50 best books for 5-year-olds

Lewis doesn’t find it easy to fit in with other children. So when he meets The Gardening Dog, who has all but given up on being adopted from the rescue centre where she lives, the two strike up an unlikely friendship and work together to create a community garden for everyone to enjoy. A touching story about friendship and togetherness, The Gardening Dog encourages us to celebrate our uniqueness and be ourselves.

Little Evie loves the great outdoors. Every spare moment she can find, she’s outside searching under logs to find new critters to add to her secret bug collection, much to the distaste of her mums and brother. On the day that Evie’s scary Great Gran is meant to arrive, she discovers her bugs have escaped, and are scuttling all over the house! The Girl Who LOVES Bugs is a fun story of family love and the power of curiosity.

It’s never too early to start teaching children about how precious our natural world is, and Pam Ayres’s delightful rhyming picture book will help you do just that. Telling the story of Oliver the otter, whose life changes forever when he meets Ottilie in the green rushes of his waterway home, this heartwarming tale of one of our nation’s best-loved mammals would make a perfect gift for young animal lovers.

From the creators of My Dad is a Grizzly Bear comes a story about a boy with a loving family and a vivid imagination. His mum isn’t a regular mum, she’s a lioness, and he can prove it! She runs as fast as a cheetah, pounces and squeezes him tight for a hug, and roars at the top of her voice when he scores a goal at football! And most importantly of all, she takes care of her little ones just like a protective lioness does.

Young Frederick’s sheltered life in his remote mansion is somewhat boring. But when Emily invites him to play outside, Frederick has to say no. After all, he needs to stay safe inside. But Emily refuses to take no for an answer and introduces him to the magic and wonder of the world outside his four walls. Told through the children’s hilarious letters to each other, this charming story of friendship is perfect for early readers.

Introduce your young reader to Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood in this charming new rhyming story, inspired by A.A. Milne’s classic poem ‘Us Two’. When Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin get ready to head off on an adventure, they find they’ve been joined by an unexpected guest. Join the pair as they try to solve the mystery of who it might be.

The Milly-Molly-Mandy stories have been charming young readers for almost a century, and this collection introduces them to a new generation. From her idyllic village in the countryside, Milly-Molly-Mandy gets up to all sorts of adventures, from picking blackberries as summer ends to having fun with her friends Susan and Billy Blunt. With easy-to-decode text and bold illustrations, these stories offer a great way for children to practise reading aloud at home.

Join Christoper Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh in this delightful collection of poems about the joy of childhood as Pooh helps Christopher with his schoolwork and they explore the great outdoors and celebrate Christmas together. Told through the eyes of six-year-old Christopher Robin, A.A. Milne’s Now We Are Six would make a wonderful gift for any young reader in your life.

He does not like them in a box, with a fox, on the stairs or anywhere! The grumpy grouch does not like green eggs and ham, no matter how many times Sam-I-Am asks him. That is until he’s persuaded to finally try a plate. Dr Seuss’s classic rhyming story is a wonderful introduction to the joy of poetry, guaranteed to make children of all ages giggle and want to join in as you read the book together.

Sally and her brother think they’re in for a boring day at home, but when the Cat in the Hat turns up at their doorstep, he brings everything they need for a day filled with mayhem and fun, including his friends Thing One and Thing Two! A fun-filled rhyming story that has inspired millions of young readers to read along, The Cat in the Hat is a modern classic by iconic storyteller Dr. Seuss.