As 2026 is the National Year of Reading, we asked our Parentkind colleagues a very important question:“ What’ s your child’ s favourite book?” It started a wonderful discussion – we could fill the whole magazine with their recommendations! Here are a select few:

Reminder!

Time to clear out old stock

Before the summer holidays, have a clear out of expired stock – throw away anything past the‘ use by’ date, but items with‘ best before’ dates can still be sold if they’ re good quality.

“ One of the best books we had was You Choose by Pippa Goodhart- no words, but lovely illustrations and lots to talk about. The other one that really sticks with me is Wonder by R. J. Palacio. Neither of my children loved reading but my son loved that story.”

Kirsty

“ All Julia Donaldson books!” Jeanne

“ Dog Man by Dav Pilkey has given my reluctant seven-year-old a love of reading. He can read a whole one in 20 minutes now. And The 13-Storey Treehouse books are fun too. My daughter loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, as well as a graphic novel called Smile by Raina Telgemeier.”

Ruth

“ My son got the biggest telling-off of his life when he took a pair of scissors to the Percy the Park Keeper book...”

Clare

“ My five-year-old loves Captain Underpants and Dr Roach ' s Monstrous Stories. My seven-year-old loves The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes and my nineyear-old adores all of the Wings of Fire books by Tui T. Sutherland.”

Sarah

There’ s an open door for parents at the Department for Education

Following the publication of the Schools White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, our CEO Frank Young welcomed clear signs that parents are being heard at the Department for Education. From recognition of the impact of parental engagement to the creation of a new parental engagement team, the message is clear: parents must be partners in change.

Our work to ensure the Government puts parents front of mind was reflected throughout, including the use of our parent research. A particular highlight was the direct mention of PTAs and the‘ important role’ they play for schools due to the great work they do‘ supporting parents and the wider school community’.

And it was also encouraging to see the value of our Parent-Friendly Schools accreditation reflected, with the report saying,‘ We will also increase awareness and build on the learning of existing programmes, such as Parentkind’ s Parent-Friendly Schools Accreditation.’“ I loved reading Tinsel by Sibéal Pounder with my daughter every Christmas for a few years! Not sure Point Horror or Sweet Valley High are great examples from my childhood though...”

Anna

Frank Young at Number 10 Downing Street Images: Freepik

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