Book recommendations for distance learning

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

By Judith Kerr

The classic picture book story of Sophie and her extraordinary teatime guest has been loved by millions of children since it was first published more than 50 years ago. The doorbell rings just as Sophie and her mum are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? What they certainly do not expect to see at the door is a big striped, furry tiger!

The Great Race

By Emily Hiles

This is the story of the Chinese zodiac in one beautifully illustrated book. As the New Year approaches, each animal wants it to be named after them, but no one can agree who gets the honour. The Jade Emperor decides there should be a race to decide the winner, but who will win?

The Runaway Wok

By Ying Chang Compestine

When a boy goes to the market to buy food and comes home with an old wok instead, his parents wonder what they will eat for dinner. But then the wok rolls out of the poor family's house and returns from the nearby rich man's home with a feast in tow! With spirited text and lively illustrations, this story reminds readers about the importance of kindness and generosity.

The Whole Alphabet is Totally Embarrassed

By Michelle Thornhill

Forget about your boring old "A is for Apple" alphabet book. Here is an ABC book that boys and girls will devour, memorize, quote and ask for again and again while dissolving into fits of giggles. So you want to know your ABCs? The fact is, you do not truly know anyone until you have seen them at their worst. This twisted tell-all told in alluring alliteration uncovers the ugly underside (and underwear!) of the alphabet’s top 26 most embarrassing moments.

Chinese Myths and Legends

By Shelley Fu

This colourfully illustrated multicultural children's book presents Chinese fairy tales and other folk stories while providing insight into a vibrant literary culture. Chinese Myths and Legends is a delightful collection of seven classic Chinese stories that make for great reading adventures. The illustration style is in keeping with traditional Chinese paintings, while at the same time using a more modern colour palette of pastels and jewel tones. 

The Big Book of Wild Cats

By Rachael Smith

This is everything an animal facts book for children should be. It has in-depth information about all 37 species of wild cats. Discover details about each one's appearance, habitat, social structure, hunting habits and how they raise their young. Whether your child is writing a school report or just wants to learn about wild cats, they will have a roaring good time with The Big Book of Wild Cats.

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

By Fiona Waters

This is a wonderful introduction to nature and all our fellow creatures. Within these pages we get to know them better and care for them more. There are poems to read again and again and some even to learn by heart.

The Warrior Cats Series

By Erin Hunter

Take your first steps into the wilderness with Rusty the housecat as he leaves his home to go and live in the wild. A thrilling new feline fantasy series that draws you into a vivid animal world. When Rusty strays into the forest beyond his owner’s garden and is ambushed by a wild cat, life as he knows it is over. After a brave fight, he is invited to leave the ‘twoleg’ world and join Thunderclan, one of four cat tribes, to train as a warrior.

The Jungle Books

By Rudyard Kipling with illustrations by Ian Beck

The adventures of Mowgli, the boy raised by wolves in the jungles of central India, and his friends Baloo the bear, Bagheera the panther and Kaa the python, as they face the arch villain Shere Khan the tiger, have become so popular that they have achieved an almost mythical status throughout the world. Here presented with brand-new illustrations by Ian Beck, these hugely popular tales, inspired by ancient fables and Kipling's own experiences in India, form a vivid account of the relationship between humans and nature, and will continue to inspire readers young and old.

The Hatmakers
By Tamzin Merchant

Cordelia comes from a long line of magical milliners who weave alchemy and enchantment into every hat. In Cordelia's world, crafting items like hats, cloaks, watches, boots and gloves from magical ingredients is a rare and ancient skill, and only a few special Maker families remain. How can they protect their Maker Magic and keep peace? 

No One is too Small to Make a Difference

By Greta Thunberg

In August 2018, a 15-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, decided not to go to school one day. A year later, she was joined in her strike by over seven million people around the world. This is the record of a game-changing year in the fight against the climate crisis. Collecting the speeches that sparked a global movement and iconic images of those who made it happen, No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference is a rallying cry for why we must all wake up and fight to protect the living planet, no matter how powerless we feel. Our future depends upon it.

When the World was Ours

By Liz Kessler

Inspired by a true story, When the World Was Ours is an extraordinary novel that is as powerful as it is heartbreaking, and shows how the bonds of love, family and friendship allow glimmers of hope to flourish, even in the most hopeless of times. The book tells the story of three childhood friends living during the Second World War whose fates are closely intertwined, even when their lives take very different courses.

Daughter of the Deep 

By Rick Riordan

This popular authors trademark humour, fast-paced action, and wide cast of characters are on full display in this undersea adventure. Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, renowned for producing the best marine scientists, naval warriors and underwater explorers in the world. But, unlike the other students, the water is personal for Ana. After losing both of her parents on a scientific expedition, her older brother Dev is now the only family she has.

The Night Tiger

By Yangsze Choo

Captivating and lushly written, The Night Tiger explores the rich world of servants and masters, ancient superstition and modern ambition, sibling rivalry and unexpected love. Woven through with Chinese folklore and a tantalising mystery, this novel is a page-turner of the highest order. In 1930s colonial Malaya, a dissolute British doctor receives a surprise gift of an 11-year-old Chinese houseboy. Sent as a bequest from an old friend, young Ren has a mission: to find his dead master's severed finger and reunite it with his body. Ren has forty-nine days, or else his master's soul will roam the earth forever.

The Travels

By Marco Polo

Marco Polo was the most famous traveller of his time. His voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served Kublai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions. On his return to the West he was made a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book. His account of his travels offers a fascinating glimpse of what he encountered abroad: unfamiliar religions, customs and societies; the spices and silks of the East; the precious gems, exotic vegetation and wild beasts of faraway lands. Evoking a remote and long-vanished world with colour and immediacy, Marco's book revolutionized western ideas about the then unknown East and is still one of the greatest travel accounts of all time.

Dune The Graphic Novel

By Frank Herbert, illustrated by Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín

This epic science-fiction masterpiece set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar society, tells the story of Paul Atreides as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis. A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune is a powerful, fantastical tale that takes an unprecedented look into our universe, and is transformed by the graphic novel format. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s adaptation retains the integrity of the original novel, and Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín’s magnificent illustrations, along with cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz, bring the book to life for a new generation of readers.

The White Tiger

By Aravind Adiga

Meet Balram Halwai, the 'White Tiger': servant, philosopher, entrepreneur... murderer. Balram was born in a backwater village on the River Ganges, the son of a rickshaw-puller. He works in a teashop, crushing coal and wiping tables, but nurses a dream of escape. When he learns that a rich village landlord needs a chauffeur, he takes his opportunity, and is soon on his way to Delhi at the wheel of a Honda. Amid cockroaches, call-centres, 36 million gods, slums, shopping malls, and crippling traffic jams, Balram comes to see how the Tiger might slip the bars of his cage.

The Anthropocene Reviewed

By John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centred planet — from the QWERTY keyboard to Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar — on a five-star scale. A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from internationally bestselling author John Green.