At the beginning of each year, we ask the Your Kid’s Next Read community to nominate the books their young readers raved about over the preceding twelve months.
And here we are with the 2022 version. One last round of applause for the books our young readers loved last year before we welcome in 2023’s new titles.
It’s always an interesting list, with a mix of new titles and old favourites, because the books don’t have to have been published in 2022, they just need to have been read in 2022.
These are the books that the young readers of the Your Kid’s Next Read community are actually reading. The ones they recommended when asked to share the best books they read in 2022.
We’ve also added in a few favourites from #TeamYKNR (Megan Daley, Allison Rushby and me), focusing on books published in 2022.
It’s a terrific list for discovering those gems you may have overlooked!
But before you dive in, if you’d like to know the origin story of Your Kid’s Next Read, you’ll find it here, and you can also subscribe to our brand-new free newsletter for your chance to win our big bookmail giveaway each month.
Best books of 2022 (according to Your Kid’s Next Read)
Books are divided into approximate reading age suggestions, but, of course, all readers are different. Click the title link to find out more about the book or to purchase*
Picture Books
The Best Hiding Place by Jane Godwin, ill. Sylvia Morris
King Baby by Kate Beaton
Llama Llama Time To Share by Anne Dewdney
Hana’s Hundreds of Hijabs by Razeena Omar Gutta, ill. Manal Mirza
Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson, ill. Axel Scheffler
Spot (series) by Eric Hill
My Deadly Boots by Hakea Hustler, Carl Merrison, ill. Samantha Campbell
Dirt by Sea by Michael Wagner, ill. Tom Jellett
Frank’s Red Hat by Sean E. Avery
Come Over To My House by Eliza Hull, Sally Rippin, ill. Daniel Gray-Barnett
The Wild Guide To Starting School by Laura Bunting, ill. Philip Bunting
Junior Readers (5-8)
The Odds (series) by Matt Stanton
Questioneers (series) by Andrea Beaty, ill. David Roberts
Marge in Charge by Isla Fisher
The Travelling Bookshop (series) by Katrina Nannestad, ill. Cheryl Orsini
Narwhal and Jelly (series) by Ben Clanton
The Secret Explorers (series) by SJ King
Pearly and Pig (series) by Sue Whiting
Hot Dog by Anh Do
Magnolia Moon (series) by Edwina Wyatt
Furball: Spy Cat by Adrian Beck
Smarty Pup (series) by Ahn Do, ill. Anton Emdin
The Underdogs (series) by Kate and Jol Temple
Willa and Woof (series) by Jacqueline Harvey
The Princess in Black (series) by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, ill. LeUyen Pham
Zoey and Sassafras (series) by Asia Citro, ill. Marion Lindsay
Miss Penny Dreadful and the Midnight Kittens by Allison Rushby
Little Ash (series) by Ash Barty, Jasmin McGaughey, ill. by Jade Goodwin
What Snail Knows by Kathryn Apel, ill. Mandy Foot
Surviving The Wild (series) by Remy Lai
Amulet (series) by Kazu Kibuishi
The Lost Rainforest (series) by Eliot Schrefer
Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo, ill. K. G. Campbell
Middle Grade (9-12)
This is such a popular section that we’ve divided it up a bit to make it easier to navigate. Note that there can be crossover in the categories.
Contemporary
Exit Through the Gift Shop by Maryam Master
The 13-Storey Treehouse (series) by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
New Dragon City by Mari Mancusi
Pony by R. J. Palacio
Gus and The Starlight by Victoria Carless
The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-Bottomed Boat by Charlie Archbold
Paws by Kate Foster
We Run Tomorrow by Nat Amoore and Mike Barry
The Day I was Erased by Lisa Thompson
The Jammer by Nova Weetman
Runt by Craig Silvey, ill. Sara Acton
The Bravest Word by Kate Foster
Zadie Ma and the Dog who Chased the Moon by Gabrielle Wang
Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee
Penguin Bloom (young readers edition) by Chris Kunz, Shaun Grant, Harry Cripps
The Goodbye Year by Emily Gale
All Four Quarters Of The Moon by Shirley Marr
Historical
The Unstoppable Flying Flanagan by Felice Arena
Evie and Rhino by Neridah McMullin, ill. Astrid Hicks
Tilda by Sue Whiting
Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad
Ming and Marie: Spy for Freedom by Jackie French
Waiting For the Storks by Katrina Nannestad
Nancy and Plum by Betty MacDonald
Goodbye Mr Hitler by Jackie French
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
Mystery
A Girl Called Justice by Elly Griffiths
Friday Barnes (series) by R. A. Spratt
Twitch by MG Leonard
Cop and Robber by Tristan Bancks
Fantasy and sci-fi
Amari and the Night Brothers (series) by B. B. Alston
Chasing The Valley (series) by Skye Melki-Wegner
The Chronicles of Narnia (series) by C. S. Lewis
Wylah: The Koorie Warrior by Richard Pritchard, Jordan Gould
Kingdoms and Empires (series) by Jaclyn Moriarty, ill. Kelly Canby
The Wizards of Once (series) by Cressida Cowell
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A. F. Steadman
Mars Awakens by H. M. Waugh
Nevermoor (series) by Jessica Townsend
Wednesday Weeks and The Dungeon of Fire (series) by Denis Knight and Cristy Burne
Keeper Of The Lost Cities (series) by Shannon Messenger
Spaceboy by David Walliams, ill. Adam Stower
Hedgewitch by Skye McKenna
Which Way To Anywhere by Cressida Cowell
School for Good and Evil (series) by Soman Chainani
A Tale of Magic (series) by Chris Colfer
The Ateban Cipher (series) by A. L. Tait
The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer
The Wintrish Girl by Melania La’Brooy
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Young Adult (13+)
Heartstopper (series) by Alice Oseman
The Summer I Turned Pretty (series) by Jenny Han
The Wolf’s Howl (A Maven & Reeve Mystery) by A. L. Tait
Future Girl by Asphyxia
Please Don’t Hug Me by Kay Kerr
When Rain Turns to Snow by Jane Godwin
The Stand In by A. J. Rushby
The Wearing Of The Green by Claire Saxby
The Medoran Chronicles (series) by Lynette Noni
The Museum of Broken Things by Lauren Draper
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
The Notorious Scarlett & Browne (series) by Jonathan Stroud
Cards On The Table by Agatha Christie
Looking for more inspiration? You can find the 2021 list here.
Are you new here? Welcome to my blog! I’m Allison Tait, aka A.L. Tait, and I’m the author of middle-grade series, The Mapmaker Chronicles, The Ateban Cipher, and the Maven & Reeve Mysteries. You can find out more about me here, and more about my books here.
If you’re looking for book recommendations for young readers, join the Your Kid’s Next Read Facebook community, and tune in to the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast!
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