Recommended reading books - Dickens etc? What others?
Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators
-
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:26 pm
Recommended reading books - Dickens etc? What others?
Hi - a couple of times I have seen references to 'the list' (in terms of recommended books eg Dickens etc) - would someone kindly point me in the right direction of where to find this 'list'? or indeed could someone tell me their suggestions for recommended reading ? Thanks ever so much !
Re: Recommended reading books - Dickens etc? What others?
Actually, I would only recommend "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens. The reason to read the classics is to improve vocab and familiarity with more complex texts. I would suggest old-fashioned children's books, such as E Nesbit.
This link will help. About 4th/5th down I have put my "tutoring" list.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... =1&t=17436" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This link will help. About 4th/5th down I have put my "tutoring" list.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... =1&t=17436" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-
- Posts: 463
- Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:25 pm
Re: Recommended reading books - Dickens etc? What others?
You have to be carefull as some of texts from books used in the English past papers aren't necessarily suitable for young children.I guess that's the same for most books.We were previously reading Stardust but I wasn't aware of it's s****l content within the first 20 pages.
Last edited by Thingsbehindthesun on Sun Nov 06, 2011 8:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
;D
Re: Recommended reading books - Dickens etc? What others?
Hampton school has a great reading list for year 5 boys, if that helps. I also introduce my children and tutees to child-friendly classics.
Poems to read aloud with them:
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - TS Eliot
The Pied Piper of Hamlyn - Robert Browning
A Child's Garden of Verses - Robert Louis Stephenson
Songs of Innocence and Experience - William Blake
The witches' spell - Macbeth - Shakespeare
Some of John Clare's animal poems are good
Classics:
The Hobbit
Narnia
Christmas Carol
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Wind in the Willows
Just William
Five Children and It
The Railway Children
Blackhearts in Battersea
The Silver Sword (most unsung children's novel of our time IMO. It's just brilliant!)
Passages (choose carefully) from Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein, any Jules Verne story, Gulliver's Travels
You could look through Lamb's Tales of Shakespeare and Lamb's Essays of Elia too.
All of these are more old fashioned prose but accessible with a bit of patience. To warm up to them, definitely read Morpurgo. To warm up to Morpurgo read Philip Pullman, Eoan Colfer and Cornelia Funke.
Louis Sachar and Anthony Horowitz are superb to introduce reluctant readers to the joys of fiction (I am very biased here towards boys' reading.)
Poems to read aloud with them:
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - TS Eliot
The Pied Piper of Hamlyn - Robert Browning
A Child's Garden of Verses - Robert Louis Stephenson
Songs of Innocence and Experience - William Blake
The witches' spell - Macbeth - Shakespeare
Some of John Clare's animal poems are good
Classics:
The Hobbit
Narnia
Christmas Carol
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Wind in the Willows
Just William
Five Children and It
The Railway Children
Blackhearts in Battersea
The Silver Sword (most unsung children's novel of our time IMO. It's just brilliant!)
Passages (choose carefully) from Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein, any Jules Verne story, Gulliver's Travels
You could look through Lamb's Tales of Shakespeare and Lamb's Essays of Elia too.
All of these are more old fashioned prose but accessible with a bit of patience. To warm up to them, definitely read Morpurgo. To warm up to Morpurgo read Philip Pullman, Eoan Colfer and Cornelia Funke.
Louis Sachar and Anthony Horowitz are superb to introduce reluctant readers to the joys of fiction (I am very biased here towards boys' reading.)
Re: Recommended reading books - Dickens etc? What others?
Which Philip Pullman would you recommend as a good starting point? I've only read the Dark Materials trilogy and would have thought that was a bit 'dark' (no pun intended!)?menagerie wrote:Hampton school has a great reading list for year 5 boys, if that helps. I also introduce my children and tutees to child-friendly classics.
Poems to read aloud with them:
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - TS Eliot
The Pied Piper of Hamlyn - Robert Browning
A Child's Garden of Verses - Robert Louis Stephenson
Songs of Innocence and Experience - William Blake
The witches' spell - Macbeth - Shakespeare
Some of John Clare's animal poems are good
Classics:
The Hobbit
Narnia
Christmas Carol
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Wind in the Willows
Just William
Five Children and It
The Railway Children
Blackhearts in Battersea
The Silver Sword (most unsung children's novel of our time IMO. It's just brilliant!)
Passages (choose carefully) from Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde, Frankenstein, any Jules Verne story, Gulliver's Travels
You could look through Lamb's Tales of Shakespeare and Lamb's Essays of Elia too.
All of these are more old fashioned prose but accessible with a bit of patience. To warm up to them, definitely read Morpurgo. To warm up to Morpurgo read Philip Pullman, Eoan Colfer and Cornelia Funke.
Louis Sachar and Anthony Horowitz are superb to introduce reluctant readers to the joys of fiction (I am very biased here towards boys' reading.)
-
- Posts: 1411
- Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:03 pm
Re: Recommended reading books - Dickens etc? What others?
My Pullman faves are 'The Firework Makers Daughter' and 'I was a Rat'.
Seize the day ... before it seizes you.