11 Plus Exams Forum

hi
can anyone recommend good classic books for my 9 year old to read. she is preparing for Dame Alice Owens entrance test so want her to read some classics in preparation for her english test.
thanks

These might not be classics but are good reads for 9 yr olds and have lead my dd to move on to some classic books by herself.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Name-This-Book- ... A69JATJ0SF" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mysterious-Bene ... 208%2C320_" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Angie-Sage-Sept ... angie+sage" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Greek-Her ... r+children" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crusade-Elizabe ... beth+laird" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ebooks/dp/B003G ... r+of+kazan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Dragonfly-P ... EH1TR3HWPR" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Garden-A ... e+princess" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
All are obviously available from other sources......

Many classic books here: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/advice ... ading-list" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/m ... ns.library" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/child ... lists/243/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To give them a love of reading is the priority with everything around them.

Try to engage her in some pre 20th/early 20th century fiction as well. I've been doing comprehensions and extensions from Black Beauty, Little Women, David Copperfield, Anne of Green Gables, the Jungle Book and loads of others in prep for DAO. The marvellous magic of the written word!

thanks all! very helpful
S

First off- anything which your DC loves reading will always be better than an imposed list of classics.

But if your DC does like classics then I would add to this list:

Whitefang; the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde; and if you read bits out loud, skip the longeurs then Dracular can be fun.

More recent but great for setting, plot and description: animal farm; susan cooper's the dark is rising;

Good for character; Richmal cromton's William books ( great audio books for the car) joan aiken's Wolves of willoughby chase; Nina Bawden's Carries War. Usborne abridged classics good for getting the feel of a classic novel's plot line.

If she likes it, poetry to capture mood and techniques like alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm: tyger tyger; the eagle; cargoes, ozymandias, the highwayman.

Lots of other writers just as good but hope the above offers a few ideas

My dd2 would have never looked at classics unless she had to for her 11+ tutor. She discovered that she really likes them. I was surprised because though I lived reading, I never bothered with them myself and didn't appreciate the challenging riches within, until I saw it through her eyes. (Thanks tutor!)

I agree children should get to choose what they do for fun, but letting them decide they don't like something without trying it properly first is not my favoured approach.


Some things require hard work to get going but are well worth a good go. Classic lit is one of those things IMO.

The Little White Horse Elizabeth Goudge
Secret garden
toms Midnight Garden
Any of the Enid blyton school stories

I loved Heidi and Anne of Green Gables when I was about that age.
Also the child's version of Journey to the Centre of the Earth.