English articles

Boo! Feel the chill down your spine as you immerse yourself in these spooktacular reads, chosen by children's literature enthusiast and primary school teacher Scott Evans. The perfect mix of monsters, ghosts and ghouls will have you enjoying these hauntingly-good reads not just at Halloween but all year round.

As the mental health crisis amongst children worsens, new research suggests that books could make a difference to your child's wellbeing.

From modern-English retellings to comic-book versions of the plays, there are wonderful books available to help you introduce Shakespeare's timeless stories to your primary-school child. Will you read The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream or Hamlet together at bedtime tonight?

If your child, like millions of others worldwide, is spellbound by Hogwarts and dreams of shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley and being sorted by the Sorting Hat, they might find any non-Potter reads unappealing. We asked primary teacher and children's literature reviewer Scott Evans to share his picks of the best books for J K Rowling fans to ensure that the reading magic continues.

Bring books to life for book lovers of all ages, from pre-school to teenagers, at one of the world's best literary festivals. Meet authors, learn writing and illustrating skills at a workshop or take part in a debate – there are a wealth of bookish activities on offer for families throughout the year, and many of them are accessible online from anywhere in the world.

Beginning your child's 11+ preparation journey and feeling a bit daunted? Teacher Robert Lomax offers tips to help you structure your practice sessions for maximum effectiveness (and to ensure your child isn't turned off by all talk of 11+ work after week one!).

Whether you're on the move or at home, a great activity book offers hours of screen-free learning and fun. Crosswords, maths challenges, mystery solving and code writing are all covered in our best activity books for kids picks. We can't guarantee you won't want to help out with the puzzling, though!

Clear, accurate information that's age-appropriate is essential when you decide to use a book to help you discuss puberty and sex with your children. We've picked some of the best books to help you make potentially awkward conversations easier, whatever your child's age. You know your child best, so always check you're happy with the level of detail and information in a book before you share it with them.

A wide vocabulary is a good indicator of how well your child will perform academically, but how can you tell if they’re on track?

Take a step back in time when Britain was being regularly invaded to find out more about the fearless raiders who travelled by sea in their long ships to settle here and who have left their mark on today's society. Primary school teacher and children's literature lover Scott Evans shares his pick of the best Viking historical fiction that will capture children's interest in this most interesting and exciting (and sometimes bloodthirsty!) of times.

Handwriting may seem an outdated skill, but it’s still important in the primary school classroom. We take a look at what’s expected of our children.

Mechanical pirates, hungry dinosaurs, a pair of talking mice, a mischievous group of creatures called the Gigglers and two clever dogs make these books the perfect choice for new readers who are seven.

The world's greatest cat burglar, high-tech gadgets, mad scientists, kidnapped dragons, a mysterious island and a world full of monsters make these books for nine year olds the perfect choice for sharing and reading together. Even better news: lots of them are part of a series. We see lots of family reading sessions in your future...

When you find an author you love you want to share your discovery with everyone – including the next generation! Thankfully lots of the world's best-selling adult authors have also written junior fiction so you can get the kids hooked on John Grisham or Jenny Colgan sooner rather than later!

Turn screen time into learning-to-read time and help your child become a phonics whizz with these brilliant tried-and-tested apps for Apple and Android.

Help your child get to grips with spelling with our round-up of the best spelling apps for primary-school kids.

Each of these novels is full of adventure, inventiveness and magic – great for stimulating young imaginations. Some of these stories may have been written more than half a century ago, but their child’s-eye view of the world and their warm-hearted humour remain as engaging and entertaining as ever. Perfect for reading together, or for independent reading, these books are packed with useful new vocabulary for early readers. By Emma Harding

Children’s publishers have never tackled rugby as well as they have football, but there is some great fiction and non-fiction out there for kids in books and in magazines. Best-selling rugby author Tom Palmer picks a XV rugby union can be proud of.

On 6 February 1918 the Representation of the People Act gave the vote to (some) women in Britain for the first time. Help your child understand the history of the women's suffrage movement with teacher Ashley Booth's pick of the best kids' books about the Suffragettes.