Pyjamarama: fun books to read with children in Key Stage 2

This hilarious gem from Pippa Curnick is her debut as both author and illustrator, and it’s completely brilliant, immersing the reader in magic and a lovely brother-sister relationship.

Pablo and Splash are two penguins who’ve accidentally time-travelled to the Cretaceous period! Can they get home to the icy Antarctic before they’re eaten by dinosaurs? A funny colour graphic novel for newly confident readers. 

Can Maysa and Musa solve the mystery of who destroyed the competition cookies? Relatable and funny, this is a story about everyday family life, with a gentle mystery and a BIG lie at the heart of it. 

Marvin, a secret superhero with a robot sidekick named Pixel, is super excited because he’s going on a school trip to the Natural History Museum to see some REAL dinosaur bones. But he’ll need all his superhero skills when the bones come to life!

Best friends Murray the cat and Bun the rabbit are magically transported back to Viking times, where they become troll hunters. This hilarious comic caper, which is generously illustrated throughout, is the first instalment in an exciting new series for independent young readers.

Presented as a series of short comic strip stories, with themes as diverse as filling Bunny’s house with custard and distorting the fabric of time and space, the Bunny vs Monkey universe is wildly imaginative and packed with anarchic humour and plentiful fart and poo jokes.

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a real-life space scientist (you may have seen her on the TV) with a passion for sharing the wonders of space and science. This excellent book presents Dr Maggie’s answers to some brilliant questions asked by children, from ​“Did a person drive a car on the moon?” to ​“What do aliens look like?” and ​“Does it really rain diamonds on Jupiter?”.

When Max answers the call to join Captain O’Malley’s pirate ship instead of his brother, who’s ill, it’s the start of a rip-roaring fantastical adventure. A page-turner that will have children gripped and moved.  

High-Rise Mystery is the perfect ​‘whodunnit’. As the two girls sift through red herrings and reveal a series of tower block secrets, short snappy sentences and sparkling dialogue will keep readers turning the pages. A mystery as hot as the summer heatwave in which it’s set!

Archie Blake can pick locks. And when a diamond necklace goes missing and his dad is arrested, it’s down to Archie and his unusual skills to prove his dad’s innocence. An action-packed thriller with many knife-edge moments, this is a real page turner.

Brilliantly entertaining and informative, this guide to wild animals is a must-read for all nature fans. Told in comic style, with dialogue from the animals themselves, it’s great fun.

What is special about Sunshine Simpson? She needs to find something to say about herself for a school assembly – but what? A delight of a book, exploring grief, friendship dynamics and finding your voice in a friendly, relatable manner.