What’s your favourite wildlife book?
Which kids’ book would you, or the young people in your life, like to shout about? To celebrate World Book Day, we’d love to hear your recommendations, and have a few ideas of our own too.
Dame Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers MBE during the filming of Born Free, based on the classic book by Joy Adamson
It’s World Book Day, so we’re taking the opportunity to encourage everyone to get involved with the UK’s National Year of Reading, by asking an important question. Which book about wild animals would you recommend for young readers? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so drop us a line at [email protected]
Laura Eastwood
World Book Day encourages a love of reading for children everywhere, and is a great opportunity to learn about the wonders of the wild. There are so many inspiring wildlife stories for kids, as our Head of Community Engagement, Laura Eastwood, explains:
Today is a wonderful chance to help us discover, or rediscover, the joy of reading. To help get inspiration flowing, I revisited Born Free’s World Book Day webinars from the last four years. Run specifically for young people, with many thousands of school pupils attending over the years, they helped inspire a love of reading and wildlife.
Looking at these fantastic resources helped me come up with my top five books for 5–11-year-olds:
NUMBER 1
This has to be Born Free by Joy Adamson – a true story that has inspired multiple generations and changed the way we think about individual wild animals.
If the novel is a bit too long for your child, you can still share this inspirational story with the youngest people in your life by using our read along version of Elsa’s story – A Very Special Lion – or watching back our 2023 Webinar with Dame Virginia McKenna.
NUMBER 2
Next would be Sir Michael Morgurgo’s Butterfly Lion. A beautiful story of friendship, love and reunions that centres around the main character’s love for an orphaned lion cub. It’s perfect for independent reading or sharing together at bedtime.
We were lucky enough to speak to the amazing, award-winning Sir Michael Morgurgo in March of 2024, and you can watch this special webinar back at your leisure.
NUMBER 3
In 2025 we were joined by award-winning children’s author, and Born Free Patron, Lauren St John, who shared her story of growing up in Africa and the journey into writing that has shaped her life.
The book I would like to pull out here is her 2025 release, The Lion Cub’s Secret. This powerful story follows Tau, a three-month-old lion cub rescued from a market by Martine and her grandmother. What unfolds is a gripping journey of courage and compassion.
NUMBER 4
Our very first World Book Day Webinar was with our fantastic partner author, Jay Vincent, and his extremely enjoyable story, which carries an important message about protecting our oceans, The Shark Who Barked.
If you are a teacher, or teaching assistant you can get in touch to arrange a book reading from Jay. Suitable for KS1 and LKS2, Jay’s energetic and interactive reading will take you and your pupils on a magical adventure under the sea.
NUMBER 5
And, to round off, one of my personal favourites for young people is Julia Donaldson’s The Ugly Five. A fantastic reminder that wild animals, as with people, come in all shapes and sizes, highlighting how every creature plays a key role and has a right to freedom from fear and persecution.
These are my top five, but we’d now really like to hear from you! What are your recommendations, and which books would the young people in your life like to shout about?
Do please get in touch (email us at: [email protected]) and your recommendation could feature in our upcoming young supporters’ email, Hear the Roar!! XL.