Books and Reading

Below are some ideas of inspirational books that your children might enjoy reading!

Please encourage your child to share books they have particularly enjoyed so we can update the list regularly. 

We are often asked to recommend books for particular children, to try to encourage them into reading more or to stretch and broaden their reading tastes and experience, and we are always happy to talk to individuals and help them find a few new books to try.  We also encourage the children to share what books they are reading and recommend books to each other.  It's always great to see a book passed between pupils or being read by several children at the same time and hearing children discussing the book!

We don't produce a definitive list of 'books you should read in Year 5' as, with fantastic books being published all the time, such as list would soon get out of date.  There are of course classic authors such as Tolkien, Dodie Smith, C S Lewis, Ian Serailler, Alan Garner, Joan Aiken, Roald Dahl, Eva Ibbotson, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Nina Bawden, E. Nesbit and books such as Stig of the Dump, Goodnight Mr Tom, Carrie's War, The Secret Garden, Treasure Island, The Machine Gunners, Swallows and Amazons, Black Beauty, Charlotte's Web, The Sword In The Stone, Kidnapped!, The Borrowers, The Phantom Tolbooth and many many more - everyone will have a different list!

There are some brilliant, more modern authors, such as Michelle Paver, Eoin Colfer, Anthony Horowitz, Philip Reeve, Philip Pullman, Katharine Rundell, David Almond, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Malorie Blackman, Michael Morpurgo, JK Rowling and Cressida Cowell to name just some. 

Comic strips (Asterix, Tintin...) and graphic novels, non-fiction books, magazines and newspapers such as The Week Junior and First News are also great to read.  

For more inspiration, look at sites such as the leading online children's book magazine booksforkeeps.com  or  booksfortopics.com , as well as booksellers' and independent bookshops' sites.