A good read

11 Plus English - Preparation and Information

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

KE Mum

A good read

Post by KE Mum »

Hi everyone

I thought I would start this thread because my daughter loves reading, but we keep running out of books. She has read all of Anthony Horowitz, lots of Enid Blyton, Michael Morpurgo, etc.

Can anyone recommend any more good authors for a 10 year old? Any books that have lots of sequels are particularly useful because otherwise we run out too quickly.
Footymad
Posts: 149
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2006 1:17 pm
Location: nr yorks

Post by Footymad »

My daughter loves the Jacqueline Wilson and Karen McCombie books :wink:

Footymad.
HP

Post by HP »

Hi All,

My daughter loves Jaqueline Wilson too, and quite enjoys Animal Ark books by Lucy Daniels (there are 50 Animal Ark books in all - should keep her going for a while KE Mum :) ) Has now discovered The Chronicles of Narnia too.

Read lots of Roahl Dahl when she was younger 8/9 but these could be worth trying too.

HP
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

I have boys, and the oldest is 11, so slightly older than your daughter, but if she likes Anthony Horowitz and Michael Morpurgo, any of the following could be of interest:

Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl series
Lemony Snicket - Unfortunate Events series (lots of them!!)
Elizabeth Kay - The Divide & Back to the Divide
Jonathan Stroud - The Bartimaeus Trilogy
Charmian Hussey - Valley of Secrets

Whole ranges/series by
Terry Pratchett
Philip Ridley
Philip Pullman

From the Classics, my son has enjoyed
Swallows & Amazons/Swallowdale
The Water Babies
Robinson Crusoe
I am David (Anne Holm)
Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn
E. Nesbit - The Phoenix and the Carpet & others
Just William series
and of course the dreaded Hobbit/Lord of the Rings!
I keep meaning to get a Jennings book, because I loved those at his age.

Also, look for Greek Myths rewritten for children. I am assuming that she has read Harry Potter?

Sally-Anne
Guest

Post by Guest »

Where to start?!!
My daughter is passionate about the Eoin (sp?) Colfer books - Artemis Fowl etc; Michelle Paver's Wolf Brother and Spirit Walker; the William Nicholson trilogy; Cliff McNish the Doomspell trilogy; Cornelia Funke the Inkheart and Inkspell books, also Thief Lord and others - could go on and on! She has also enjoyed the old classics - Anne of Green Gables, What Katy Did, The Lord of the Rings, The Once and Future King - also all the Horrible History books for light entertainment and the My Story, The Diary of....historical series. Harry Potter of course is re read on a regular basis.

We go into our local branches of Ottakers where they have little cards with write ups on the shelves which helps choose new authors - then we order them from the library if they are expensive. The Red House mail order company has a nice selection and has children's reviews of the books which are well priced and no obligation to buy anything.

Hope this helps.

Sara
wink

post subject

Post by wink »

I think "kE Mum" you helped me with a?book title.My turn to rummage the book case for you.My recommendation would be The Ultimate Book Guide with over 600 great books for 8-12s A@C Black.London.This gives you summaries of both books and Authors.My daughter particulary liked "if you like this story or Author why not try........" and it gives you a list of books/Authors.This is helpful when trying to encourage them to try new Authors.
There is also The Rough Guide To Children Books 5-11yrs.Both these titles now have "Teen" guides which do over lap with titles/Authors IE:A.Horowitz,J.Wilson.
What i have found is quite a few "Childrens" Authors actually write predominately for adults so you do have to be aware of content/subject matter being suitable,especially if your child has a higher reading ability and /or apetite than there actual age!!
Like all busy parents we dont have time to read all the books our children choose to read, with these guides you can still have lively retellings without having read the whole story.......warning though....some are so good you do go back and read them!!!!Under the duvet late at night without the children knowing of course!!!Happy reading.
HP
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:06 pm

HP

Post by HP »

Hi Wink,

My library has a reference only copy of this which we have used in the past, had quite forgotted about it, Thanks.

HP
KE Mum

Post by KE Mum »

Wow - I have been shopping and came back to all these suggestions. I will print them out and work through them all.

She has found Alex Shearer good too - very readable. She likes boyish books and isn't terribly keen on Jacqueline Wilson.

Thanks again!
forest

Post by forest »

My four all really enjoyed the Malorie Blackman series, 'Noughts and Crosses', 'Knife Edge', and 'Checkmate'.

Also popular were Brian Jacques 'Redwall' series, Garth Nix, and 'The Edge Chronicles' by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell.

Ooooooh and Debi Gliori, Jonathan Stroud and Charles Ashton's 'Dragon Fire'.

I must stop now.......
Rita

what to read

Post by Rita »

In the interview for 11+ entry they will probably ask you what books you read and the author.

I would definitely not admit to reading Jaqueline Wilson and I don't like my daughter reading them. They are not academically challenging and the content is a bit suspect.

A parent in my daughter's school was asked to come in and the teacher pointed out an incident in the book. It was not appropriate for her age.

I would agree with the other recommendations : Michael Morpurgo, Philip Reeve, Geraldine McCaughrean etc
Post Reply
11 Plus Platform - Online Practice Makes Perfect - Try Now