What book should I read?

Reading offers children access to worlds they may never see; perspectives they may never have encountered; vocabulary that opens new doors in their writing and ideas that spark their imaginations and lust for life. Reading for pleasure is acknowledged as having a positive impact of wellbeing.

There are many truly wonderful books for children aged 8-11 but sometimes it is difficult to know what to read and even harder for parents to decide what is a 'high quality text' book. 

Our school reading scheme is designed to develop the children's reading skills and expose them to a wide range of genre and vocabulary but it doesn't mean they can't read anything else! Here are some tried and tested books that staff have read and enjoyed - you will find some of them in the reading scheme or in our class library.

You can find tips for the best children's books at these websites

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/children/100-best-books/ 

http://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/

Here are our other suggestions:

There are many incredible authors, some whom wrote classic books which have stood the test of time, and some more contemporary, who have written books which are destined to become classics!  Katherine Rundell, Hannah Gold, Neil Gaiman, David Almond, Nicola Davies, Beverly Naidoo and Gill Lewis, to name a few.

These are some of the books we recommend:

- Wonder by R J Palacio

- The Messenger Bird by Ruth Eastham.

- The Memory Box by Ruth Eastham.

- Holes by Louis Sacher.

- Itch by Simon Mayo.

- Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis.

- My name is Mina by David Almond.

- Skellig by David Almond.

- Trash by Andy Mulligan.

- The Other Side of the Truth by Beverley Naidoo.

- Illegal by Eoin Colfer

- Broken Glass by Sally Grindley.

- Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders.

- Fortunately the Milk by Neil Garmin.

- A boy and a bear in a boat by Dave Sheldon.

- Malamander by Thomas Taylor

- Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

- Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle

- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

- Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf by Catherine Storr

- Pax by Sara Pennypacker

- Varjak Paw by S.F. Said

- Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

- The Last Bear by Hannah Gold

- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'engle

- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

- I am David by Anne Holm

Picture Books

There are some incredible picture books aimed at older children. These books work on an interplay between text and image and are often overlooked when choosing books for older children.  Often, these books are challenge perceptions and explore issues, encouraging children to think deeply and explore other worlds and lives.   These are often a good way of encouraging reluctant readers. Here are a few recommendations:

- The Promise by Nicola Davies (One of many of her incredible picture books)

- The Arrival by Shaun Tan

- The Water Tower by Gary Crew

- Tuesday by David Wiesner

- Westlandia by Paul Fleischman

- The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan

- The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

- The Journey by Francesca Sanna

- I talk Like a River by Jorden Scott and Sydney Smith

Some great book series

- Alex Rider

- The Twitchers series by M.G. Leonard

- Charlie Bone

- Harry Potter

- How to train your dragon (The original book is completely different to the film)

- Spy Girl

- Flying Fergus

- A series of unfortunate events

- Percy Jackson

- In 30 seconds (non-fiction books about Space, Earth, Inventions, Science and much more)