50 best books for 7-year-olds

The British Royal family has a connection with animals which goes back almost a thousand years, and this beautiful new illustrated history charts it with fantastic facts and beautiful full-colour illustrations. As they discover the real reason why there are lions on the British crest, and read true animal stories of royal elephants, ravens, parrots, and of course corgis, this beautiful and fascinating royal history will delight any young animal lover. 

An anthology of poems and stories which celebrate the majesty of trees, My Heart Was a Tree makes a beautiful gift for young nature lovers. Curated by Sir Michael Morpurgo, who was inspired by the need to protect our woodlands, this collection brings together stories from Greek mythology, poems from all over the world, and contemporary accounts that celebrate our connection to nature. With stunning illustrations by Yuval Zommer on every page, this is a book to be cherished.

From a little girl born a princess to her seventy-year reign, the late Queen Elizabeth II devoted her life to service. Now, Waterstones Children's Book Prize-winning Julia Golding and illustrator Kate Hindley celebrate her reign through the story of her colourful clothes and beautiful jewellery. This stunning illustrated account of the life of Queen Elizabeth II is a special gift that will be treasured for years to come.

Nelson Mandela devoted his life to campaigning for freedom and justice in his native South Africa and around the world. Long Walk to Freedom is his incredible and heroic story. Adapted especially for children by poet Chris van Wyk and illustrated by South African artist Paddy Bouma, this book will introduce children to one of the world’s most exceptional leaders.

Max dreams of becoming a knight, but he’s too small and definitely not brave enough to make the grade. When his Uncle Budrick is kidnapped by the nasty King Gastly, Max seizes the chance to prove he’s got what it takes to save the realm of Byjovia from peril! Fans of adventure stories will love Max and the Midknights, a hilarious illustrated chapter book from Lincoln Perice, creator of the Big Nate series.

We all know a football-mad girl or boy, and this book is for them. Brian Bilston has captured everything we love (and sometimes hate) about the beautiful game in fifty poems that will make you laugh out loud. From chants about their favourite team to shape poems that will inspire them to write their own, 50 Ways to Score a Goal will make young football-fanatics fall in love with the magic of poetry.

Ginger is back! After escaping from Tweedy’s farm and setting up home with Rocky, their daughter Molly and the rest of the gang, she’s settling into free-range life. But when word reaches her that chicken-kind is facing a new threat, Ginger decides she has to head back to the mainland and rescue her feathered friends. With full-colour illustrations and fantastic facts about the new film, Chicken Run Dawn of the Nugget, this is the ultimate book for fans of the Aardman adventure.

It’s Cilantro the chameleon’s first day at a super-secret investigations agency and she’s doing everything she can to prove she’s up to the job. But when she gets her first case, to investigate an alien conspiracy and find a flock of lost sheep, Cilantro realises that catching the bad guys might not be as simple as she thought! A hilarious graphic novel adventure for independent readers, Agents of S.U.I.T is perfect for fans of the InvestiGators and Bunny vs Monkey books.

Forget Harry and Hogwarts — the original world of teaching magic and spells awaits your little readers at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches, a boarding school where potions and brooms are the main curriculum for Mildred Hubble and her friends learning to be witches — if only Mildred could get anything right! The Worst Witch is the first in one of the best book series for 7-year-olds whose imagination is sparked by magical mishaps, spells gone awry and a bumbling yet loveable underdog story, which teaches us that it’s okay not to be the best at everything.

How do you become a hero? Why, you capture your own dragon, and train it of course! At least, that’s what Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III must do, in the first of this brilliant series of How to Train Your Dragon books. But can Hiccup pull it off? A book about loyalty, never giving up, and never, ever letting your friends down, How to Train Your Dragon combines the captivating history of the Viking era with the mystical wonder of a dragon world, for kids who love the thrill of a big adventure and all the twists and turns it has to offer.