MG Leonard, the award-winning author of Beetle Boy, selects adventures that take curious young minds back to the past.
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
This is the first book I ever read that had time travel in it. When the clock strikes 13 Tom finds himself in Victorian times where he befriends a girl called Hatty.
Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll
Set in 1941 during the blitz of the Second World War, Olive and her little brother Cliff are evacuated to a lighthouse in Devon after their older sister, Sukie, goes missing. This book powerfully evokes the period and touches on complex subjects such as political refugees.
- Top 5 books about portal adventures for under-12s, chosen by Ben Miller
- Top 5 books for young explorers
Asterix the Gaul by René Goscinny, illustrated by Albert Uderzo
When I first read Asterix, I was too young to get all of the jokes, nevertheless I loved it. It is an entertaining introduction to Julius Caesar’s Rome and the brutality of colonisation.
Black Powder by Ally Sherrick
It’s 1605, James I is King. Tom is travelling to London, to try and save his father from hanging, when he meets an intriguing man calling himself the Falcon and agrees to be a part of the gunpowder plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
Viking Boy by Tony Bradman
An action-packed adventure, rich with research and Norse mythology. Gunnar’s father, a Viking chieftain, is killed when his home is raided and burned down. Gunnar sets out on an epic quest for revenge. This story is stuffed with weapons, battles, a sea voyage and Viking lore.
