Weekly Round-up 6th March 2026
- Carolyn McCarthy
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Your weekly digest about what's happening in the world of children's literature
I shouldn’t bore you with everything I’ve read, but this month our office has been captivated by Malala Yousafzai’s ‘Finding My Way’. Thrown in the spotlight after being shot by the Taliban at 15, her astonishingly personal account of subsequent young adulthood is told with honesty and vulnerability and is a poignant reminder of the fight some have for an education that is, for others, so easy to take for granted.
No better is this illustrated than her description of books as a child in Pakistan’s Swat Valley - “...like fireflies - delighting with their unexpected arrival but not something you could see whenever you wished”. Books may be scarcer in UK schools than they were a decade ago, but thankfully, they remain abundant for most.
Tom
In the News/Useful Links
Shortlist for the Children’s Book Award 2026 (The Federation of Children’s Book Groups)
Insights from our Data
We’re developing a new feature for Pageticker to track how the level of a child’s chosen book changes over time - this in turn got us asking some interesting questions of our data.
We took a sample of 10,000 reading records where a child had read independently on their reading-for-pleasure book. We used the Lexile® Level of the book as a measure of difficulty, and here’s what we found:
As we’d all expect, older children choose more difficult books, with the Lexile Level increasing by an average of 54 per year, and most significantly in the earlier years (the notable exception is between the ages of 5 and 6 where the leap is less apparent - we think our data is skewed here because not all 5 year olds are reading independently, whereas most 6 year olds are).
Nonetheless, it’s a useful insight as we aim to help teachers track children’s reading progression without assessment.
Monthly Giveaway
Check back next week for the monthly giveaway.
Inspiring Initiatives
Although World Book Day is now over for another year, we thought we’d share how missg_primaryteacher (On Instagram) celebrates World Book Day and Reading Week in her school. Just in case you’d like some ideas for next year.
They order World Book Day books as many parents don’t take their children to book shops to use the vouchers. Doing this means that each child gets to go home with a book.
During Reading Week, they run a book fair. As most children in their school haven’t ever been to a book shop. This gives them the opportunity to browse and choose books as if they were in a book shop. Their school does get a commission for this but they use this money to buy books for their classroom book corners.
Each day of Reading Week, each class receives a book for their reading corner. Last year, they wrapped up each of the books and wrote clues about each book. However this was quite a task with the number of books that needed wrapping. So instead, they’ve bought book sleeves this year to cover the books.
The school has reached out to authors to see if they’ll send a personalised video telling children about their book.
They arrange a masked reader challenge by recording teachers covering the book with their face whilst they read from it.
Visitors are invited to an assembly to talk about how reading has impacted or influenced their careers.
On World Book Day, each class is off timetable and spends their time discussing books and completing activities around them.
Handpicked Seasonal Suggestion
As we've just had World Book Day, we’re going to feature a World Day book. The choice for this week is Skandar and the Secret Element by A.F. Steadman.
Albert never imagined he would become a unicorn rider, until he’s whisked away to a mysterious island to bond with a warrior unicorn and train in elemental magic. There, he meets Skandar, who’s hiding a dangerous secret.
When a terrifying encounter with a wild unicorn throws the two boys together, everything changes. Will the adventure help Albert and Skandar become the heroes they’re destined to be?
This book will be loved by fans of the Skandar series but they don’t have to have read the series to enjoy this book. This book has bonus activities and content. Fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter are likely to enjoy this book.
Notable New Release
This week’s notable new release is the Isaac Turner Investigates, The Galileo Heist by Sam Sedgman. This is the third adventure in the Isaac Turner Investigates series. It’s suitable for children aged 9 and above.
Every summer holiday, Isaac Turner spends three weeks in Italy with his grandfather and this year his best friend Hattie is joining him. What promises to be a perfect summer unravels when his grandad is arrested for stealing millions of euros worth of jewellery. Ferdinand insists he hasn't stolen anything, at least not yet! Isaac and Hattie must uncover the truth and who is using the darkness for deceive them.
This is a brilliant book for children who enjoy mystery solving books. We'd recommend it for fans of the Adventures on Train series also by Sam Sedgman and MG Leonard.
Upcoming Dates
8 March - International Women’s Day
9-13 March - British Science Week
19 March -Decline in Volitional Reading - Free Seminar with the Open University
20th March - Red Nose Day
23-27 March - Shakespeare Week
22nd April - Earth Day
Pageticker is the UK's top-rated digital reading diary designed to help children develop habits that will fuel their curiosity and learning for life. Find out more.
Happy reading,
The Pageticker Team