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Find the book you didn't know you wanted.

Begin with a question, a subject or a mood. Everything here comes from our own shelves and our booksellers' tags — nothing is invented and nothing is sponsored.

Start with a curiosity

12 books for “a first book for a young child”

Looking for: first · young · child

List: First books for little readers Ages 9–12 Ages 5–8 Ages 0–5

Anna Hibiscus
Atinuke
Why it came upThread: Ages 5–8 · Section: Children's & Young Adult · On the list “First books for little readers”
Baby Goes to Market
Atinuke
Why it came upThread: Ages 0–5 · Section: Children's & Young Adult · On the list “First books for little readers”
Matilda
Roald Dahl
Why it came upThread: Ages 9–12 · Section: Children's & Young Adult · On the list “First books for little readers”
Sulwe
Lupita Nyong'o
Why it came upThread: Ages 5–8 · Section: Children's & Young Adult · On the list “First books for little readers”
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle
Why it came upThread: Ages 0–5 · Section: Children's & Young Adult · On the list “First books for little readers”
Wonder
R. J. Palacio
Why it came upThread: Ages 9–12 · Section: Children's & Young Adult · Mentions “first”
The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Why it came upThread: Ages 9–12 · Section: Children's & Young Adult
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
Why it came upSection: Children's & Young Adult · Mentions “young”
Aké: The Years of Childhood
Wole Soyinka
Why it came upTitle · Mentions “child”
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J. K. Rowling
Why it came upThread: Ages 9–12
The Hobbit
J. R. R. Tolkien
Why it came upThread: Ages 9–12
Becoming
Michelle Obama
Why it came upMentions “first”

The shelves

Wander the shelves

Every book in the shop, spine out. Pull one to look closer; rearrange the shop to see it differently.

The unexpected find

Three parcels on the counter

A blind date with a book — choose by the clues alone.

Parcel 1
Clues
- Lagos
- Nigeria
- African fiction
- First published in the 1970s
Parcel 2
Clues
- Lagos
- Nigeria
- African fiction
- First published in the 1960s
Parcel 3
Clues
- Nigeria
- African fiction
- Coming of age
- First published in the 2010s

Clues come from the book's subjects and history. New parcels are wrapped every morning.

Find the book you didn't know you wanted.

Start with a curiosity

12 books for “a first book for a young child”

Anna Hibiscus

Baby Goes to Market

Matilda

Sulwe

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Wonder

The Little Prince

The Hunger Games

Aké: The Years of Childhood

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The Hobbit

Becoming

Wander the shelves

Three parcels on the counter

Every thread in the shop

Subjects

Places

Moods

Who it's for