Books that feature Single Mums

Swarm Rising

Parents are not usually the focus of books for children – they’re not the ones having the adventures, after all! Here are some of our favourite stories that happen to have a single mum in the background. Sometimes this is through death, sometimes divorce, and sometimes the reason is never mentioned. All children will enjoy these fantastic stories.

  • The Unbelievable Biscuit Factory

    The Unbelievable Biscuit Factory

    Author: James Harris
    Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
    Interest age: 9-11
    Reading age: 8-9

    A laugh-out-loud story that definitely doesn’t include orange fluffy monsters, a biscuit factory that’s actually a super-secret science lab and a judo-kicking superhero rabbit wearing glasses. Fast-moving, funny – and all-round fabooly.

  • Who Let the Gods Out?

    Who Let the Gods Out?

    Author: Maz Evans
    Publisher: Chicken House
    Interest age: 9-13
    Reading age: 10+

    A quirky fantasy adventure in which a human boy and a Greek goddess accidentally release an immortal supervillain who is determined to take over the world - and maybe even the universe.

  • Time Travelling with a Hamster

    Time Travelling with a Hamster

    Author: Ross Welford
    Publisher: Harper Collins Children’s Books
    Interest age: 9-14
    Reading age: 6+

    When 12-year-old Al Chaudry learns there is a time machine sitting in the garage, he has to go and get it - then he can travel back in time and save his father's life. The reader roots for Al all the way, in this fantastic, funny and original adventure story.

  • The front cover of We Are the Beaker Girls

    We Are the Beaker Girls

    Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt
    Publisher: Puffin
    Interest age: 9-11
    Reading age: 8+

    The sequel to My Mum Tracy Beaker is another Jacqueline Wilson classic, handling serious issues in a humorous, accessible and thoughtful way. Even many years after Jacqueline Wilson started writing like this, somehow it still feels trailblazing. 

  • Birdsong

    Birdsong

    Author: Katya Balen Illustrator: Richard Johnson
    Publisher: Barrington Stoke
    Interest age: 9-11
    Reading age: 8-9

    Annie has been silent and furious since she injured her arm in an accident. Can the blackbirds’ song help her get in touch with her feelings? A super-readable format makes the story accessible to a wide range of reading abilities.

  • The Bone Sparrow

    The Bone Sparrow

    Author: Zana Fraillon
    Publisher: Orion Children’s Books
    Interest age: 10-14
    Reading age: 10+

    Focusing on a friendship between two young refugees, The Bone Sparrow is one of those rare, special books that will break your heart with its honesty and beauty - but is ultimately hopeful and uplifting.

  • Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City

    Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City

    Author: Rob Biddulph
    Publisher: Pan Macmillan
    Interest age: 9-11
    Reading age: 9+

    A magical pencil takes art-mad Peanut and her friends on a quest beyond her wildest imagination in the search for her lost father.

  • Diver’s Daughter

    Diver’s Daughter: A Tudor Story

    Author: Patrice Lawrence
    Publisher: Scholastic
    Interest age: 9-12
    Reading age: 9+

    This is a thrilling tale, with the expertly described Tudor world brought to hideous, harsh life with the same verve as Patrice Lawrence’s award winning teen books Indigo Donut and Orangeboy. 

  • Orangeboy

    Orangeboy

    Author: Patrice Lawrence
    Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
    Interest age: 15+
    Reading age: 13+

    A boy that no one notices becomes a target on the run, when a tragic event prompts him to mix with a world of street gangs and drug dealers. This pacey crime thriller feels unique, realistic and truthful.

  • The Boy in the Tower

    The Boy in the Tower

    Author: Polly Ho-Yen
    Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's
    Interest age: 9-10
    Reading age: 9+

    Taking place in a believable urban, multicultural environment that will be familiar to many young readers, Polly Ho-Yen's debut is an impressively moving and thought-provoking story that will touch children and adults alike.

  • Swarm Rising

    Swarm Rising

    Author: Tim Peake and Steve Cole
    Publisher: Hodder
    Interest age: 9-11
    Reading age: 9+

    An absorbing, exciting, sci-fi adventure based on an ingenious concept, thoughtfully planned and with a strong environmental message.

  • The Wizard in My Shed

    The Wizard in My Shed

    Author: Simon Farnaby Illustrator: Claire Powell
    Publisher: Hodder
    Interest age: 9-11
    Reading age: 8+

    Medieval magic meets a 21st century TV talent show when a vengeful warlock, an ordinary girl and a talking guinea pig are thrown together by a miscast spell. 

  • The Island at the End of Everything

    The Island at the End of Everything

    Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
    Publisher: Chicken House
    Interest age: 10-14
    Reading age: 10+

    Amihan lives on the secluded island of Culion with her sick mum, who has leprosy. But when the government decides the island must be quarantined, Ami and all the children who don’t have the disease are forced to leave – while her mum must stay behind, along with everything Ami has ever known.