Resources

General Reading Lists for all Ages

  1. The Carnegie Reading Lists: this is one of the longest running, best-loved children's book awards which runs annually: https://yotocarnegies.co.uk/archive/carnegie-medal-winners/
  2. The Carnegie Medal 2022 Short-Listed Books: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/new-book-releases/2022-cilip-carnegie-medal-shortlisted-books/
  3. Scholastic are known for their famous book fairs, which your child may have experienced. They also have some excellent reading lists: https://bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/bookcases
  4. Love Reading offer a range of fiction and non-fiction reading recommendations, based on your child's age, or genres they enjoy: https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/new-releases

 

Primary School Specific:

We highly recommend that during this stage of your child's education, you expose your child to a wide range of reading material, both fiction and non-fiction: stories from a range of cultures and time periods.

E.g.:

  • Mythology from around the world and from different cultures e.g.: Greek, Roman, Hindu or Chinese mythology.
  • Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault or The Brothers Grimm
  • Aesop's Fables
  • Poetry - a good children's poetry book will serve as a great introduction to poetry.
  • A Children's version of the bible - a key reason for this is that much of the English literature your child will go onto study in secondary school, will have written by writers who were inspired by stories from the bible e.g.: Shakespeare, Charles Dickens etc. This then allows your child at a later stage (when in secondary school), to access hidden meanings in these classics and biblical allusions.

 

Secondary School Specific

From Year 9 onwards, we highly recommend in addition to great fiction, your child also reads quality journalism, from newspapers such as The Guardian and New York Times. This allows your child to keep up with current affairs, and exposes them to a range of challenging reading material, which acts as a stepping stone to GCSE English.