The Best Children’s Books of 2024

Freedom Braids draws from the true history of resilient enslaved women, who used braid patterns as part of escape plans, creating maps that allow enslaved people to find their way to safety. Nemy, a young Black girl, discovers a group of women creating these braids in each others’ hair and joins their attempt to escape. With beautiful artwork and a strong historical story, Freedom Braids is an important book for all young readers.

Halloween may be over, but spooky season is forever! Young Henry is helping Griselda Snook as she opens her new bookshop, which has a particularly monstrous customer base. Henry helps vampires and ghosts find their new favourite books while searching for a new read for himself. Griselda Snook’s Spectacular Books is the perfect choice for parents and guardians with young kids who love to read.

A joyful, upbeat story about the importance of fun and family, Dance Just Like So! follows Kwesi, who is looking forward to learning his grandmother’s favourite dance, the Shooby-Doo Mambo. When Gran gets an injury before she can teach Kwesi the whole dance, all seems lost—but Kwesi thinks of a way to adapt the dance, and he and Gran put on a spectacular performance for his whole class.

Muhammad is excited when he turns seven and is given his first salat, the mat used for prayer. Having seen his father face discrimination when he prays, Muhammad is more comfortable using his salat in secret, but as we move through the story, Muhammad gains the confidence to pray in public. Salat in Secret is a thoughtful book that takes a frank look at bigotry and belief in an age-appropriate way.

The third installment in Ortega’s magical Witchlings series, House of Elephants picks up after the shocking conclusion of the previous story. Young witches Seven and Thorn have to find a cure for a hex that is threatening the life of their best friend, Valley—but this isn’t their only problem. Spares (witches without a coven) are disappearing, and other strange things are going on. Public sentiment is turning against Spare witches, who already face discrimination, and the young witchlings have to work out what is happening before it’s too late. House of Elephants draws us deeper into the world of the Witchlings and takes a frank look at prejudice, friendship, and doing what’s right.

This hilarious middle grade graphic novel follows two best friends, penguins Pablo and Splash. Although the two birds are very different in personality, they always have a great time together—even when their sunny holiday accidentally turns into a time-travel adventure that transports them back to a land filled with dinosaurs. Funny, silly, and heartwarming, Pablo and Splash is a great read for young comic-lovers.

Kids who love animals and superheroes will adore Marv and the Humongous Hamster. Following the further adventures of Marvin, a boy with a secret superheroic identity, this action-packed tale sees Marvin looking after his class hamster, Nibbles—who is unexpectedly turned into a giant by out-of-control scientist Dr Boom. Marv has to use all his powers to get Nibbles back to normal before school finds out!

I’ve loved reading Kalynn Bayron’s Vanquishers series, and she brings this scary, high-action story to an amazing conclusion with Rise of the Wrecking Crew. Boog and her friends know that vampires are back, and the rest of the world has finally caught up. San Antonio has been infiltrated by the new vampire hive, and it’s up to Boog and the others to support their vampire-fighting parents and take down the undead threat before they can spread even further.

Yara already has plenty going on in her life: her teacher is trying to kick her out of school, her sister is sick, and her parents are preoccupied with trying to hold everything together. So when she sees the last dragon one night, and it entrusts her with its egg, it’s the last thing Yara needs. Now, Yara has to protect the egg from people who mean to do the dragons harm, as well as get through this tough period in her life.

Crystal Sung’s Spellcasters series is a cute, magical story about the powerful friendship between four girls. In this latest installment, Jenny and her friends try to save the environment, using all their power and some ancestral magic to stop the plants in Aunt Connie’s community garden from dying. With a strong environmental message and imaginative worldbuilding, Potion Power is a great tale for younger middle grade readers.

The latest book from Jason Reynolds is an important story about positive masculinity, falling in love, and having sex for the first time. Neon is about to have sex with his girlfriend Aria for the first time ever and is anxious about getting it wrong, so he reflects on everything that has led him to this point and decides what kind of boyfriend he wants to be.

In this YA horror, two trans teens find themselves trapped in a small, rural town, where the locals are determined to feed them to an ancient monster that stalks the woods. Max, a trans boy, is travelling to California so he can start gender-affirming healthcare, while his ex-girlfriend Erin, a trans girl, has come along with him to keep him company and perhaps resolve their breakup a couple of years earlier. Max and Erin have to survive the creature in the woods, the culty locals who want to feed it, and the shadows of their pasts.

Holly Jackson is best known for A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder books, but her recent stand-alone YA is a gripping, twisty read. Bel decides to take part in a documentary about the disappearance of her mother, Rachel, who vanished sixteen years ago, leaving a two-year-old Bel alone in her car. As the cameras are rolling, the impossible happens, and Rachel reappears—but Bel soon notices holes in the story she spins about having been abducted and kept prisoner. Bel decides to dig into the truth behind Rachel’s story and find out where her mother has really been hiding all this time.

Queen of sapphic romance Adiba Jaigirdar brings us a friends-to-rivals-to-maybe-more story starring Meghna and Rani, two ex-best-friends who discover that they’re being two-timed by the same boy. The girls team up to take down Zak, the boy who’s been stringing both of them along, and beat him in the European Young Scientist Exhibition—if they don’t get distracted by their budding feelings for each other along the way.