Here are some suggestions of core of books that create a living library inside a child’s mind. The books are essential reads that help children engage at a deeper level and enter the world of the story…
Nursery |
Where’s Spot? - Eric Hill (Puffin) |
Dear Zoo - Rod Campbell (Puffin) |
You Choose - Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt (Random House) |
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt - Michael Rosen (Walker Books) |
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? - Bill Martin Jnr and Eric Carle (Windmill Books) |
Jasper’s Beanstalk - Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen (Hodder) |
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle (Puffin) |
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy - Lynley Dodd (Puffin) |
Each Peach Pear Plum - Allan and Janet Ahlberg (Puffin) |
Hug - Jez Alborough (Walker Books) |
The Train Ride - June Crebbin (Walker Books) |
Come on, Daisy! - Jane Simmons (Orchard Books) |
Reception |
Owl Babies- Martin Waddell (Walker Books) |
The Gruffalo -Julia Donaldson (Macmillan) |
Handa’s Surprise -Eileen Browne (Walker Books) |
Mr Gumpy’s Outing - John Burningham (Bloomsbury) |
Rosie’s Walk - Pat Hutchins (Random House) |
Six Dinner Sid - Inga Moore (Hodder) |
Mrs Armitage - Quentin Blake (Random House) |
Whatever Next - Jill Murphy (Macmillan) |
On the Way Home - Jill Murphy (Macmillan) |
Farmer Duck- Martin Waddell (Walker Books) |
Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown (HarperCollins) |
Shhh! -Sally Grindley (Bloomsbury) |
Year 1 |
Peace at Last - Jill Murphy (Macmillan) |
Can’t You Sleep Little Bear? - Martin Waddell (Walker Books) |
Where the Wild Things Are -Maurice Sendak (HarperCollins) |
The Elephant and the Bad Baby - Elfrida Vipont and Raymond Briggs (Puffin) |
Avocado Baby - John Burningham (Bloomsbury) |
The Tiger Who Came to Tea Judith Kerr - (HarperCollins) |
Lost and Found -Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins) |
Beegu - Alexis Deacon (Random House) |
Dogger - Shirley Hughes (Random House) |
Cops and Robbers- Alan and Janet Ahlberg (Puffin) |
Elmer - David McKee (Andersen Press) |
Year 2 |
Traction Man is Here - Mini Grey (Random House) |
Meerkat Mail -Emily Gravett (Macmillan) |
Amazing Grace -Mary Hoffman (Frances Lincoln) |
Pumpkin Soup - Helen Cooper (Corgi) |
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book? -Lauren Child (Orchard Books) |
Dr Xargle’s Book of Earthlets -Tony Ross (Andersen Press) |
Not Now Bernard -David McKee (Andersen Press) |
Tuesday - David Wiesner (Andersen Press) |
The Flower- John Light (Child’s Play) |
Gorilla -Anthony Browne (Walker Books) |
Emily Brown and The Thing -Cressida Cowell (Orchard Books) |
Frog and Toad Together - Arnold Lobel (HarperCollins) |
The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark- Jill Tomlinson (Puffin) |
The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me -Roald Dahl (Puffin) |
Fantastic Mr Fox- Roald Dahl (Penguin) |
The Hodgeheg - Dick King-Smith (Puffin) |
Flat Stanley- Jeff Brown (HarperCollins) |
Willa and old Miss Annie - Berlie Doherty (Catnip) |
Year 3 |
The Iron Man - Ted Hughes (Faber) |
Cat Tales: Ice Cat -Linda Newberry (Usborne) |
The Sheep-pig - Dick King-Smith (Puffin) |
The Abominables - Eva Ibbotson (Scholastic) |
Journey to the River Sea- Eva Ibbotson (Macmillan) |
One Dog and his Boy - Eva Ibbotson (Marion Lloyd Books). |
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis (HarperCollins) |
The Battle of Bubble and Squeak Philippa Pearce (Penguin) |
Hansel and Gretel Anthony Browne (Walker Books) |
Year 4 |
Bill’s New Frock- Anne Fine (Egmont) |
Charlotte’s Web - EB White (Puffin) |
Why the Whales Came - Michael Morpurgo (Egmont) |
The Firework-Maker’s Daughter - Phillip Pullman (Random House) |
The Scarecrow and his Servant – Phillip Pullman (Random House) |
The Snow Walker - Catherine Fisher (Red Fox) |
The Snow Walker’s Son - Catherine Fisher (Red Fox) |
The Empty Hand – Catherine Fisher (Red Fox) |
Perry Angel’s Suitcase -Glenda Millard (Phoenix Yard Books) |
Voices in the Park - Anthony Browne (Random House) |
Year 5 |
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Joan Aiken (Red Fox) |
The ‘Wolves Chronicles’ (12 books in total)– Chase Joan Aiken (Red Fox) |
Varjak Paw -SF Said (Random House) |
The Outlaw Varjak Paw- SF Said (Random House). |
Wolf Brother Michelle Paver (Orion) |
Street Child- Berlie Doherty (HarperCollins) |
The Midnight Fox - Betsy Byars (Faber) Tom? |
Tom’s Midnight Garden - Philippa Pearce (Oxford University Press) |
FArTHER - Grahame Baker-Smith (Templar) |
Year 6 |
Holes -Louis Sachar (Bloomsbury) |
Clockwork - Philip Pullman (Random House) |
The Hobbit JRR Tolkien (HarperCollins) |
Skellig - David Almond (Hodder) |
Fireweed - Jill Paton Walsh (Hot Key Books) |
River Boy - Tim Bowler (Oxford University Press) |
The Arrival - Shaun Tan (Hodder) |