Here are 89 books that The Little Island fans have personally recommended if you like
The Little Island.
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I am a father of grown children, and I once believed there would always be more time. The ordinary days felt endless, until they weren't. My children grew, and the days I wished away became the ones I missed. The loss of my son made time feel different. Since then, I see people differently. We spend much of life shaping, correcting, and comparing, while each person is already becoming who they are. I am drawn to stories that honor people as they are, imperfect, different, and unrepeatable, because simply being here is enough.
Nana never preaches or teaches with speeches. Nana helps C.J. learn to see the beauty where he didn't even know to look. From the kind bus driver to the blind man, each was respected for their uniqueness.
My favorite part was when they all closed their eyes to listen to the music. C.J. was transported by his imagination high above the city, into the clouds, tasting what he had yet to see.
The grace is evident throughout. When they end at the soup kitchen, and Nana shows her caring, that circle of grace is complete. From Nana's lessons to her laughing, to her caring, her ability to see is that beauty.
Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don't own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn't he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty and fun in their routine and in the world around them. This energetic ride through a bustling city highlights the love and understanding between grandparent and grandchild as the world comes…
Floretta- the story of an old woman who discovers life beautifully anew thru the helping hands of a child. The chakra colors of dawn and twilight are woven through the pages as the cycle of life is magically composed. The subject of “heaven,” has the potential to open discussions with…
Reading allows us to climb inside other people’s heads, to think their thoughts and feel their feelings. For children, in particular, books can be a way to understand new emotions. To name them and start to think about where they come from. As my son started to grow up, I wanted to write a story that helped him think about other people’s feelings. And that’s what The Hug and its follow-ups are all about.
If you happen to know a child on the autism spectrum then I’m sure the word ‘empathy’ will have taken on a whole new dimension. This series of picture books has been written specifically for sensitive children, and I can’t recommend them more highly. As well as being extremely funny, they’ve really helped myself and my son talk about parts of the day we both find challenging. And to see things from the other’s point of view.
Children are often picky eaters, but for kids on the autism spectrum or with sensory issues, trying new foods can be especially challenging. In Nope! Never! Not for Me! a young child refuses to try a bite of broccoli - that is, until her mom guides her through a careful exploration of the new food. First she looks, then she sniffs, then touches, and finally takes one tiny bite. What do you know? Broccoli isn't so overwhelming after all!
With simple, reassuring text and bold illustrations in a limited palette, Nope! Never! Not For Me! espouses a patient approach to…
I’m a teacher with a passion for children’s literature. I have a Bachelor of Arts, a Diploma in Education, and a Master's of Special Education. I’ve worked as an English teacher, special needs teacher, and volunteered teaching disadvantaged children and migrants. I have particular insight into middle-graders' reading interests. With today’s online distractions, you have to grab them from the first page and keep the story relative to their world.
I understand some children struggle with reading. It was therefore important for my story to be clear in its message that children are not the sum of their grades, and we all have unique traits worthy of admiration.
This is an oldie but a goodie, first published in 2007.
It is a standalone mystery narrated by Ted, a neurodiverse boy who thinks differently from other children. Ted's unique skills include noticing patterns, paying close attention to detail, and seeing what others overlook. All qualities that make him the perfect detective.
Ted and his sister, Kat, watch their cousin Salim board the London Eye. But when the ride ends, Salim does not get off. So begins the mystery: What has happened to Salim?
I would recommend this great page turner for readers aged 11 to 14.
'A whip-smart puzzle with unforgettable characters' Robin Stevens, bestselling author of Murder Most Unladylike 'Compulsive Reading' Independent 'Thoroughly gripping' Sunday Telegraph
A story about family, self-belief and bravery, The London Eye Mystery is a brilliantly inventive crime-caper perfect for fans of Enola Holmes, High-Rise Mystery and A Kind of Spark. 11.32 a.m. Ted and his sister Kat watch their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye. The pod rises from the ground, high above the city.
12.02 p.m. The pod lands and the doors open. Everyone exits - everyone but Salim.
Has he spontaneously combusted? (Ted's theory.) Has he…
In a time of alternative facts and the loss of a shared sense of reality, A Foot is Not a Fish playfully illustrates the difference between what is true and what is not through absurd fun comparisons that every child—and parent—will instantly understand.
Reading allows us to climb inside other people’s heads, to think their thoughts and feel their feelings. For children, in particular, books can be a way to understand new emotions. To name them and start to think about where they come from. As my son started to grow up, I wanted to write a story that helped him think about other people’s feelings. And that’s what The Hug and its follow-ups are all about.
A little lost bear, all alone in a major transport hub, 6,000 miles from Peru, with only his name pinned to his tiny little duffle coat and the crumbs of his last marmalade sandwich rattling round his case. If that doesn’t melt your heart, then there’s no hope for you. Rumored to have been inspired by children sent away from cities during the Blitz. Has been making children think of others ever since.
The classic story of Paddington, the bear from Darkest Peru, who was found lost on Paddington Station.
"A bear on Paddington Station?" said Mrs Brown in amazement. "Don't be silly - there can't be."
The Browns first met Paddington on a railway station - Paddington station, in fact. He had travelled all the way from Darkest Peru with only a jar of marmalade, a suitcase and his hat.
The Browns soon found that Paddington was a very unusual bear. Ordinary things - like having a bath, travelling underground or going to the seaside became quite extraordinary, if…
Clemens P. Suter is an author of adventure novels. His books deal with people that overcome impossible, life-changing situations. These are entertaining adventure books, with dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and Scifi elements.
Verne has written many books about survival, exploration, and technical innovation. In many aspects, he was far ahead of his time, a nineteen century Sci-Fi wonder boy. He was a masterful storyteller, providing an expert rhythm of action scenes followed by contemplative paragraphs. The Mysterious Island deals with a group of people that has landed in an impossible situation: they are castaways on a deserted island. In most books of this genre, the subjects will succumb or barely manage to survive, but not so for Verne’s engineer and his companions. Through the combination of scientific knowledge, the sheer power of man’s muscles, and unwavering optimism, they quickly turn nature to their benefit and remodel the island to their liking. A thrilling adventure story!
Jules Verne (1828-1905) is internationally famous as the author of a distinctive series of adventure stories describing new travel technologies which opened up the world and provided means to escape from it. The collective enthusiasm of generations of readers of his 'extraordinary voyages' was a key factor in the rise of modern science fiction.
In The Mysterious Island a group of men escape imprisonment during the American Civil War by stealing a balloon. Blown across the world, they are air-wrecked on a remote desert island. In a manner…
I’ve been a fan of dinosaurs and other mega-monsters ever since I watched the original Godzilla movie as a kid. It scared me half out of my wits! There’s something about big, scaly, dangerous beasts that makes for a great adventure story. Add fascinating human characters and you’ve got my full attention. I started writing my Dinosaur Wars books precisely to fill the void where there are far too few stories of this type in current literature. Challenges between human heroes and giant beasts have been part of literature from the start, featuring dragons, titans, and ocean leviathans. I see my writings as efforts to continue that tradition.
James Gurney originally intended this to be a children’s book, but strong interest by adult readers changed his mind, and the three subsequent tales were developed as young-and-old-alike books. The stories are textually brief, but that lack is more than compensated by Gurney’s many illustrations, which tell much of the story visually.
The artwork initially attracted me, but I also found the reading quite engaging. Central to the story are father-and-son castaways Arthur and Will Denison, storm-tossed onto an uncharted south-sea island where dinosaurs still hold sway.
I found the notion of intelligent, peaceful, talking dinosaurs to be conceptually engaging and very unlike Jurassic Park’s huge, uncommunicative, and superlatively dangerous beasts.
When James Gurney's Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time first appeared in 1992, it was immediately hailed as a fully imagined world of the caliber of J. R. R. Tolkien's. Gurney's premise — of an undiscovered island where a race of mystical humans co-exists in harmony with intelligent dinosaurs — has been since reiterated over and over in numerous films and by scores of other writers. Now, Calla Editions brings Gurney's spectacular artistry to a new generation in this 20th anniversary edition. Digitally re-rendered from the original transparencies, Gurney's dramatic panoramas of Dinotopia and close-up character studies of its inhabitants…
Simon Michael Prior loves small islands, and has travelled to remote countries in search of unique island experiences. He inflicts all aspects of life on himself so that readers can enjoy learning about his latest exploits. During his forty-year adolescence, he’s lived on two boats, sunk one of them; sold houses, street signs, Indian food, and paper bags; visited fifty countries, lived in three; qualified as a scuba diving instructor; learnt to wakeboard; trained as a Marine Rescue skipper, and built his own house without the benefit of an instruction manual.
As an Englishman, I’m very taken by books which combine travel with English history. Ben Fogle takes us through the last remnants of the British Empire, tiny islands that have refused independence and resolutely fly the Union Jack. His adventures in Tristan da Cunha, Diego Garcia, and St Helena took me to three places I had never been to. Like me, Fogle is an islandophile and I recommend this for anyone wanting to know about these islands that are in many ways more British than Britain.
Welcomed with open arms, derided as a pig-ignorant tourist and occasionally mocked mercilessly for his trouble, Ben Fogle visited the last flag-flying outposts of the British Empire. With caution, dignity and a spare pair of pants thrown to the wind, he set out to discover just exactly who would choose to live on islands as remote as these and - more importantly - tried to figure out exactly why. Landing himself on islands so isolated, wind-swept, barren and just damned peculiar that they might have Robinson Crusoe thinking twice, Fogle: almost becomes lunch on the appropriately named Carcass Island; gets…
I grew up with my Dad telling us stories of how he used to sneak outside to lie on the roof of the family home in Brighton to watch the dogfight battles overhead during World War II – then at school I was captivated by a story we studied about a brave agent in France who needed to acquire the undercover skill of not looking the wrong way when she crossed the road! I emerged with an appreciation of courage and a love of reading in a variety of genres. I hope you enjoy the books on the list as much as I have!
I thoroughly enjoyed this stylish, unusual book and was instantly drawn in to the author’s pilgrimage story.
The portrayal of the different islands is rich and intriguing – I found myself wanting to go back to those I know and visit those I haven’t yet experienced, as well as thinking more seriously about a pilgrimage!
The writer is a first-rate historian who writes in a very readable, accessible, and lighthearted style. But the easygoing narrative flow also fuses with razor-sharp insight.
The book delivers a compelling account of society’s historical exclusion and maltreatment of women.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR
'A dazzlingly brilliant book' Hannah Dawson
'Fascinating, often exhilarating ... Albinia is an intrepid, imaginative guide' TLS
The Britannias tells the story of Britain's islands and how they are woven into its collective cultural psyche.
From Neolithic Orkney to modern-day Thanet, Alice Albinia explores the furthest reaches of Britain's island topography, once known (wrote Pliny) by the collective term, Britanniae. Sailing over borders, between languages and genres, trespassing through the past to understand the present, this book knocks the centre out to foreground neglected epics and subversive voices.
I'm an author/illustrator of picture books and early graphic novels! I love stories that are immersive, transformative, and moody. Some of my favorite vibes come from: smelling freshly-shaved pencils in autumn, hearing a great song for the first time, and finding exactly the right book when you need it!
The vibe is: wildly witty action-adventure! The Flying Beaver Brothers series moves at lightning speed through compelling (and often dastardly) plots! Packed with laugh-out-loud non-sequiturs, 4th wall breaks, and recurring characters, this book is densely rewarding to readers. Lucky for you, there are lots of books in this series, and you'll want them close at hand after you finish the first!
One of the things I like most about this series is that the jokes are multi-dimensional and not 'made easier' for kids...they're full-strength funny! My second favorite thing? The ridiculously inventive sound effects. (First in a series!)
In their fourth adventure, the Flying Beaver Brothers set off in their sailboat to enjoy some well-deserved rest and relaxation at nearby the island. But the birds and bunnies who live on Little Beaver Island have other ideas. Before long, Ace and Bub find themselves embroiled in an all-out war between the feathers and the fuzz. Can the Flying Beaver Brothers bring peace to Little Beaver Island?
I'm a writer and poet who loved reading books set in fantasy worlds like Narnia as a child. When I began writing for children, I realised my own magical experiences had been on family trips to India, where goddesses and temples, palaces swarming with monkeys, ice-capped mountains, and elephant rides were part of everyday life. The term ‘magic realism’ seemed to better fit my own fantasy world, Indica. Here, elemental magic is rooted in the myths and culture of young hero Minou Moonshine, expanding her experiences and guiding the search for her destiny. The children’s books I've chosen also contain supernatural and magical elements which are intrinsic to the protagonist’s world – no wardrobe needed!
It's hard to believe that Kiran Millwood Hargrave’sThe Girl of Ink and Starsonly came out in 2016.
The book has become a modern classic, combining beautifully poetic writing with the compelling first-person voice of Isabella, the mapmaker’s daughter. When Isabella ventures into the mysterious interior of the island of Joya Governor, to search for her friend, the Governor’s daughter, she must navigate a mysterious labyrinth, supernatural demon dogs, and a volcano-dwelling deity.
The magic elements here are inspired by the indigenous culture of the Canary Isles.
