Episode 39 - “Only 10% of boys aged 14-16 read daily for pleasure.”

School Reading List podcast hosted by Tom Tolkien

Season 1: Episode 39

For transcripts, resources & show notes: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/podcasts/series-1-episode-39/

Part 1
Book post

• Carnival Fantástico by Angela Montoya
• Insectarium Junior Edition by Emily Carter and Dave Goulson
• When Tad Kicked Vlad by Julian Gough and Ross Collins
• Don't Do It, Doug by Maudie Powell-Tuck
• I Am Strong Just Being Me by Laura Dockrill and Kip Alizadeh
• Happy Hills: Cheesy Bob Strikes! by Sophy Henn
• The Great Glacier Hotel Heist by Meg McLaren
• Detective Stanley and the Green Thumbed Thief by Hannah Tunnicliffe
• The Galaxy World Cup by Alan Joyce
• How to Speak and Be Heard by Sam Hutchinson and Vicky Barker
• Stitch Head by Guy Bass
• The Last Wolf by Rob Biddulph
• Mixed by Emma Slade Edmondson
• Boy vs Reality by James Fox
• Escape! by Sophie McKenzie
• Day of Now by Miranda Reason
• Control Alter Delete by K. L. Kettle
• Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman

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

• Tick Tock Around the Clock by Ruth Brown
• Her Hidden Fire by Clíodhna O’Sullivan
• I Am Ray's Imaginary Friend by Brian Moses, illustrated by Bethan Welby
• The STEM Encyclopedia of Wildlife Words by Jenny Jacoby
• Mr Norton’s New Truck by Huw Lewis Jones
• The Elementals: Wanzu Sets Sail by Love Ssega
• The Whale That Sings in the Deep by Yuval Zommer
• Big Brilliant World by Matt Ralphs
• On The Streets of New York by Sarah Kay & Ryan Johnson
• When I Was Death by Alexis Henderson
• War and Peas by Robert Muchamore
• All the Cursed Creatures by Amie Jordan
• Death by Chocolate by Anna Brooke
• The Future Book by Mac Barnett
• Big Words by Luke Palmer
• Keeping Possession by Eve Ainsworth
• The Aztecs by DK
• Lost Robot by Joe Todd-Stanton
• The Big Book of Pi by Jean-Baptiste Aubin & Anita Lehmann
• The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel
• The Mubbles by Liz Pichon
• A Degree in a Book: Physics by Sidney Perkowitz
• Kidnap at Sea! by Emma Swan
• Fang Attack by Kieran Larwood & Joe Todd-Stanton
• Rise of the Badbots! by Jack Noel
• Monkeypig by Huw Aaron
• The Overthinkers’ Club by Nat Luurtsema
• Burn the Water by Billy Ray
• These Shattered Spires by Cassidy Ellis Salter
• A Soul Full of Shadows by Derek Landy
• Dave Vs Dave! by Swapna Haddow

March 2025 books of the month

• Fiction: I am Ray's Imaginary Friend by Brian Moses, illustrated by Bethan Welby
• Nonfiction: Locked in the Museum by Leisa Stewart-Sharpe
• Picture book: Mo's Stick by Fiona Lumbers

Part 2
Survival and bushcraft books

New book pitches: Little Poets: A Poem A Day by Tara Ali, Ask To Learn Booklets by Anjennis Walrond & Sally the Spider’s new shoes by Clodagh Ryan

Part 3
“Only 10% of boys aged 14-16 read daily for pleasure”. What can we as teachers do about it?

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