11 Plus Exams Forum

Evening all, I am interested to hear some of the classics that you would recommend for my daughter to read. Not so stuffy that she get disengaged but with a good range of challenging vocabulary. Thanks so much

We read a variety of books to try and get a cross section of words, and also to try and maintain DS’s interest as he’s not an avid reader.

In terms of more ‘classic’ books we did The Railway Children, Tom’s Midnight Garden and The Borrowers. There was also Stormbreaker, Artemis Fowl, Scribbleboy, The White Giraffe, The Roman Mysteries series, Emil & The Detectives, The Invisible Man’s Socks, Ratburger and Danny the Champion of the World.

Anything she is interested in to encourage reading is good - some magazines have a good use of language if she has a particular interest.

Would encourage you to sometimes read together to ensure that she is understanding what she is reading. Go over unknown words and try and put them into different sentences so she understands their context.

There are quite a few threads on the forum regarding reading lists if you put in a couple of searches.

You posted this in the Verbal Reasoning section.

Mods could you move it to English please?

You will get more responses there. DG

I’ve moved you to the English section.

There is a list of classics here https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/advic ... ading-list" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Frances Hodgson Burnett – The Secret Garden
C.S Lewis – Narnia Series
E. Nesbit – The Railway Children
Mark Twain – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe
Lucy Montgomery – Anne of Green Gables

Many parents and children are a little worried by the prospect of reading classic books together – don’t be.

Remember reading classic books is essential for children who want to develop a wider vocabulary and be able to deal with the more complex texts they will find in 11 Plus comprehension exercises.