Reading Lists for 8-13 Year Olds
The following is a list compiled by our tutors of books that they feel are the most appropriate for children ages 8-9, 10-11, and 12-13. We feel that these books make good use of language at the right level for children of these ages. Too much contemporary fiction aimed at children does not use language in a way that heightens the learner's reading level effectively. These titles are also based on what we enjoyed reading as children and what we believe to be most beneficial for language development.
Children aged 8-9
Anotsu, Jim. The Sword of Herobrine
Cooke, Tasmin. The Scarlet Files: Cat Burglar
Dahl, Roald. Fantastic Mr Fox
Dahl, Roald. Matilda
Davey, Owen. Smart About Sharks
Gleitzman, Morris. Give Peas a Chance
Jenkins, Emily. Toys Go Out
White, E.B. Charlotte’s Web
White, E.B. Stuart Little
King-Smith, Dick. The Invisible Dog
Levine, Ellen. If you Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King
Mass, Wendy. The Candymakers
Morpurgo, Michael. The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips
Nannestad, Katrina. Red Dirt Diary
National Geographic, Weird but True Series
Ryan, Pam Munoz. Esperanza Rising
Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Book
Jones, Terry. Fairy Tales
De Saint-Exupery, Antoine. The Little Prince
Children aged 10-11
Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars
Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee
Cottrell-Boyce, Frank. Desirable
Bawden, Nina. The Peppermint Pig
Edge, Christopher. The Many Worlds of Albie Bright
Millwood Hargrave, Kiran. The Girl of Ink and Stars
Aesop, Aesop’s Fables (Penguin)
Morpurgo, Sir Michael. Private Peaceful
King, Clive. Stig of the Dump
Ransome, Arthur. Swallows and Amazons
Aiken, Joan. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
Children aged 12-13
Ballard, J.G. Empire of the Sun (1984)
Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl (1952)
Holm, Anne. I am David (1963)
Magorian, Michelle. Goodnight Mister Tom (1984)
White, T.H. The Once and Future King (1958)
Sachar, Louis. Holes (1998)
Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (2003)
Horowitz, Anthony. Stormbreaker (2001)
London, Jack. Call of the Wild (1903)
Hearn, Lian. Across the Nightingale Floor (2003)
Jacques, Martin. Martin the Warrior (1993)
Pullman, Phillip. Northern Lights (1995)
Tolkien, J.R. The Hobbit (1937)
If you feel that we have missed out on some classics, please drop us a line at enquiries@bartyed.com and we will gladly add it to our list.
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