Our books
Our handbooks, badge books and record book give girls all they need to explore our programme
We’re helping all girls in guiding make the most of their journey with great handbooks and badge books for each section.
A section is what we call the different age groups in Girlguiding. Girls have told us that they like to have physical books to record their guiding activities and badges in. Our badge books and section handbooks are exactly that so we’ve kept them the same as always.
Buy your badge books and handbooks
Buy badge books and handbooks for all sections on the online shop. If you’re a parent or carer, chat to your child’s unit leader first before buying any books. Most of the time, they’ll be included in a starter kit put together by the leader.
The books are designed to be an age-appropriate and exciting resource, with a special design for each of our sections. Each unique style and design was created for girls, with girls.
What are handbooks?
Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers each have their own fun and unique handbook. They're full of all the info that girls and parents told us would be useful to know when they get started.
They’re age-appropriate – so there’s less writing and more pictures for Rainbows and more details included for Guides. They're packed with great images, illustrations and opportunities for girls to make them their own.
The handbooks include all the things girls should expect from their membership like:
- Everything you need to know when you first join.
- Details of going away on trips.
- Guiding across the country and around the world.
- Opportunities for leadership.
- How to move up to the next section.
What are badge books?
Badge books are essential for Rainbows, Brownies and Guides to find out about all the badges and awards they can earn in their section. They are the only place they can see:
- The interest badge challenges.
- Guidance on how to complete them.
- Important safety information they should consider when doing them at home or with their unit.
Badge books are created as a practical tool to encourage fun, adventure and exploration. We’ve added some unexpected touches like hidden secret messages on the covers and clip-in accessories like bookmarks and rulers – so girls will feel excited and proud to own one!
Since Rangers can get online by themselves, their interest badge information is on the Girlguiding website and we have created a slimmer record book for Rangers.
All the badge books - and the Ranger record book - also give each girl an overview of how interest badges they earn combine with skills builders and unit meeting activities to add up to Theme and section Gold awards.
What’s more, they can be used to track progress towards those awards and will be a great way for girls to reflect on what they’ve achieved in guiding in the years to come!
Look out for 72 new interest badges coming in 2025
There’s already 72 interest badges available for girls to do at home or with their units. In summer 2025, you can expect to see that number double! We’re working directly with volunteers, girls and their parents or carers to give them more badges they love. Over 20,000 members have had their say in the project so far. Keep reading to find out what this means for our badge books.
How much do they cost?
All the bright and beautiful books are available from our online shop and our volunteer shops.
Handbooks
- £4 for Rainbows.
- £4.50 for Brownies, Guides and Rangers.
Badge books
- £7 for Rainbows.
- £8 for Brownies.
- £9 for Guides.
- £5 for the Rangers record book.
We're creating a small, printed badge book addition for Rainbows, Brownies and Guides. Rangers told us they also wanted a printed badge book, so the new badges will also appear in a mini badge book for them too. This means you won’t need to spend extra money on replacing a badge book you already own. You can simply add to the one you’ve already got.
We’re planning to merge both badge books and update it to our new branding in 2026. Handbooks will also be updated then too.
Look out for information in essential updates (our monthly newsletter for all volunteers) to find out when you can buy the new mini badge books.
