The Your Kid’s Next Read community now comprises 36,000+ members – and it’s growing every day! Each year, we ask the group to share their young readers’ favourite reads of the previous 12 months.
As is the case each year, some of these books were published in 2024, some were not. There are always new books that bubble to the top straight away, and there are always older books that rediscovered by a new group of readers every year.
Once again, I’ve broken the lists into categories: picture books, early chapter books (5-7), junior fiction (6-9), middle grade (9-13) and young adult (14+). (NB: There is always crossover, particularly across ages 7-10, as readers develop at their own pace and to their own level of interest, but I’ve done my best to place the books according to expected independent reading age.)
Stand by also for Team YKNR’s favourite reads in 2024, coming soon.
These lists are great starting points when you’re looking for the next great read for your kid/s. Click the title to find out more about each book*.
When I asked for nominations for this category, I called it ‘Junior Readers’, to encompass non-fiction as well. But as the vast majority of the nominations are fiction, I’ve reverted to Junior Fiction for the title!
Your Kid’s Favourite Read 2024: Junior Fiction
As nominated by the members of the Your Kid’s Next Read community.
Most nominated
‘Shower Land’ (series) by Nat Amoore, illustrated by James Hart
‘Detective Beans And The Case Of The Missing Hat’ by Li Chen
‘The 13-Storey Treehouse’ (series) by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton (An oldie but a goodie. Really helped get my son into reading independently (age 7). Enough pictures, humour and the right pace for him. – Sophie)
‘Worst Week Ever’ (series) by Eva Amores and Matt Cosgrove
‘Wayside School’ (series) by Louis Sachar (Humour that kids find funny, for the fun of it! – Analucia)
‘Real Pigeons’ (series) by Andrew McDonald and Ben Wood (My 8yo loved this as there was lots of action! – Vicky)
‘18,000 Holes in the Universe’ (series) by Lisa Foley and Adam Wallace (Has been a huge hit in our house! – Adrian)
‘Cranky Chicken’ (series) by Katherine Battersby
‘Kevin The Roly Poly Flying Pony’ (series) by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
‘The Ultimate Collection of Brilliant Bedtime Stories’ with R. A Spratt
‘Twinning’ (series) by Alexa Moses, illustrated by Sofya Karmazine (Love it! – Sue)
‘Nanny Piggins’ (series) by R. A. Spratt! (Possibly my favourite kids series ever. I mean my kids favourite. *cough* Absolutely hilarious! – Trudy)
‘Willa and Woof’ (series) by Jacqueline Harvey
‘Ella And The Amazing Frog Orchestra’ by Cassy Polimeni, illustrated by Hykie Breeze
‘Miss Penny Dreadful’ (series) by Allison Rushby, illustrated by Bronte Rose Marando
‘The Girl, The Dog and The Writer’ (series) by Katrina Nannestad (Has been a huge hit here. I loved them as much as the kids did. – Alison)
‘Mr Dog’ (series) by Ben Fogle, Steve Cole and Nikolas Ilic
‘Ivy and Bean’ (series) by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall
‘Toffle Towers’ (series) by Tim Harris and James Foley (My 9yo rattled through this. I think for him it felt like a ‘proper’ chapter book but had humour, a plot he could follow and characters he liked. – Gillian)
‘The Illustrated Encyclopedia’ (series) by Sami Bayly
‘Deltora Quest’ (series) by Emily Rodda
‘Wolf Girl’ (series) by Anh Do and Jeremy Ley
‘Ratbags’ (series) by Tim Harris and Shiloh Gordon (Hilariously naughty! – Stef)
‘The Illustrated Little Pilgrim’s Progress’ by Helen L. Taylor
‘Ducky the Spy’ (series) by Sean E Avery (My 6 and 9 year olds are loving these (and so am I!). They’re quirky, funny, easy to read, and have great characters and wonderfully expressive illustrations! – Jess)
‘Diary Of A Wimpy Kid’ (series) by Jeff Kinney
‘The Wolves of Greycoat Hall’ (series) by Lucinda Gifford
‘Big Nate’ (series) by Lincoln Peirce
‘The Day I Fell Into A Fairytale’ by Ben Miller, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini
‘The Dragon on the Train’ by Ben Brooks
‘Little Fur’ (series) by Isobelle Carmody (A beautiful series of adventure books with a lovely mixture of mythical beings and animals. Great underlying messages of kindness, truthfulness, and other great values including being aware of the environment we live in. The audio book versions were wonderful. – Rebecca)
‘Investi-GATORS’ (series) by John Patrick Green
‘Willy and Hugh’ by Anthony Browne
‘Fluff’ (series) by Matt Stanton
‘The Dragon Defenders’ (series) by James Russell
You might also like
Your Kid’s Next Read Favourites 2024: Chapter Books
Your Kid’s Favourite Read 2023: Junior Fiction
The best children’s book series you’ve never read
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Are you new here? Welcome to my blog! I’m Allison Tait, aka A.L. Tait, and I’m the author of middle-grade series, The Mapmaker Chronicles, The Ateban Cipher, and the Maven & Reeve Mysteries. My latest novel THE FIRST SUMMER OF CALLIE McGEE is out now. You can find out more about me here, and more about my books here.
If you’re looking for book recommendations for young readers, join the Your Kid’s Next Read Facebook community, tune in to the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast and sign up for the Your Kid’s Next Read newsletter.
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