Values & emotional-literacy storybooks for ages 8–14 (KS2 & KS3)
The Lena series is ten illustrated stories about the feelings and choices children meet every day — anger, worry, gratitude, feeling left out, perfectionism and more. Each story is a warm, funny, real adventure that doubles as a PSHE conversation starter: no lectures, just stories children genuinely enjoy, with a simple, memorable way through each big feeling.
- ✅ Mapped to the PSHE Programme of Study (2026 edition) — see the one-page curriculum grid
- ✅ A Parent & Educator Guide inside every book — ready-made PSHE conversations, no prep
- ✅ The digital editions included free with every school pack — for your whiteboard and for staff to read ahead
- ✅ Fully open to parents — no restriction of any kind on sharing our books or their guides with parents who ask
- ✅ One-off purchase — no subscription, no auto-renewal, no logins to manage
- ✅ Pay by card at checkout — confirmed in minutes, and we start printing the same day
- ✅ Printed and shipped in the UK — free delivery on every school pack
Written for PSHE, RSHE and wellbeing time in KS2 and KS3 — and for the people who usually carry that job: the PSHE lead, the SENCO, the ELSA or emotional literacy support assistant, the school librarian, and the class teacher who wants a read-aloud that starts a real conversation. Class sets, guided reading sets and whole-school packs are all one flat rate, with the digital editions included free.
The ten stories
Putting things off
Screens and self-control
When someone we love is ill
Comparing yourself online
Big anger
Boredom and peer pressure
Trying to be perfect
Noticing what we already have
Left out — and jumping to conclusions
What is actually worth wanting
School pricing — one rate, £7.70 a book
No tiers to work out and no minimum you have to reach twice. Every school pack is £7.70 a book — 39% below our £12.61 single-copy price, with free UK delivery and the digital editions included free.
| Pack | What’s inside | Price | Order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class Library | 11 books — all ten stories, plus a second copy of the one you’ll read most | £85 | Order this pack |
| Guided Reading Set | 11 copies of any one story — a full group with a copy for the teacher | £85 | Order this pack |
| Year Group Pack | 37 books in whatever mix of the ten titles you choose | £285 | Order this pack |
| Whole-School Pack | 75 books in whatever mix you choose — typically two year groups | £579 | Order this pack |
Need more than 75, or a mix that doesn’t fit a pack? The rate stays £7.70 a book however many you order — just email us and we’ll set it up.
A note on currency. Our checkout runs in US dollars, so each pack shows a dollar figure at the till — $109.99, $109.99, $369.99 and $749.99. We have set those figures deliberately low so that after your bank’s conversion a UK card lands at or just under the pound price above. You should not pay more than the figure in pounds.
For your library and finance office
Every title, with page count and ISBN. All ten are paperback, printed in the UK.
| # | Title | What it’s about | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomorrow’s Thief | Putting things off | 84 | 9781807388256 |
| 2 | The Trap in My Phone | Screens and self-control | 74 | 9781807389048 |
| 3 | The Hospital Secret | When someone we love is ill | 83 | 9781807388270 |
| 4 | A Dress Like Ella’s | Comparing yourself online | 74 | 9781807388362 |
| 5 | A Volcano Inside Me | Big anger | 76 | 9781807388386 |
| 6 | Who Will Save Me From Boredom | Boredom and peer pressure | 86 | 9781807388454 |
| 7 | Sixty Cakes in the Bin | Trying to be perfect | 74 | 9781807388508 |
| 8 | Never Insult the Yellow Cheese | Noticing what we already have | 84 | 9781807388546 |
| 9 | Who Erased My Name? | Left out — and jumping to conclusions | 87 | 9781807388607 |
| 10 | The Empty Wish Chest | What is actually worth wanting | 65 | 9781836907916 |
Ask for a sample, a custom mix, or a quote
The four packs above go straight through the shop. For anything else — a free sample copy posted to you, a custom mix of titles, or a written quote for your school office — fill this in and press the button. It opens a ready-written email in your mail app, so you keep a copy in your sent items. We reply within one school day.
This opens your own email app with everything filled in. Nothing is sent until you press send. Prefer to write to us directly? [email protected]
Using the stories for PSHE, wellbeing and ELSA time
Each book is one story about one named feeling, with a Parent & Educator Guide bound into the back — the questions are already written, so there is nothing to prepare. The same book works three ways.
As a whole-class read-aloud
Ten to fifteen minutes a session, once a week. Order a Class Library and all ten themes sit on the shelf for the year, so the story you need is already there on the week you need it.
As a small-group or guided reading intervention
The Guided Reading Set gives a full group a copy each, plus one for the teacher. Because each story stays on a single problem — anger, being left out, comparing yourself online — a group can read it and talk about it without the theme drifting.
As one-to-one ELSA or emotional literacy support
An ELSA or SENCO working with one child can use a single title as the whole session: read a chapter, use the questions from the Guide, then the activity pages at the back. A child who will not talk about their own anger will often talk about Lena’s.
Which story covers which theme
Anger and big feelings — A Volcano Inside Me. Being left out, exclusion and jumping to conclusions — Who Erased My Name? Screen time and self-control — The Trap in My Phone. Comparing yourself online — A Dress Like Ella’s. Perfectionism and the fear of getting it wrong — Sixty Cakes in the Bin. Boredom and peer pressure — Who Will Save Me From Boredom. Putting things off — Tomorrow’s Thief. Gratitude and noticing what you already have — Never Insult the Yellow Cheese. Serious illness in the family — The Hospital Secret. Wants, wishes and what is actually worth wanting — The Empty Wish Chest. The full mapping to the PSHE Programme of Study is on our one-page curriculum grid.
Questions schools ask before ordering
Can we pay by invoice or purchase order?
We take payment by card at checkout. Printing each order to order and taking payment at the till is how we keep the price where it is, and purchases at this level normally go through on a school purchasing card without a quote. If your office needs paperwork first, ask for a written quote on the form above — we reply within one school day.
Can we see a book before we commit to a class set?
Yes. Ask for a free sample copy on the form above and we post one to the school. Every title also has its page count and ISBN listed on this page, so your library or finance office can check it against your own system before anything is ordered.
Do these work alongside Jigsaw, SCARF or Kapow?
Yes. These are storybooks, not a scheme. They sit beside whichever PSHE scheme you already run and give it the read-aloud a scheme does not include — and each story is mapped to the PSHE Programme of Study, so you can slot it against the unit you are already teaching.
Which budget do schools usually use?
Whichever line fits: the PSHE and wellbeing budget, the library book budget, or pupil premium where the focus is emotional literacy and reading engagement. That call is yours — we can supply a written quote and an itemised receipt for whichever line you use.
Are they right for Year 3 through Year 6?
They are written for ages 8 to 12 — Year 3 upward — and are still read comfortably in Year 7 and Year 8. Books run 65 to 87 pages with illustrations throughout, which keeps them within reach of a Year 3 reader and still substantial enough for Year 6.
Are they suitable for reluctant readers and children with SEND?
Short chapters, illustrations throughout and one clear problem per book are the things that usually help a child who finds long novels heavy. The Hospital Secret touches on serious illness in the family — we flag it so a SENCO can decide whether it suits a particular child rather than meeting it unexpectedly.
Do you deliver outside the UK?
Printed packs are printed and shipped in the UK, with free delivery on every school pack. The digital editions are available worldwide and are included free with every pack, so an international school can start with those.
Why teachers use Lena stories
Each story models a simple, memorable way through a big feeling — then the built-in Parent & Educator Guide turns it into a ready-made class conversation. The Education Endowment Foundation rates social and emotional learning as moderate impact for very low cost, based on moderate evidence — and notes it works best when embedded in routine practice rather than bolted on. A weekly read-aloud does exactly that. With the updated RSHE guidance taking effect from September 2026, the Lena library is an easy, joyful way to enrich your wellbeing bookshelf.
Practical notes. We’re a publisher — books arrive by post, so there’s no visitor or DBS requirement. The Hospital Secret touches on serious illness in the family; we flag it here so you can decide whether it suits your class this year rather than meeting it unexpectedly. We print each order to order and take payment at checkout, which is how we keep the price where it is — purchases at this level normally go through on a school purchasing card without needing a quote.
On faith and belief. These stories are secular in purpose and belong to no faith tradition. A few characters express gratitude or hope in their own words, which sometimes includes thanking God. There is no religious teaching, doctrine, or instruction to the reader. Every page is open to parents.
Questions? Email [email protected] — we reply within one school day.
Kids Books · kidsbooks.io · printed & shipped in the UK