Resources
Romance reads without the cheese
If you think books with a love story at their heart are full of soppy characters and unrealistic swooning, think again. This quirky selection is full of real relationships and funny takes on love and sex. Download the full list and find out more about the books by clicking the link below.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness - A Chaos Walking book trailer
Walker have a special anniversary edition, with a striking new cover design, to celebrate 10 years of the Chaos Walking trilogy. Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in a constant, overwhelming Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets. Then Todd Hewitt unexpectedly stumbles on a spot of complete silence. Which is impossible. And now he’s going to have to run… This new edition marks the 10th anniversary of the award-winning modern classic,...
Fantastically Great Women activity pack by Kate Pankhurst
Fantastically Great Women activity pack: celebrate 100 years of votes for women The Fantastically Great Women books by Kate Pankhurst celebrate some of the world’s most brilliant women, from Rosa Parks to Jane Austen, Ada Lovelace to Pocahontas. Each book shares fascinating facts through highly-visual illustrated spreads, and is ideal to get children learning about inspirational women, as well as how they might change the world. Bloomsbury have created a fantastic activity pack based around...
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury - A3 digital poster
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes Celebrating 10 years of Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes Walker Books have provided this digital version of the Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes anniversary poster.
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury - A special Storytime kit
Celebrating 10 years of Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes All over the world, babies are different. Yet in some ways they are very much the same: each one has ten little fingers and ten little toes – to play with, to tickle, to wave. And each child is very, very special to its parents… For over a decade Mem Fox’s Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, brought to life by Helen Oxenbury’s diverse cast of delicious babies, has been shared by parents and their little ones the world over. To...
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig - read a sample
Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he’s been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life. Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover – working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he’d never witnessed them first-hand. He...
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - discussion questions
Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while...
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - read a sample
Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while...
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury - A Book Trailer
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes Celebrating 10 years of Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes All over the world, babies are different. Yet in some ways they are very much the same: each one has ten little fingers and ten little toes – to play with, to tickle, to wave. And each child is very, very special to its parents… For over a decade Mem Fox’s Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, brought to life by Helen Oxenbury’s diverse cast of delicious babies, has been shared by parents...
Artemis by Andy Weir - read the first chapter
Life in the lunar city of Artemis is tough if you’re not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you’ve got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz is offered a score too lucrative to turn down – if she can plan the perfect crime – and survive it… And in a city on the moon, there’s only one rule for criminals: don’t get caught. Read an exclusive...
A splash of colour for a grey day
In January we put together a list of our favourite colourful books to brighten up a dull, grey day.
Science fiction novels from the last twenty years
To celebrate 100 years of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction, we chose a selection of science fiction novels from the last two decades of the award.
Seven Days of Us - read the first chapter
It’s Christmas, and the Birch family are coming together at their second home in Norfolk. Emma and Andrew’s daughter, Olivia, is back for the first time in years, and while Emma is elated, her younger, more frivolous daughter Phoebe is braced for inevitable clashes. But aid worker Olivia is only home because she has nowhere else to go. Having recently returned from Africa, where she’s been treating a life-threatening virus, she has been instructed to stay in quarantine for a week, and so,...
Books of the Year 2017
2017 was another fantastic year for books. We’ve picked out some of our top choices that were published over the year.
Debuts of 2017
There were some brilliant authors publishing their first books in 2017, and we’ve chosen our favourites for you to discover.
How to Organise a Read Aloud Party
A Read Aloud party is a fantastic alternative to a book group and is perfect for friends or a group of people new to each other. You might want to organise one in your library or promote it to members of your bookgroup
STEM Non-Fiction
To celebrate Non-Fiction November we chose the best of narrative non-fiction with a focus on science, health and technology. These are fascinating books about the world and everything in it, and will give you and your reading group a new perspective on life. Our booklist has been inspired by our work with the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize.
Chatterbooks Activity Pack - Fact and Information
This Chatterbooks activity pack gives you a treasure chest of wonderful non-fiction titles, plus lots of ideas for activities and discussion with your Chatterbooks groups. Enjoy these bright and vibrant books, full of fascinating information – and celebrate this year’s National Non-Fiction November (NNFN)!
The Alphabet of Heart's Desire Podcast
A podcast in which the author gives a fascinating insight into the story behind this new historical novel. A VISITOR CALLS WITH A GIFT AND A MESSAGE FROM THE PAST… In 1802 Thomas de Quincey, a young man from a comfortable middle-class background who would go on to become one of the most celebrated writers of his day, collapsed on Oxford Street and was discovered by a teenage prostitute who brought him back to her room and nursed him to health. It was the beginning of a relationship that would...
I Want to be in a Scary Story by Sean Taylor - A book trailer
I want to be in a Scary Story The stellar duo behind Hoot Owl: Master of Disguise reunites to create a book that will have children (and their parents!) roaring with laughter once again. From the team behind the acclaimed Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise comes a very scary read-aloud story … or is it? Monster wants to be in a scary story – but is he brave enough? Scary stories have creepy witches and creaky stairs and dark hallways and spooky shadows… Oh my goodness me! That is very scary. Maybe,...
Willy Vlautin, Don’t Skip Out on Me Discussion Points
Exploring the fringes of contemporary America, Don’t Skip Out on Me is an extraordinary work of compassion – a novel about the need for human connection and understanding – and essential reading, now more than ever. Here are some discussion points.
Competition Terms & Conditions
Here are the Terms and Conditions for all competitions advertised on Reading Groups for Everyone.
The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club - Postcard competition
The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club It sounded like a respectable and worthy enough death for an explorer – tumbling from an ice bridge to be impaled upon a mammoth tusk – but Stella really, really didn’t want that to happen, just the same. A gorgeously imaginative and snowy middle grade fantasy adventure combining the magic of Peter Pan, the chaos of A Series of Unfortunate Events, and the thrilling icy adventure of Northern Lights. To celebrate this book’s publication, Faber and Faber have...
Wonder - library activity pack including 'Ways to be 'WONDERful' checklist competition
Wonder ‘My name is August. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.’ R. J. Palacio’s Wonder is the unforgettable story of August Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face. It is a funny and frank novel that has inspired kindness and acceptance in countless readers. This autumn, Puffin are celebrating #ChooseKind with libraries across the UK, exploring the theme of kindness with children aged 8 and up, introducing them to the book ahead of the...
We're All Wonders - library activity pack and colouring competition
We’re all Wonders “I know I can’t change the way I look. But maybe, just maybe, people can change the way they see . . .” Wonder is the unforgettable story of August Pullman and has become a modern classic that has inspired kindness and acceptance in countless readers. In We’re All Wonders, younger children are introduced to the importance of choosing kind, in a gorgeous picture book, starring Auggie and his dog Daisy on an original adventure, written and illustrated by R.J. Palacio. Puffin...
Father Christmas and Me - Christmas bauble competition
Get into the festive spirit by winning a £30 National Book Tokens card and one of FOUR signed books! Father Christmas and Me is the third book in bestselling Matt Haig’s Christmassy series, with enchanting illustrations by Chris Mould. Following on from A Boy Called Christmas and The Girl Who Saved Christmas, in Father Christmas and Me, Amelia has now been adopted by Father Christmas and his new wife, Mary Christmas. But it isn’t always easy for Amelia – growing up as a human in Elfhelm. For...
Linwood Barclay’s Secret Mission digital resources
Linwood Barclay’s Secret Mission – CHASE Hachette Children’s Group and Orion Books are celebrating the publication of Linwood Barclay’s first novel for children, CHASE, and his new paperback, Parting Shot, by providing these great digital resources for libraries. Hachette Children’s Group and Orion Books would love for libraries to use the materials so that families can complete a secret mission where they follow or ‘chase’ the materials around the library. This pack includes: CHASE sticker...
Winnie and Wilbur 30th birthday activity pack
Winnie and Wilbur Friday 13 October is the 30th birthday of the brilliant Winnie and Wilbur series created by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul. To celebrate this, Oxford University Press Children’s books have sent us a pack with many activity sheets and ideas. This pack can be used to inspire children with Winnie and Wilbur this autumn. #WinnieAndWilbur30
The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club - Host a Polar Bear Explorers' Book Club
The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club is a gorgeously imaginative and snowy middle grade fantasy adventure combining the magic of Peter Pan, the chaos of A Series of Unfortunate Events, and the thrilling icy adventure of Northern Lights. Faber have created this great guide so that you can hold an inspiring Book Club based around this new book from Alex Bell.
Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht - A book trailer and craft activity
Pick a Pine Tree Pick a pine tree from the lot – slim and tall, or short and squat! Long straight limbs or branches bent – Mmm! Just smell that piney scent! From Alan’s Big, Scary Teeth creator, Jarvis, and author Patty Toht, comes a beautiful, irresistible Christmas gift book that all begins with … picking a pine tree! Brimming over with the excitement of being with family at the festive season, a gorgeously rhythmical narrative accompanied by warm, joyful art celebrates all the familiar...
