Books featuring letters or diaries

This appealing story, in lift-the-flap, board-book format has been a favourite with toddlers ever since it was first published in 1982.

Award-winning illustrator and artist Oliver Jeffers has teamed up with film writer and director Drew Daywalt to create this gorgeously colourful picture book.

Filled with bright illustrations and fold-out letters, postcards and cards, Dear Dinosaur has a very interactive and playful feel. The clear and colourful pages are dotted with dinosaur facts and jokes that all dinosaur lovers will enjoy.

A mum facing terminal illness reassures her daughter that she will always love her, in this beautiful, tender rhyming book written by Lisa Wells – who was diagnosed with terminal cancer – for her children to remember her by.

One day, a surprising stack of postcards arrives for Duncan. They are all from his old forgotten crayons, demanding to be brought home to the crayon box. A captivating, comical sequel to The Day the Crayons Quit.

Sunny lives on an arid plain with his extensive and loving meerkat family; they work together, play together and together do their best to stay away from jackals!

Brilliantly designed with lots of little details to spot, this old favourite will be enjoyed time and time again

This ambitious debut is set in 1896, but in an alternative history – almost steampunk – with clockwork servants, silver airships and mechanical animals. Expect thrills and mystery, but also some deep messages about what it is to live and be happy.

A simple, warm hearted and humorous book with charming illustrations. The correspondence could spark ideas for letter writing in the classroom setting.

Ten-year-old Hari Kumar is autistic, has ADHD and dreams of becoming a Bollywood superstar. He’s determined to win the school film competition, even if new boy Cameron keeps stealing all the limelight. Written as a journal and featuring fun, doodle-like drawings, this tale is full of warmth and humour. 

Greg Heffley is a normal American kid, albeit one with a habit of getting into (and out of) trouble.

Planet Omar has all of the everyday life family drama and silly humour of Tom Gates and Sam Wu, and it’s wonderful to read a funny book for kids featuring a Muslim family.

Estie feels her truth is unheard when she is expelled from school and sent to Scotland for the summer. When she discovers a secret story from the past, she gains the confidence to find her own lost voice. 

An accessible story about how a boy who can’t speak finally finds his voice and realises that there is no such thing as ​‘normal’. We are all one-of-a-kind and should not have to fit into the same boxes as other people.

Eleven-year-old Noah finds himself marooned on a deserted island that turns out to hold all kind of treasure. A book with a real sense of the absurd and a gentle message about the value we can find in things and people when we put our phones and laptops away.

Hercules’ plan to play it cool when he starts secondary school goes awry when he becomes a target for the school bully. With the arrival of his estranged Greek father, Hercules’ popularity surges, but at what cost? With a generous smattering of Greek mythology, this laugh-out-loud tale explores the nature of friendship, love and loyalty with a perfect mix of warmth and humour.

When war is declared in 1939, Bletchley Park becomes a hive of covert activity and Robyn is tasked with looking after the homing pigeons. Suspecting there is a spy in their midst, she is determined to uncover the truth in this thrilling mystery adventure.

Centred around some typical pre-teen issues, including friendship, loyalty, bullying and sibling relationships, the book also sensitively explores the difficult topics of bereavement and parental separation.

Everyone at school knows Harriet Manners is a geek.

Lottie Brooks is just starting secondary school and she’s just about ready to die of embarrassment – she hasn’t got a bra, her hair is totally wrong, and the whole class has started calling her Cucumber Girl. Just how cringe can one year be? A hilarious tween diary from Katie Kirby.