The best children's books of 2025
I am already a big fan of Barrington Stoke, the publisher that invites the best authors of contemporary children's fiction to 'guest write' short, snappy novellas in its signature dyslexia-friendly format.
The idea is to make stories for as wide an audience as possible without making any compromise on literary quality and this latest example fulfils that mission brilliantly.
It is also probably one of the few books inspired by the fact that Isaac Newton spent some time as a young man boarding above an apothecary's shop in Grantham. Lindsay Galvin has taken that tiny nugget and polished it into an intriguing, unconventional story that manages to span themes of science, alchemy and witch trials all within just 120 pages.
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3 days ago
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