We know lots of the members of our IQM family love, love, love reading. So to mark World Book Day we’ve put together some suggestions for you to savor over the next few days. Now get to the library quickly if you want to take home one of these brilliant books. Read, relax and enjoy…
Year One – Emily Brown and the Elephant Emergency by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton
Emily Brown, Stanley the bunny and Matilda the elephant are busy going on adventures, but every time they get to a particularly exciting part . . . Ring! Ring! goes the Emergency Telephone and it’s Matilda’s mummy on the end worrying that Matilda isn’t wearing her wellies, or eating properly or almost anything. How can Emily Brown persuade her that sometimes adventures are good?
Year Two – Hattie and Olaf by Frida Nilsson 
The warm-hearted story of audacious and captivating six-year-old Hattie. Hattie and best friend Linda navigate the social politics of their first school years in this funny illustrated chapter book for early readers. With fast-paced dialogue, strong female characters and lots of action, this best-selling story comes all the way from Sweden.
Year Three – The Accidental Prime Minister by Tom McLaughlin
When Joe tells a local news reporter exactly what he would do if he were leader of the country, the video goes viral and Joe’s speech becomes famous all over the world.
Before long, people are calling for the current leader to resign and give someone else a go… and that’s how an ordinary boy like Joe ended up with the most extraordinary job. Now the fun can really start… Hats for cats, pet pigs for all, banana-shaped buses, swimming pools on trains. A hilarious story of one boy’s meteoric rise to power.
Year Four – The Land of Roar by Jenny McLachlan 
When Arthur and Rose were little, they were heroes in the Land of Roar, an imaginary world that they found by climbing through the folding bed in their grandad’s attic. Roar was filled with things they loved – dragons, mermaids, ninja wizards and adventure – as well as things that scared them (including a very creepy scarecrow). Now the twins are 11, Roar is just a memory. But when they help Grandad clean out the attic, Arthur is horrified as Grandad is pulled into the folding bed and vanishes. Is he playing a joke? Or is Roar… real?
Year 5 – Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
Thousands of years ago, a powerful and malevolent force conjured a demon: a demon so evil that it could only be contained in the body of a ferocious bear, a demon determined to destroy the world. Only one boy can stop it. At 12 years of age Torak sees his father murdered by the bear. With his dying breath, he asks his son to make him a promise. Alone, wounded, terrified and on the run, Torak must now lead the bear to the Mountain of the World Spirit – a mountain that no one has ever found before. But can Torak keep his promise? A terrifying quest commences in a world of wolves, tree spirits and Hidden People, a world in which trusting a friend means risking your life.
Year Six – The Boy at the Back of the Class – by Onjali Rauf
Told with heart and humour, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a child’s perspective on the refugee crisis, highlighting the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense.
There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it.
He’s nine years old (just like me), but he’s very strange. He never talks and never smiles and doesn’t like sweets – not even lemon sherbets, which are my favourite.
But then I learned the truth: Ahmet really isn’t very strange at all. He’s a refugee who’s run away from a War. A real one. With bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to help. That’s where my best friends Josie, Michael and Tom come in. Because you see, together we’ve come up with a plan…
Year Seven – Watership Down
Fiver, a young rabbit, is very worried. He senses something terrible is about to happen to the warren. His brother Hazel knows that his sixth sense is never wrong. So, there is nothing else for it. They must leave immediately.
And so begins a long and perilous journey of a small band of rabbits in search of a safe home. Fiver’s vision finally leads them to Watership Down, but here they face their most difficult challenge of all. A classic for all to enjoy.
Year Eight – Wink by Rob Harrell 
Ross Molloy just wants to be normal. He doesn’t want to lose his hair, or wear a weird hat, or deal with the disappearing friends who don’t know what to say to ‘the cancer kid’. But with his recent diagnosis of a rare eye cancer, simply blending in is no longer an option. Ross – and his friends and his family – all need to work out how to deal with this devastating challenge that life has thrown down. Maybe Batpig can come to the rescue? Based on Rob Harrell’s own real life experience of eye cancer, and including amazing comic-strip artwork, this poignant and authentic novel is unforgettable, hilarious and uplifting.
Year Nine – The Secrets Act by Alison Weatherby
Pearl and Ellen work at top-secret codebreaking HQ, Bletchley Park. Pearl is the youngest. A messenger at 16, she’s untidy, lively, bright, and half in love with the wrong boy, Richard. Her circle of friends overlaps with his – the dashing young men on their motorcycles who courier the secrets that Bletchley deciphers. Ellen is a codebreaker. Reserved, analytical and beautiful. She never expected to get close to a girl like Pearl – or fall for a chap like Dennis. But when tragedy strikes, their logical world is upended, with both friends caught in a spy plot that rocks the very heart of the war effort. Who can they turn to now? Who can they trust? And above all, can they unmask the traitor in their midst before it’s too late?
Year Ten – Every Day by David Levithan 
Each morning, A wakes up in a different body. There’s never any warning about who it will be, but A is used to that. Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. And that’s fine – until A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with – every day. A stunningly original novel that will make you view the world from a different perspective.
Year 11 – Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan
A retelling of the Irish fairytale The Children of Lir. Aife marries Lir, a king with four children by his previous wife. Jealous of his affection for his children, the witch Aife turns them into swans for 900 years. Retold through the voice of Aife, Savage Her Reply is unsettling and dark, feminist and fierce, yet nuanced in its exploration of the guilt of a complex character. A dark and witchy feminist fairytale.
Year 12 – The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson 
Escaping (in his slippers) through his bedroom window, into the flowerbed, Allan makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, Allan’s earlier life is revealed. A life in which – remarkably – he played a key role behind the scenes in some of the momentous events of the twentieth century.
Year 13 – No Logo: Naomi Klein
When No Logo was first published, it became an instant bestseller and international phenomenon. Its riveting exposé of the branded and corporate world in which we live became a rallying cry for rebellion and self-determination. Engaging, humanising and inspiring, No Logo is a book that defined both a generation and its language of protest. Its analysis is as timely and powerful as ever.
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