Southborough Church of England Primary School
Southborough Church of England Primary School
Top Books
Top Books
If your child is reluctant to read, sometimes it is just a matter of finding the right book to capture their interest – be it football or magic, or books crammed with facts that they can dip in and out of, rather than fiction. If your child already enjoys reading, sometimes it’s hard to know in which direction to point them for their next book as there are so many books available. This page of Top Books should help everyone. Have a look at the list of some of the top titles and authors.
Recommended Reading
The suggested age ranges below are intended as a very rough guide. It doesn’t matter if your child prefers to read books outside of the suggested age range; what matters is that it is the right reading level for them.
Use the ’Five-Finger Rule’ to check. First get your child to read one page of a book they want to try. Hold up a finger every time they see a word they can’t read or don’t know the meaning of:
0-1 fingers = the book is too easy
2-3 fingers = just right
4 fingers = okay to try
5+ fingers = too hard.
| Ages 6 - 8 (Years 1 - 3) |
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The Enchanted Wood – Enid Blyton Five on a Treasure Island – Enid Blyton A Bear Called Paddington – Michael Bond The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook – Joyce Lankester Brisley Flat Stanley – Jeff Brown Clarice Bean, That’s Me – Lauren Child Princess Smartypants – Babette Cole That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown – Cressida Cowell The BFG – Roald Dahl The Story of Babar – Jean De Brunhoff My Naughty Little Sister – Dorothy Edwards Asterix the Gaul – René Goscinny Amazing Grace – Mary Hoffman & Caroline Binch The Abominables – Eva Ibbotson Finn Family Moomintroll – Tove Jansson The Queen’s Nose – Dick King-Smith The Sheep-Pig – Dick King-Smith Pippi Longstocking – Astrid Lindgren Winnie-the-Pooh – A A Milne The Worst Witch – Jill Murphy Football Academy series – Tom Palmer The True Story of the Three Little Pigs– Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith A Boy and a Bear in a Boat – Dave Shelton Horrid Henry – Francesca Simon & Tony Ross The Arrival – Shaun Tan Charlotte’s Web – E B White Little House in the Big Woods – Laura Ingalls Wilder Mister Magnolia – Quentin Blake |
| Ages 9+ (Years 4 - 6) |
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The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Joan Aiken Skellig – David Almond Carrie’s War – Nina Bawden How to Train Your Dragon – Cressida Cowell Artemis Fowl – Eoin Colfer Millions – Frank Cottrell Boyce The Witches – Roald Dahl Matilda – Roald Dahl & Quentin Blake Flour Babies – Anne Fine Once – Morris Gleitzman The Adventures of Tintin – Hergé Young Bond: Silverfin – Charlie Higson Journey to the River Sea – Eva Ibbotson Stig of the Dump – Clive King Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Jeff Kinney The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C S Lewis Goodnight Mister Tom – Michelle Magorian Private Peaceful – Michael Morpurgo Pinocchio – Michael Morpurgo A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness The Borrowers – Mary Norton Keeper – Mal Peet Over the Line – Tom Palmer Truckers – Terry Pratchett South Sea Adventure – Willard Price Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J K Rowling Holes – Louis Sachar The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupery Five Children on the Western Front – Kate Saunders Dead Man’s Cove – Lauren St John Ballet Shoes – Noel Streatfeild The Hobbit – J R R Tolkien Demon Dentist/Mr Stink/Awful Auntie/Billionaire Boy/Gangsta Granny – David Walliams The Story of Tracy Beaker – Jacqueline Wilson |
| Ages 11/12+ (Year 6 plus) |
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Watership Down – Richard Adams Noughts and Crosses – Malorie Blackman Forever – Judy Blume Junk – Melvin Burgess Looking for JJ – Anne Cassidy The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman Maggot Moon – Sally Gardner The Owl Service – Alan Garner Coram Boy – Jamila Gavin The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon Stormbreaker – Anthony Horowitz The Kite Rider – Geraldine McCaughrean The Knife of Never Letting Go – Patrick Ness Northern Lights – Philip Pullman The Ruby in the Smoke – Philip Pullman Witch Child – Celia Rees Mortal Engines – Philip Reeve Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging – Louise How I Live Now – Meg Rosoff Revolver – Marcus Sedgwick I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith The Fellowship of the Ring – J R R Tolkien |