Children’s & YA literature selection autumn 2025

Reading books has been proven to nurture a strong sense of empathy. We firmly believe that promoting the reading of great books can have a much-needed positive impact on today’s world, and we are delighted to share our passion for books and their many benefits with you. This autumn, our selection of books is broader than ever – no less than eleven titles have caught our eye! Sorted from youngest to older readers, we are pleased to introduce them to you.

Bear is a self-confident expert at spotting animals. But he rarely follows his own well-meant tips – stay alert, adopt a good posture, look underwater and in the sky – and invariably peers in the wrong direction. This sparks great hilarity among young readers. Read-aloud pleasure guaranteed!

Anemone is not like other princesses. She loves everything that’s dirty or sticky, or a bit smelly. Anemone refuses to wash and gives up combing her hair. Everything sticks to her face or her hands, to her mother's great despair. ‘The Princess of Sticky Fingers’ is a modern fairy tale full of humour and with a contemporary twist.

Loe is a stubborn toddler who has two grown-ups. She observes the adult world with amazement, and sometimes a dash of pity. Loe doesn’t understand why big people step outside the white stripes on the zebra crossing (surely everyone knows that’s where the crocodiles lurk). They also forget to look under the bed every evening to check that no monsters are hiding there. Her child’s logic is both funny and familiar.

Boris is getting ready for Doll and Action Man’s wedding party. He folds napkins into flowers, blows up white balloons and makes the finger food. But when he tries to get Doll to wear a princess dress, things don’t go as planned. ‘Bridesmaid Boris’ is a colourful picture book that treats diversity not as a subject but as the most natural thing in the world. The flamboyant pencil and aquarelle drawings in bright colours make the merriment leap from the pages.

In beautifully detailed black-and-white drawings alternated with series of colourful, breathtaking spreads in acrylic, Leo Timmers depicts the close friendship between Mimi and her horse. For ‘Mimi & Me’, he learned how to use a dip pen to make fine line drawings full of shading, a supremely successful choice that places a lot of emphasis on the horse’s muscular body and its body language. This intimate, moving book marks a new step in Timmers' oeuvre.

In simple words and sentences, Janneke Schotveld brings the world of best friends Hanna and Hamza to life beautifully, in a book that is witty and cheerful without ever being shallow. In every spread, Arevik d’Or’s colourful drawings exude exactly that same atmosphere, with their relaxed lines and their accessibility. ‘Hanna and Hamza’ is airy and light, but manages to touch the reader all the same. A beautiful gem for early readers.

In a fit of rage, Jackson accidentally injures his teacher’s leg. It’s his fault that Ms Annie is out of the running for months. Jackson feels terribly sorry, but he just can’t get the word ‘sorry’ past his lips. Can the strange old man who calls himself King Lear help him? Lievens succeeds in finding the perfect balance between raw reality and absurd fantasy. ‘Visiting King Lear’ is a moving, tender and in places very funny novel.

Kimia is a brave and self-assured girl, growing up in the heart of Africa. In Europe, meanwhile, the continent of Africa is being divided up as if it’s a no man’s land. The story of Kimia is interspersed with spreads about the historical context, from before 1884 to the independence of Congo in 1960 and beyond. This sorely needed book shows at a child’s level how terrible Congo's colonization was and the impact it had, and is still having, on the people of Congo.

As Leonardo da Vinci wrote centuries ago, ‘We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.’ With ‘Wonderground’, Sarah Garré and Heleen Deroo want to change that. In five themed parts, the two scientists guide us through the thrilling underground world. A very special book for future subterranean heroes.

Emily is fourteen and convinced that she’s going to make it in Hollywood. She also resolves to become popular at last. How hard can it be? Meanwhile she finds herself wrestling with her sense of loyalty to her divorced parents. Then, to top it all, she falls in love with a girl.  Full of sarcasm and irony, and with an outlandish gift for exaggeration, this clumsy drama queen is a character to embrace with all your heart.

Properzia de’Rossi is stubborn and knows what she wants: to become an artist. But in Bologna in the early sixteenth century, a young woman doesn’t have much say over her own life, let alone have the chance to become a sculptress. So Properzia decides to take her fate into her own hands. Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem turns the historical Properzia into a lifelike and warm-blooded character with a big mouth and an impulsive fearlessness. Cinematically written, full of adventure, with a great sense of humour and a female rebel in the leading role, ‘Properzia’ is what we have come to think of as a true Van Rijckeghem.