Listed below are a selection of 50 books that will entice and captivate your children into the wonderful world of reading.
As a dad of 3 children and a Primary School Librarian for the last ten years, this list reflects the books CHILDREN, not adults, have enjoyed. Nearly 6000 children have passed through my library in that time and I have spoken to every single one of them. I helped them choose and discussed it with them. They read the words off the pages of most of this list. I read to many of them, wide eyed children listening to Harry Potter, bad voiceovers included. I read in homework clubs and reading groups in classes. They told me what they liked. Books to take you on an adventure, to escape into the future, to make you laugh and cry, to ponder and discuss.
“It’s all in your head” I kept telling them. Think about it. Suck up the written word and let your mind digest it.
Mr Anderson-Jones
Read cereal packets.
Read comics.
Read games instructions.
Read out loud in a silly voice.
Read Instagram, Twitter and Face of Book.
Reading is dead? Never. How can you do any of the former if you can’t read.
There are some books missing that some parents might think of as “classic” children’s fiction. Most tech savvy 9 year olds who use Social Media, Geocaching and Wi-Fi find it hard to relate to solving a crime with a bottle of lemonade and a dog. Sorry Enid x If I was to do a top 100, then some of them would make it.
There is simply no better recommendations than the ones that come from children themselves.
This list is theirs not yours or mine.
EARLY READERS FOUNDATION AND KEYSTAGE 1
1 Timid Tim and the Cuggy Thief by John Prater
2 The Monster Bed by Jeanne Willis
3 The Sand Horse by Ann Turnbull
4 Out and About by Shirley Hughes
5 Hairy Maclary by Lynley Dodd
6 We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
7 Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss
8 Window by Jeannie Baker
9 This is the Bear by Sarah Hayes
10 The Bee’s Sneeze by Ellis Nadler
11 The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear illustrated by Louise Voce
12 The Monster Storm by Jeanne Willis
13 Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales
14 The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan
15 The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
KEYSTAGE 2
16 Mr Gum series by Andy Stanton
17 Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
18 Ingo series by Helen Dunmore
19 The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
20 Tom Gates series by Liz Pichon
21 Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
22 Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
23 Wolf Brother series by Michelle Paver
24 The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper
25 The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
26 The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe series by C S Lewis
27 The Tracy Beaker series by Jacqueline Wilson
28 Mr Stink by David Walliams
29 Holes by Louis Sachar
30 Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
31 Once series by Morris Gleitzman
32 Shine/ Glitter series by Kate Maryon
33 Magyk series by Angie Sage
34 The Emerald Atlas series by John Stephens
35 Truckers – The Nomes Trilogy by Terry Pratchett
36 Skellig by David Almond
37 Lee Raven, Boy Thief by Zizou Corder
38 Midnight for Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo
39 Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
40 The Roald Dahl Collection
41 Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
42 Pig Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman
43 Mondays Are Murder by Tanya Landman
KEYSTAGE 2/3 TOP JUNIOR READERS
44 Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy
45 Harry Potter series by J K Rowling
46 Spook’s series by Joseph Delaney
47 The Northern Lights Trilogy by Philip Pullman
48 Geek Girl series by Holly Smale
49 Trash by Andy Mulligan
50 The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien