St. Andrew’s School
Inspire, Challenge and Achieve Together
Recommended Books and Authors
Year 5
The intention of this reading list is to give book suggestions that are age and level-appropriate for
children in Year 5; it is by no means exhaustive. Some books are more challenging than others, but
they are all worthwhile. There is a wide range of books to suit every taste, however, encouraging
your child to try a genre they wouldn’t usually choose can be highly beneficial. Although most of the
books in the main list are fiction, it is important for your child to read some examples of non-fiction
and poetry; some suggestions have been added at the end of the list.
Ultimately, the most important thing is to encourage a love of reading for pleasure.
Joan Aiken
Louisa M. Alcott
Philip Ardagh
David Arnold
Nick Arnold
Cherith Baldry
J. Michelle Bates
Frank L. Baum
Nina Bawden
Ian Beck
Malorie Blackman
John Blake
Tony Bradman
Theresa Breslin
Melvin Burgess
Francis Hodgson Burnett
Betsy Byars
Georgia Bing
Lauren Child
Eoin Colfer
Susan Cooper
Frank Cottrell Boyce
Joe Craig
Helen Cresswell
Gillian Cross
Roald Dahl
Colin Dann
Chris D’Lacey
Berlie Doherty
Helen Dunmore
Roddy Doyle
Deborah Ellis
Anne Fine
M. Wilson, English Leader
Midnight is a Place; The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
Little Women
Unlikely Exploits series
Skelling; Kit’s Wilderness
Wild Lives series
Abbey series
Sandy Lane Stables series
The Wizard of Oz
Carrie’s War
The Secret History of Tom Trueheart: Boy Adventurer
Hacker; Dead Gorgeous; Thief
The Last Free Cat
Good Sports!
The Dream Master
An Angel for May
The Secret Garden
The Midnight Fox; Trouble River
Molly Moon
Clarice Bean novels
Artemis Fowl series
The Boggart; The Dark is Rising sequence
Millions
Jimmy Coates; Sabotage
Mooondial; The Bagthorpe Saga
The Demon Headmaster series; The Great Elephant Chase
The Witches; Boy; Going Solo
Farthing Wood series
The Last Dragon Chronicles
Children of Winter; The Snake-Stone
The Ingo Series; The Zillah Books
The Rover Adventures
The Breadwinner
Goggle-eyes; Flour Babies; Madame Doubtfire
Michael Foreman
Cornelia Funke
Leon Garfield
Alan Garner
Susan Gates
Jamila Gavin
Morris Gleitzman
Julia Golding
Charlotte Haptie
Russell Hoban
Anne Holm
Anthony Horowitz
Lesley Howarth
Charlie James
Brain Jacques
Norton Juster
Eric Kastner
Gene Kemp
Clive King
Dick King-Smith
C.S. Lewis
Penelope Lewis
Geraldine McCaughrean
Barbara Mitchelhill
Michael Morpurgo
Beverly Naidoo
Edith Nesbit
Patrick Ness
William Nicholson
Andre Norriss
Mary Norton
Philip Pullman
Terry Pratchett
Arthur Ransome
Lynn Reid Banks
Philip Ridley
Rick Riordan
J.K. Rowling
Louis Sachar
Lemony Snicket
Noel Streatfeild
Jonathan Stroud
Alan Temperley
Kate Thompson
J.R.R. Tolkien
Karen Wallace
Sylvia Waugh
Jacqueline Wilson
M. Wilson, English Leader
War Boy; War Game
Dragon Rider; The Inkheart series
Smith; The Apprentices
Weirdstone of Brisingamen; The Owl Service
Iron Heads; The Spud from Outer Space
Grandpa Chatterji
The Toad series; Once
The Diamond of Drury Lane
The Karmidee series
The Mouse and his Child
I am David
Alex Rider series; Power of Five series
Maphead
Fish
Redwall series
The Phantom Tollbooth
Emil books
The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tyler
Stig of the Dump
The Water Horse
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe; A Stitch in Time
Plundering Paradise; A Little Lower than Angels
Storm Runners; Run Rabbit Run
Friend or Foe; War Horse; I Believe in Unicorns
Journey to Jo’burg
The Railway Children; Five Children and It
A Monster Calls
Wind on Fire trilogy
Aquila
The Borrowers
His Dark Materials trilogy; The Sally Lockhart Mysteries
Truckers
Swallows and Amazons series
The Indian in the Cupboard series
Krindlekrax; Scribbleboy
Percy Jackson series; Kane Chronicles
Harry Potter series
Holes; There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom
A Series of Unfortunate Events (13 books)
Ballet Shoes
Bartimaeus Trilogy
Harry and the Wrinklies
Switchers Trilogy
The Hobbit
Raspberries on the Yangtze
Mennyms books
Hetty Feather; Tracy Beaker; The Illustrated Mum
A selection of classic poetry:
Again, this list is a suggestion, but encouraging your child to read or listen to poetry adds significant
depth to their vocabulary and introduces them to recognition of how word choice and order has an
impact on the reader.
Hilaire Belloc
Lewis Carroll
Walter de la Mare
T.S. Eliot
Eleanor Farjeon
Edward Lear
John Masefield
Alfred Noyes
Tarantella
Father William
The Listeners
Macavity, the Mystery Cat
It Was Long Ago
The Jumblies
Sea Fever
The Highwayman
Non-Fiction:
Pupils should have access to well-written, accurate and up to date information books. Texts
should be organised to allow the speedy retrieval of information, e.g. providing useful indexes
and glossaries, and should include illustrations which support rather than dominate the words.
Pupils should also be introduced to information sources not specifically written for children, such
as newspapers, timetables and databases.
M. Wilson, English Leader