Episode 34 - Books that rival screens and social media

School Reading List podcast hosted by Tom Tolkien

Season 1: Episode 34

For transcripts & show notes see https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/podcasts/series-1-episode-34/

Part 1
Book post

• Gloam by Jack Mackay
• There Are Amphibians Everywhere by Britta Teckentrup
• The Museum of Shapes by Sven Volker
• How to Catch an Idea by Forest Xiao
• The Coming of the Iron Man by Ted Hughes
• My Brother Is a Tiger by Joaquin Camp
• Luna Grace: Girl from Outer Space by Julie Sykes
• Map to Starlight Hollow by Rebecca Lewis-Oakes
• The Notwitches: Prison Break by Gary Panton
• How to Get Magically Popular by Radhika Sanghani
• Moonboy by Anna Ciddor
• Wintour's Fate by Brían Dungan
• iNSiDE by Sally Gales
• Girls of Dark Divine by E. V. Woods

Rundown - top 30 children's and YA books to buy in September 2025

• Old Oak and Little Acorn by Elena Mannion & Erin Brown
• The Guardians of Dreamdark: Windwitch by Laini Taylor
• Britannica All New Children’s Encyclopedia by Christopher Lloyd
• History's Most Epic Fails by Athena Kugblenu
• Hank Meets Frank by Maudie Powell-Tuck
• What Feelings Do at Night by Tina Oziewicz
• Everybody Has a Fear by Koleka Putuma & Amanda Mijangos
• The Cave Downwind of the Café by Mikey Please
• The Search for Our Cosmic Neighbours by Chloe Savage
• Whoosh!: Adventures with Grandad by Sam Usher
• Dance of Resistance by Catherine Johnson
• The Rebel and the Rose by Catherine Doyle
• Thirst by Darren Simpson
• The Wizard's Guide to Magical Experiments by Amanda Wood
• Role Model by Elle McNicoll
• Dead Yard: Seeds of Doom by P. J. Killburn
• Fold-Out + Play: Doll's House by Ingela P Arrhenius
• Where the Dead Live by Sam Fern and Romolo D’Hipolito
• The Fear by Tom Palmer
• Talk Like an Aztec by Tegen Evans & Nina Chakrabarti
• A Tree is a Time Machine by Rob Sears & Tom Sears
• No Escape by M.A. Bennett
• By sea and sky by Lela Nargi & Xuan Le
• The Incredible Pop-up Frog by Ben Hoare
• Fright Club: Let's Boo This! by Sibeal Pounder
• Letters from the Upside by Katya Balen
• BUST OR TRUST by Small Wardour & Sam Peet
• Mythical Tales by Laura Sampson & Lilla Bolecz
• Champions of the Galaxy by Tola Okogwu
• Make Me a Monster by Kalynn Bayron

September 2025 books of the month

• Fiction: Everything Amplified by Sarah Lippett & Ziggy Hanaor
• Nonfiction: The Incredible Pop-up Frog by Ben Hoare & Jasmine Floyd
• Picture book: Oh Dear, Look What I Got! by Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury

Part 2
Our rundown of new children's and YA books for Autumn 2025.

New book pitches: The Collaborator by TG Trouper, Sally the Spider’s new shoes by Clodagh Ryan, Anna Denton & The Water of Life by Vaughan Hawthorne-Nelson

Part 3
Books that rival screens and social media 

Credits & licensing
3rd party sounds are licensed. Audit: https://bit.ly/3TFkwsl