Toast: Slice to Meet You! by Phil Corbett
• Grimwood: The Fast and the Furriest by Nadia Shireen
• Olivia Shivers: Spooky Special Agent by Derek Keilty, illustrated by Louis Ghibault
• Earth Ever After by Elin Manon
• How to Do (Almost) Everything by Becky Baines, illustrated by Laurie Avon
• Dead Yard: Deep Trouble by P.J. Killburn, illustrated by Markia Jenai
• When the Birds Wake Up by Jessica Ellis, illustrated by Sophie Burrows
• Cleopatra’s Amulet by Lindsay Galvin
• The Wildcat and the Gathering Storm by Lui Sit, illustrated by David Dean
• The Courage to Be Yourself by Fumitake Koga
• Hawk & Sparrow by Ayana Gray
• A Witch’s Guide to Love and Deception by Aamna Qureshi
• Are You Still Watching by Kelechi Okafor
• Anger Is Only a Shadow by Elizabeth Acevedo

Rundown - top 30 children's and YA books in September 2026

• How to Understand and Apply AI by Sam Hutchinson, illustrated by Ste Johnson
• Mirabelle and the Potions Fair by Harriet Muncaster
• Moth the Veggie Vampire by Dotty Sutton
• The Notted Island by Katherine Child
• Game of Pets by Aaron Blabey
• Girl with a Sabretooth Tiger by Jasbinder Bilan
• The Sky We Share by Laura Knowles, illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson
• Poop Stars by Emer Stamp, illustrated by Monika Filipina
• Dawn Horse by Grahame Baker-Smith
• The Moonlight Dragon by Liz Flanagan
• The Raven's Gift by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Tom de Freston
• Filthy by Lucy Cuthew
• The Age of Fury by John Stephens
• Swim, Little Otter by Tom McCaughren and Erika McGann
• The Soulmate Bakery by Safa Ahmed
• Building 903 by Lois Lowry
• The Grand Bug Hotel by Ziggy Hanaor, illustrated by Ollie Silvester
• Dungeon Runners: Forest Frenzy by Kieran Larwood
• I Wonder If I'm Growing by Raffi, illustrated by Jon Klassen
• Aberfan: A Family Story by Jack Lewis
• Hometown by Shaun Tan
• The Christmas Book by Katherine Woodfine, illustrated by Lizzy Stewart
• SPYGLASS: Coldfinger by David Solomons
• Fear Files: A Trick of the Light by Christopher Edge
• A Scrap of Moss and Magick by Helen Parry
• Big Thoughts: Catch and Release Your Worries by Laura Dockrill
• Where Snow Angels Go by Maggie O'Farrell
• The Paper Girl by Caryl Lewis
• Yearning Difficulties by Elle McNicoll
• One Last Scare by Bill Wood
• Follow Me Moon by Colleen Larmour

September 2026 books of the month

• Fiction: Yearning Difficulties by Elle McNicoll
• Nonfiction: Mountain, Boulder, Pebble, Sand by Rebecca Van Slyke
• Picture book: Desert Flowers by Jairo Buitrago

Part 2

K-Pop books for children and teens

New book pitches: Reading Laughing Learning series by Thomas Heinrichs, Leo and the Dragon of Sound by Stephanie Thomas & Bibble Bobble Wibble Wobble by Terence Begnor

Part 3
Should Every School Be Legally Required to Have a Library?

Credits & licensing
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