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 5 & 6 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:
- Anancy & Mr Dry-Bone - Fiona French
- Asterix the Gaul - Goscinny & Uderzo
- Captain Hawk & the Stone of Destiny - Jim Eldridge
- Changes - Anthony Browne
- Clown - Quentin Blake
- Count Karlstein - Philip Pullman
- Daft Jack & The Bean Stack - Laurence Holt
- Dinner at Alberta’s - Russell Hoban
- Emily’s Legs - Dick King-Smith
- Full Moon Soup - Alastair Graham
- Has Anyone Seen Jack? - Tony Bradman
- Have You Seen Who’s Just Moved In Next Door To Us? - Colin McNaughton
- Jacko - Pat Thompson
- Lazy Jack - Tony Ross
- Life Doesn’t Frighten Me - Maya Angelou
- Moving - Michael Rosen
- Moving the Goalposts - Rob Childs
- One Stormy Night - Ruth Brown
- Piggybook - Anthony Browne
- Power & Glory - Emily Rodda
- Rainforest - Helen Cowcher
- Roy Kane TV Detective - Steve Bowkett
- Sharon & Darren - Nigel Gray
- Snow White in New York - Fiona French
- Storm Boy - Paul Lewis
- Talking Turkeys - Benjamin Zephaniah
- The Castle of Fear - Patrick Burston
- The Dog That Dug -Jonathan Long
- The Ha Ha Bonk Book - Janet Ahlberg
- The Magic Finger - Roald Dahl
- The Rabbits - John Marsden
- The Shrinking of Treehorn - Florence Heide
- The Tunnel - Anthony Browne
- Too Much Talk - Angela Medearis
- Two Hoots - Helen Cresswell
- Undone! - Paul Jennings
- Wacky Wednesday - Theo Lesieg
- Where the Forest Meets the Sea - Jeannie Baker
- Where’s Wally - Martin Handford
- Who’s That Banging on the Ceiling? - Colin McNaughton
- More confident readers can try:
- A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove - James Moloney
- A Dog so Small - Philippa Pearce
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
- A Man Called Possum - David Harris
- A Series Of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
- Arthur, High King of Britain - Michael Morpugo/Michael Foreman
- A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula le Guin
- A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle
- Arthus and the Seeing Stone - Kevin Crossley
- Baily's Bones - V. Kelleher
- Bartlett and the City of Flames - Odo Hirsch
- Bartlett and the Ice Voyage - Odo Hirsch
- Blabbermouth - Morris Gleitzman
- Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
- Blackwater - Eve Bunting
- Boy Overboard - Morris Gleitzman
- Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
- Brother Night - V. Kelleher
- Buzzard Breath and Brains - James Moloney
- Change the Locks - Simon French
- Chinese Cinderella - Adeleine Yen Mah
- Comfort Herself - Geraldine Kaye
- Dangerous Spaces - M. Mahy
- Deucalion - Brian Caswell
- Downriver - Will Hobbs
- Eagle of the Ninth series - Rosemary Sutcliffe
- Far North - Will Hobbs
- Fire, Bed & Bone - Henrietta Branford
- Five Times Dizzy - Nadia Wheatley
- Frindle - A. Clements
- Gaffer Samson’s Luck - Jill Paton Walsh
- Gift of the Gab - Morris Gleitzman
- Goggle Eyes - Anne Fine
- Goodnight Mr Tom - Michele Magorian
- Grinny - Nicholas Fisk
- Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn left - Robin Klein
- Hatchet series - Gary Paulson
- Hazel Green - Odo Hirch
- Haroun & The Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie
- Harry Potter books - J K Rowling
- Head & Tales - Susan Price
- Hatchet series - Gary Paulson
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series - Douglas Adams
- Hitler's Daughter - Jackie French
- Holes - Louis Sacher
- Hope Leaves Jamaica - Kate Ernest
- I am David - Anne Holm
- Jason's Gold - Will Hobbs
- Letters from the Inside - J. Marsden
- Lionheart - Jesse Martin
- Lirial - Garth Nix
- Little Brother - Alan Baille
- Lord of the Rings series - Tolkien
- Mamo on the Mountain - Jane Kurtz
- Maphead - Lesley Howarth
- Master of the Grove - V. Kelleher
- Merryl of the Stones - Brian Caswell
- Milo's Wolves - Jenny Nimmo
- Misery Guts - Morris Gleitzman
- Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters - John Steptoe
- My Place - Sally Morgan
- Narnia series - C.S. Lewis
- Nothing to be Afraid Of - Jan Mark
- Obernewtyn series - Isobelle Carmody
- Parkland - V. Kelleher
- People Might Hear You - R. Klein
- Pigeon Summer - Ann Turnball
- Playing Beatie Bow - Ruth Park
- Point Blanc - Anthony Horowitz
- Rewind - William Sleator
- Rose Blanche - Christopher Gallaz
- Roverandum - Tolkien
- Sabriel - Garth Nix
- Secret Diary of Adrian Mole - Sue Townsend
- Secret Friends - Elizabeth Laird
- Sir Gawain & The Green Knight - •Selina Hastings
- Skellig - David Almond
- Snow White - Josephine Poole
- Somewhere in the Darkness - Walter Dean Myers
- So Much to Tell You - John Marsden
- Space Demons trilogy - Gillian Rubenstein
- Spaghetti Legs - John Larkin
- Stickybeak - Morris Gleitzman
- Storm - Kevin Crossley-Holland
- Stormbreaker - Anthony Horowitz
- Street Child - Berlie Doherty
- Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Judy Blume
- Tajore Arkle - Jackie French
- Taronga - V. Kelleher
- The Better Brown Stories - •Allan Ahlberg
- The Class That Went Wild - •Ruth Thomas
- The Collectors - R. Carter
- The Dark is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
- The Dark Portal-Bk 1 of the Deptford Mice Trilogy - Robin Jarvis
- The Daydreamer - Ian McEwan
- The Demon Headmaster - Gillian Cross
- The Emperor’s New Clothes - Hans Christian Anderson
- The Great Stinking Lie - Catherine Jinks
- The Highwayman - Alfred Noyes
- The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien
- The Lady of Shalott - Lord Alfred Tennyson
- The Landry News - A. Clements
- The Man - Raymond Briggs
- The Mennyms - Sylvia Waugh
- The Midnight Fox - Betsy Briars
- The Peppermint Pig - Nina Bawden
- The Runner - Keith Gray
- The Selfish Giant - Oscar Wilde
- The Snow Spider - Jenny Nimmo
- The Stone Book Quartet - Alan Garner
- The Suitcase Kid - Jacqueline Wilson
- The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler - Gene Kemp
- The Witch in the Lake - Anna Fienberg
- The Worlds of Chrestomanci series - Diana Wynne Jones
- The Wreckers - Iain Lawrence
- The Wreck of the Zanzibar - Michael Morpugo
- Thief! - Mallorie Blackman
- Tomorrow When the War Began series - John Marsden
- Tom's Midnight Garden - Philippa Pearce
- Truckers - Terry Pratchett
- Two Weeks with the Queen - Morris Gleitzman
- Under the Hawthorn Tree - Marita Conlon-McKenna
- Village By The Sea - Anita Desai
- Way Home - Libby Hathorn
- Welkin Weasels series - Garry Kilworth
- Weslandia - Paul Fleischman
- Western Wildcats series - John Larkin
- Where in the World - Simon French
- Why The Whales Came - Michael Morpugo
- Wolf - Gillian Cross
- Wolf Brother - Michele Paver
Short Stories:
- Tell Me Where It Hurts (3 plays) - Paul Groves (Easier)
- A Selection from the Canterbury Tales - Selina Hastings
- Aesop’s Fables - Safaya Salter (illustrator)
- Muck & Magic Stories from the Countryside - Michael Morpugo
- Rumpelstiltskin & Other Grimm Tales - Carol Ann Duffy
- Seasons of Splendour-Indian folk tales - Madhur Jaffrey
- Shakespeare Stories - Leon Garfield
- Short! A Book of Very Short Stories - Kevin Crossley-Holland
- Tales for the Telling - Edna O’Brien
- The Friendship & Other Stories - Mildren Taylor
- The Stinky Cheeseman & Other Fairly Stupid Tales - Jon Scieszka/Lane Smith
- The Thief in the Village - James Berry
- Collections of Poems/Rhymes/Songs:
- Nathaniel Talking - Eloise Greenfield (Easier)
- Big Bad Raps - Tony Mitton (Easier)
- Can I Buy a Slice of Sky? -Grace Nichols
- Classic Poems to Read Aloud - James Berry
- Classic Poetry - Michael Rosen
- Earthways Earthwise:conservation poems - Judith Nicholls
- Gargling with Jelly - Brian Patten
- Playing a Dazzler - James Berry
- Ring of Words - Roger McGough
- Season Songs - Ted Hughes
- Sheep Don’t Go To School - Andrew Peters
- The Orchard Book of Poems - Adrian Mitchell
- The Oxford Book of Story Poems - Michael Harrison/Chris Stuart-Clark
- Thunderwith - L. Hawthorn
- Timesnatch - Robert Swindells
- Toad Rage - Morris Gleitzman
- Two’s Company - Jackie Kay
- Two Weeks with the Queen - Morris Gleitzman
- Where in the World - Simon French
- World of Poetry - Michael Rosen
