Episode 38 - How Book Censorship Creeps into UK Schools and How to Respond

School Reading List podcast hosted by Tom Tolkien

Season 1: Episode 38

For transcripts, resources & show notes: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/podcasts/series-1-episode-38/

Part 1
Book post

• Small Poems for Big Imaginations by Neal Zetter, illustrated by Will Hughes
• How to Survive an Apocalypse by Coby Coonradt and Cameron Hardy, illustrated by Victoria Stebleva
• Tree Thing by Piers Torday, illustrated by Matthew Taylor 
• Tyrannosaurus Veg by Smriti Halls and Katherina Manolessou
• The Map of Me by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Olga Shtonda
• Goldilocs by Ella McLeod and Rochelle Falconer
• The Spectacular Space Loop by Javi De Castro
• From AI to WI-FI by Craig Steele, illustrated by Terri Po
• Magpie Girl by Rowan Foxwood
• Escape from the Child Snatchers by Sufiya Ahmed
• The Monsters at the End of the World by Rebecca Orwin
• The Not-So Great Escape by Emma Green
• Quill and the Last Generation by C. M. Lewis
• New You Forever by Steve Cole, illustrated by Chris King
• Sweet and Sour by Monique Turner
• Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet
• Catch by Sarah Brill
• Arcana - The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones

Rundown - top 30 children's and YA books in February 2026

• Tiny Hercules by Jon Lock
• Bridge of Storms by Philip Reeve
• The Impossible Gladiator by M. G. Leonard
• Hari Kumar, Ultimate Superstar by Rashmi Sirdeshpande
• The Day My Brother Got Famous by Jen Carney
• When the World Ends by Joanna Nadin
• At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp
• Tomorrow I'm in Charge! by Jörg Mϋhle
• Advice from a 12-Year-Old Nobody by Helen Rutter
• Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman
• There Is Not Usually a Hole by Daisy Hirst
• Kill Me Now by Helen Price
• Escape! by Sophie McKenzie
• Day of Now by Miranda Reason
• They Call Her Regret by Channelle Desamours
• Write Your Own Family History by Jane Bingham
• The Fabric of Us by Aditi Anand
• YOU VS The Poison Plot by Josh Hicks
• Raindrops by Robin Boyden
• Alan, King of the Universe by Tom McLaughlin
• Murder at the Ivy Hotel by Emily Hourican
• Chicken Hill by Beccy Blake
• The Moonhaven Chronicles: The Last Wolf by Rob Biddulph
• The Blitz Sisters by Judith Eagle
• Kid Potato by Neil Coslett
• Cheesy Bob Strikes! by Sophy Henn
• The Beasts We Raise by D. L. Taylor
• Always Angel by Kimberly Whittam

February 2025 books of the month

• Fiction:  Carnival Fantástico by Angela Montoya
• Nonfiction:  Insectarium Junior Edition by Emily Carter and Dave Goulson
• Picture book:  When Tad Kicked Vlad by Julian Gough and Ross Collins

Part 2
Dead Straight Line by Malcolm Duffy

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
How Book Censorship Creeps into UK Schools and How to Respond

Credits & licensing
Sounds are licensed. Audit: https://bit.ly/3TFkwsl