Year 1 & 2 recommended reading list

At St Bridget’s we aim for our children to be enthusiastic and confident readers who enjoy reading. 

In response to your requests, we now have compiled a list of recommended books for each age group. 

Please find below a recommended reading list for Year 1 & 2 below with title and author.  Books for more confident readers are highlighted towards the end of the list, as are Short Stories and Collections of Poems/Rhymes/Songs:

  • “Ahhh!” Said Stork - Gerald Rose
  • “Quack” Said The Billy-goat - Charles Causley
  • A Dark, Dark Tale - Ruth Brown
  • A Summery Saturday Morning - Margaret Mahy
  • Alphabet Adventure - Charlotte Voake
  • Are You My Mother? - P D Eastman
  • Bears In The Night - Stan Berenstain
  • Berenstain Bears & The Spooky Old Tree - Stan Berenstain
  • Bet You Can’t - Penny Dale
  • Blue Rabbit and Friends - Christopher Wormell
  • Chicken Licken - Jonathan Allen
  • Chicken Licken - Michael Foreman
  • Don’t Forget the Bacon! - Pat Hutchins
  • Give Me My Yam! - Jan Blake
  • Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy - Lynley Dodd
  • Handa’s Surprise - Eileen Browne
  • Hop on Pop - Dr Seuss
  • Hush! A Thai Lullaby - Minfong ho
  • I Like Books - Anthony Browne
  • I Want My Potty (+ …My Dinner,… A Sister) - Tony Ross
  • If I Were A Dog - Lydia Monks
  • Inside, Outside,Upside Down - Stan Berenstain
  • It’s Mine! - Rod Campbell
  • Ketchup On Your Cornflakes - Nick Sherratt
  • Little Lumpty - Miko Imai
  • Little Rabbit Foo Foo - Michael Rosen
  • Lucky Clucky - Tony Blundell
  • Mockingbird - Allan Ahlberg
  • My Cat Likes To Hide - Eve Sutton
  • No Dinner! - Jessica Souhami
  • Nonsense Nursery Rhymes - Richard Edwards
  • Not Now, Bernard - David McKee
  • Once Upon A Time - Vivian French
  • One Potato,Two Potato.Silly Rhymes About Food - Jessica Souhami
  • One Smiling Grandma - Ann Marie Linden
  • One, Two, Flea! - Allan Ahlberg
  • Peace At Last - Jill Murphy
  • Poems About Food - Brian Moses
  • Rosie’s Walk - Pat Hutchins
  • Rumble In The Jungle - Giles Andreae
  • Suddenly! - Colin McNaughton
  • Ten, Nine, Eight - Molly Bang
  • The Bad Good Manners Book - Babette Cole
  • The Big Wide-Mouthed Frong - Ana Larranaga
  • The Elephant & The Bad Baby - Elfrida Vipont
  • The Foot Book - Dr Seuss
  • The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson
  • The Grumpalump - Sarah Hayes
  • The Monster Bed - Jeanne Willis
  • The Pig In The Pond - Martin Waddell
  • The Sandwich That Max Made - Marcia Vaughan
  • The Shopping Basket - John Burningham
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
  • This Is The Bear - Sarah Hayes
  • Three Rapping Rats - Kaye Umansky
  • Watch Out, Big Bro’s Coming! - Jez Alborough
  • What’s The Time Mr Wolf? - Colin Hawkins
  • Where The Wild Things Are - Maurice Slendak
  • Where’s My Teddy? - Jez Alborough
  • Why Do Stars Come Out At Night? - Annalena McAfee
  • Would You Rather … - John Burningham
  • Zomo The Rabbit - Gerald McDermott
  • More confident readers can try:
  • Bear Buys A Car - Stephen Wyllie
  • Burglar Bill - Janet Ahlberg
  • Clever Polly & The Stupid Wolf - Catherine Storr
  • Come Away From The Water, Shirley - John Burningham
  • Farmer Duck -Martin Waddell
  • Frog & Toad Together -Arnold Lobel
  • Fruits - Valerie Bloom
  • Greedy Zebra - Mwenye Hadithi
  • Hue Boy - Rita Phillips Mitchell
  • I Want A Pet - Lauren Child
  • Jim & The Beanstalk - Raymond Briggs
  • Leon & Bob - Simon James
  • Little Bo Peep’s Library Book - Cressida Cowell
  • Mr & Mrs Pig’s Evening Out - Mary Raynre
  • Mrs Cockle’s Cat - Robert Munsch
  • Mrs Pepperpot in the Magic Wood - Alf Proysen
  • Peepo! - Janet Ahlberg
  • Prosper’s Mountain - Henrietta Branford
  • Summerhouse - Laurence Anholt
  • Ten In A Bed - Allan Ahlberg
  • The Big Big Sea - Martin Waddell
  • The Boy and the Cloth of Dreams - Jenny Koralek
  • The Diary of a Killer Cat - Anne Fine
  • The Giant Jam Sandwich - John Vernon Lord
  • The Hairy Toe - Daniel Postgate
  • The Hodgeheg - Dick King-Smith
  • The Honey Hunters - Francesca Martin
  • The Hunter - Paul Geraghty
  • The Iron Man:A Story in Five Nights - Ted Hughes
  • The Jessame Stories - Julia Jarman
  • The Jolly Postman - Janet Ahlberg
  • The Jumblies - Edward Lear
  • The Little Boat - Kathy Henderson
  • The Long, Blue Blazer - Jeanne Willis
  • The Magpie Song - Laurence Anholt
  • The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin - Betsy Bang
  • The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark - Jill Tomlinson
  • The Paperbag Princess - Robert Munsch
  • The Village of Round and Square - Ann Grifalconi
  • Tigerella - Kit Wright
  • Top Secret - Ted Dewan
  • Who’s A Clever Baby Then? - David McKee
  • Winnie the Pooh - A Milne
  • Short Stories:
  • Black Woolly Pony, White Chalk Horse - Jane Gardam
  • Chips & Jessie - Shirley Hughes
  • Lion at School & Other Stories - Philippa Pearce
  • Little Obie & The Flood - Philippa Pearce
  • The Big-Wide-Mouthed-Toad-Frog - Mary Medlicott
  • The Julian Stories - Ann Cameron
  • The Seven Treasure Hunts - Betsy Briars
  • Willa and Miss Annie - Berlie Doherty
  • World of Fairytales - Michale Forema
  • Collections of Poems/Rhymes/Songs:
  • A Spider Bought A Bicycle - Michael Rosen
  • Cambridge Poetry Box 1 - Helen Cook
  • Cows Moo, Cars Toot! - June Crebbin
  • Down By The River-Afro-Caribbean rhymes/songs - Grace Hallworth
  • First Poems - Julia Eccleshare
  • Mango Spice:44 Caribbean songs - Yvonne Conolly
  • Night-night, Knights & Other Poems - Michael Rosen      (editor)
  • No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock - John Agard
  • Tasty Poems - Jill Bennet (Editor)
  • We Animals Would Like A Word With You - John Agard