November 2025

As the popularity of comics and graphic novels amongst children continues to grow, they're a trend we're keen to embrace as a means of showing children that reading can be fun and that pictures can be just as important as words!

This month we welcomed the author and illustrator of the Pablo and Splash series of graphic novels to our Beanstalk BookFest and the children who attended were all keen to learn how to draw the main characters and hear about the origins of this exciting comic strip series.

We've chosen the latest Pablo and Splash book, 'Roman Holiday' as our Beanstalk Brilliant Book of the Month for November so that you too can find out more about this penguin duo who started life as a diary webcomic during the pandemic!

About the book

Pablo and Splash Roman Holiday by Sheena Dempsey

Time-travelling penguins Pablo and Splash must fight gladiators in Ancient Rome in this hilarious full-colour graphic novel, in a British Book Award-shortlisted series. When their penguin pal Benji won’t believe they’ve travelled through time, Pablo and Splash have a point to prove. The two travel to Ancient Rome, hoping to bring back a centurion helmet as proof of their adventures.

But when Pablo and Splash meet an emperor with a passion for collecting exotic birds, only some quick thinking - and emergency time travel - can save them from the fate that awaits them in the Colosseum!

Fans of Bunny vs Monkey or InvestiGATORS will love it.

Hear from author illustrator Sheena Dempsey

Equally brilliant graphic novels

Buy any of these books here from our Beanstalk Bookshop page!

Latest

July 2026

Our Book of the Month for July is The Wilderness by Steve McCarthy - a beautifully illustrated story that encourages young readers to step outside and find an adventure. This, and the other Beanstalk Brilliant Books we've selected, is perfect for some outdoor adventures this summer...
Coram Beanstalk at The Big Lunch

Coram Beanstalk reading helpers were celebrated at The Big Lunch during Volunteer's Week in June, with an afternoon tea and some very special guests. Read more here...
June 2026

This month, we’re hosting our next Virtual Author Event for Coram Beanstalk schools with award‑winning author Ben Davis! We’ve chosen his latest book, Postman Planet, as our Book of the Month for June and we've found a range of other Beanstalk Brilliant books featuring post or letters for you to explore...
Sir Michael Morpurgo OBE

Michael joined Coram Beanstalk as an Ambassador in November 2017 and continues to be an advocate for our work creating readers for pleasure.

July 2026

Our Book of the Month for July is The Wilderness by Steve McCarthy - a beautifully illustrated story that encourages young readers to step outside and find an adventure. This, and the other Beanstalk Brilliant Books we've selected, is perfect for some outdoor adventures this summer...
June 2026

This month, we’re hosting our next Virtual Author Event for Coram Beanstalk schools with award‑winning author Ben Davis! We’ve chosen his latest book, Postman Planet, as our Book of the Month for June and we've found a range of other Beanstalk Brilliant books featuring post or letters for you to explore...
May 2026

This month Coram Beanstalk has collaborated with the Federation of Children's Book Groups (FCBG) to celebrate National Share a Story Month (NSSM). Our chosen Book of the Month from the FCBG curated list of books for NSSM is 'I am Rebel' by our author supporter, and past reading helper, Ross Montgomery. Read more...
April 2026

This month we're celebrating the National Year of Reading with some of our favourite Beanstalk Brilliant Books for helping children to Go All In! Find out more here...
March 2026

The World Book Day books are always different genres and styles of short books, designed for different age groups and written by a diverse range of authors. There are books to appeal to everyone but for our Beanstalk Brilliant Book of the Month we've chosen 'Funny Factopia' - perfect for inspiring book chat and finding out funny new facts. Read more...
February 2026

This month our Beanstalk Brilliant Books are all published by small company, b Small Publishing. Their focus is on publishing inspiring non-fiction and we've chosen some books that we think are all particularly brilliant at grabbing children's attention...
January 2026

We're starting 2026, the National Year of Reading, with our choice of Beanstalk Brilliant Books that are newly or soon-to-be published. Take a look at Eve Wersocki-Morris' second Clem Fatale book amongst others...
December 2025

This month we've handpicked a Beanstalk Brilliant selection of festive titles to suit a range of readers. Our chosen 'Book of the Month' is The Great Christmas Tree Race, a brilliant, brand-new title by one of our favourite author and illustrator duos, Naomi and James Jones. Read more about it and find more of our festive favourites here...
October 2025

This October, we’ve chosen a selection of Beanstalk Brilliant Autumn-themed reads and our #BeanstalkBrilliant Book of the Month is the spooky 'Dracula and Daughters' by Emma Carroll. Read more here...
September 2025

To kick off the new academic year, we've chosen a selection of newly- published #BeanstalkBrilliantBooks for you, with a focus on Mike Rampton's brilliant 'Become a genius in a year', illustrated by Gareth Williams. Find out more here...