Congratulations to Grasmere Academy, winners of our Back to School Read Aloud Competition and the recipients of a box of brand-new books worth over £100 from the children’s book experts at Bookwagon.

Thanks to everyone who took part and shared their first Read Aloud Title of the new school year on Twitter. There were so many fantastic recommendations we thought they deserved to be brought together and celebrated. So here it is, the Back to School Read Aloud booklist, as chosen by you….

Picture Books

Poo Bum by Stephanie Blake

The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright, illustrated by Jim Field

Mixed: An Inspiring Story About Colour by Arree Chung

What We’ll Build by Oliver Jeffers

The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

Peggy: A Brave Chicken on a Big Adventure by Anna Walker

Poetry

Cloud Busting by Malorie Blackman

Being Me: Poems About Thoughts, Worries and Feelings by Liz Brownlee, Matt Goodfellow and Laura Mucha, illustrated by Victoria Jane Wheeler

Zombierella by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Freya Hartas

Bright Bursts of Colour by Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Aleksei Bitskoff

Daydreams and Jellybeans by Alex Wharton, illustrated by Katy Riddell

Younger Readers

Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball by Laura Ellen Anderson

Planet Omar – Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian, illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik

Einstein the Penguin by Iona Rangeley, illustrated by David Tazzyman

Jinks and O’Hare Funfair Repair by Philip Reeve, illustrated by Sarah McIntyre

Zippel the Little Keyhole Ghost by Alex Rühle, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

Llama Out Loud! by Annabelle Sami, illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan

The Boy Who Grew Dragons by Andy Shepherd, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie

Grimwood by Nadia Shireen

Can I Build Another Me? by Shinsuke Yoshitake

Middle Grade and Older Readers

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Cogheart by Peter Bunzl

When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll

Uma and the Answer to Absolutely Everything by Sam Copeland

The House on the Edge by Alex Cotter

When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle

Wished by Lissa Evans

Boy 87 by Ele Fountain

My Friend the Octopus by Lindsay Galvin

The Lost Whale by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold

Life of Riley: Beginner’s Luck by Simon James Green

The Bewitching of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes, illustrated by Keith Robinson

Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick

The Nowhere Emporium by Ross MacKenzie

Mia and the Lightcasters by Janelle McCurdy, illustrated by Ana Latese

The Skylarks’ War by Hilary McKay

The Land of Roar by Jenny McLachlan, illustrated by Ben Mantle

The Beast and The Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips, illustrated by Isabelle Follath

Trash by Andy Mulligan

Armistice Runner by Tom Palmer, illustrated by Tom Clohosy Cole

The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr

The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson, illustrated by Rob Biddulph

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Malamander by Thomas Taylor

The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius