National Curriculum Book List
Level 1 (appropriate for young readers in Reception Class and Year 1)
“Each Peach Pear Plum” by Janet and Allen Ahlberg
“Mr Gumpy’s Outing” by John Burningham
“Rosie’s Walk” by Pat Hutchins
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle
“Mister Magnolia” by Quentin Blake
“Owl Babies” by Martin Waddell
“Alfie Gets in First” by Shirley Hughes
“Elmer” by David McKee
“Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?” by Bill Martin and Eric Carle
“We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
“My cat likes to hide in boxes” by Lynley Dodd
“Peepo” by Janet and Allen Ahlberg
“Meg and Mog” by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski
“Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell
“Kipper” by Mick Inkpen
‘The Pig in the Pond” by Martin Waddell and Jill Barton
“Oh Dear!” by Rod Campbell
“Where’s Spot” by Eric Hill
“This is the Bear” and “This is the Bear and the Picnic Lunch” by Sarah Hayes and Helen Craig
“Not Now Bernard” by David McKee
“Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak
“Gorilla” by Anthony Brown
“A Dark, Dark Tale” by Ruth Brown
“Granpa” by John Burningham
“On Friday Something Funny Happened” by John Prater
Level 2 (appropriate for the average 7 year old; expected level for Year 2 and Year 3)
“Frog and Toad are Friends” and other Frog and Toad stories by Arnold Lobel
“Mrs Plug the Plumber” and other stories in this series by Allan Ahlberg
“Solomon’s Secret” by Saviour Pirotta
“Peace at Last” by Jill Murphy
“The Tiger who came to tea” by Judith Kerr
“Hairy Maclary from Donoldson’s Dairy” by Lynley Dodd
“The Elephant and the Bad Baby” by Elfrida Vipont and Raymond Briggs
“Handa’s Surprise” by Eileen Brown
“Can’t you sleep Little Bear?” by Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth
“Titch” by Pat Hutchins
“The Gruffalo” by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
“The Tunnel” by Anthony Brown
“The Jolly Postman” by Janet and Allen Ahlberg
“Amazing Grace” by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch
“Dogger” by Shirley Hughes
“The Mousehole Cat” by Antonia Barber and Nicola Bayley
“The Cat in the Hat”, “Fox in Socks” and “The Lorax” by Dr Seuss
“Funnybones”, “Burglar Bill” and “Cops and Robbers” by Janet and Allen Ahlberg
“The Whale’s Song” by Dyan Sheldon and Gary Blythe
“Prince Cinders” by Babette Cole
“Tales from Beatrix Potter” by Beatrix Potter
“The Trouble with Mum” by Babette Cole
“Anancy and Mr Dry Bone” by Fiona French
Level 3 (expected level for Year 4 or 5; appropriate for the average nine year old)
“Fair’s Fair” by Leon Garfield
“The Kingdom Under the Sea” and “A Necklace of Raindrops” by Joan Aiken
“The Twits” by Roald Dahl
“The Stone Book” by Alan Garner
“The Cat Mummy” by Jacqueline Wilson
“Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf” by Catherine Storr
“The Iron Man” by Ted Hughes
“Vlad the Drac” by Ann Jungman
“The Julian Stories” by Ann Cameron
“It was a dark and stormy night” and ‘The Vanishment of Thomas Tull’ by Janet and Allen Ahlberg
“Dilly the Dinosaur” by Tony Bradman
“The Bears on Hemlock Mountain” by Alice Dalgliesh
“The Village Dinosaur” by Phyllis Arkle
“What’s the Matter, Royston Knapper?” by Gervase Phinn
“It’s too frightening for me” by Shirley Hughes
“Flat Stanley” by Jeff Brown
“The Secret Seven” by Enid Blyton
“Haffertee Hamster” by John and Janet Perkins
“Kung Fu Pigs: Hostages of the Jade Wolf” by Keith Brumpton
“Katie Morag delivers the Mail” by Mairi Hedderwick
“The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” by Jon Scieszka
“The Owl who was afraid of the Dark” by Jill Tomlinson
“Horrid Henry” by Francesca Simon
“The Shrinking of Treehorn” by Florence Parry Heide
“The Magic Finger” by Roald Dahl
“Fantastic Mr Fox” by Roald Dahl
“Dinner Ladies Don’t Count” by Bernard Ashley
“The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“The Stinky Cheeseman and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” by Jon Scieszka
“The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes and Charles Keeping
Level 4 (expected level for Year 6; appropriate for the average 11 year old)
“The Wolves of Willoughby Chase” by Joan Aiken
“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll
“The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis
“Stig of the Dump” by Clive King
“Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White
“The BFG” and “Matilda” by Roald Dahl
“Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” by Robert C. O’Brien
“Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” and “Superfudge” by Judy Blume
“Tuck Everlasting” by Natalie Babbitt
“Thunder and Lightnings” by Jan Mark
“The Ghost of Thomas Kempe” by Penelope Lively
“The Eighteenth Emergency” by Betsy Byers
“The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tyler” by Gene Kempe
“The Battle of Bubble and Squeak” by Philippa Pearce
“The Dream Time” by Henry Treece
“Odysseus, the greatest hero of them all” by Tony Robinson and Richard Curtis
“Winnie the Pooh” and “The House at Pooh Corner” by A.A.Mile
“The Worst Witch” by Jill Murphy
“The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm” by Norman Hunter
“The Hundred and One Dalmatians” by Dodie Smith
“Quirky Tales” by Paul Jennings
“War Horse” and “Private Peaceful” by Michael Morpurgo
“The Demon Headmaster” by Gillian Cross
“Kensuke’s Kingdom” by Michael Morpurgo
“The Ghost of Thomas Kempe” by Penelope Lively
“The Silver Sword” by Ian Serrailier
Level 5 (advanced readers)
“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett
“The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster
“Carrie’s War” by Nina Bawden
“The Weirdstone of Brisingaman”, “Elidor” and “The Owl Service” by Alan Garner
“Dragon-Slayer” by Rosemary Sutcliff (the story of Beowulf)
“The Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula Le Guin
“The Sword in the Stone” and “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askhaban” and others by J.K. Rowling
The “His Dark Materials” trilogy by Philip Pullman including “Northern Lights”
“The Eagle of the Ninth” by Rosemary Sutcliff
“Swallows and Amazons” by Arthur Ransome
“The Tripods” by John Christoher
“Watership Down” by Richard Adams
“The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame
“The Railway Children” by E Nesbit
“Holes” by Louis Sachar
“Mortal Engines” by Philip Reeve
“Stormbreaker” by Anthony Horrowitz and the other Alex Rider books
“Goggle Eyes” by Anne Fine
“Pig-Heart Boy” by Malorie Blackman
“Goodnight Mr Tom” by Michelle Magorian
“The Dark is Rising” by Susan Cooper
“The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents” by Terry Pratchett
“The Wizard of Oz” by Frank L Baum
Challenging reading from the secondary school curriculum
“Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte
“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
“The Red Pony”, “The Pearl” and “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
“Animal Farm” and “1984” by George Orwell
“Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Silas Marner” by George Elliot
“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“The Day of the Triffids” and “The Chrysalids” by John Wyndham
Plays by William Shakespeare (such as “Twelfth Night”, “MacBeth”, “Julius Caesar”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”) and George Bernard Shaw (such as “Androcles and the Lion” or “Caesar and Cleopatra”). Children can gain a great deal of pleasure from reading plays and poetry as well as novels. Many children will prefer non-fiction.
The Bible, in all its versions and translations, is always recommended reading.
And for sex education: “Who Made Me” by Mick Inkpen and “Mummy Laid an Egg” by Babette Cole.