For as long as I can remember I have always loved books. When I was a boy I used to spend nearly all my money at second hand bookshops, and by the time I was 15 I had amassed over 900 books. As the old saying goes, "When I get a little money I buy books; if any is left I buy food and clothes.
Books are an invaluable tool to learning. Indeed the level of a student's reading often indicates how successful they will be in exams. Generally speaking a child's reading age should be at least 18 months ahead of their chronological age if they are going to succeed at 11+ exams. However, reading age is irrelevant if the books read are for a younger reading age. It is never too soon to encourage a child to read, and it is also a very good idea to provide them with a dictionary so that they can look up unknown words. Sadly not everyone likes reading, and I have come across many of these reluctant reader's myself. I am not a believer in forcing someone to read as then a book will never be read properly. Instead care should be taken to try and find the correct type of reading book.
Below you will find a selection of books that I recommend. A majority of them I have read myself, and make no excuse for the fact that a lot of them date back to the mid twentieth century or earlier. Indeed it is books from this era that are especially valuable for someone taking 11+ exams as they often provide a greater depth of vocabulary then you will find in more recent books. This does not mean to say that recent books cannot be of high quality, and indeed you will find some fairly new books amongst my recommendations. Please do remember though that however good a book is, it is useless unless the reader has a dictionary to hand in order to look up unknown words. As far as the 11+ goes if there are less than one or two unknown words a page then it is probably too simple a book to be of use.It is also important to remember to read a book properly. Skim reading is all but useless. It is also important to remember that for the 11+ exams reading fiction is vastly more important than reading non-fiction.
I have tried to suggest a recommended reading age, but it depends more upon the reading ability of the child or young person rather than their actual age. For instance, I know of a Year 1 child who has read Heidi. Also, as I once heard someone say, "If a book is not good enough to be read at 7 it's not good enough to be read at 70".
I was taught to read before I started school and for this I will always be thankful. Even before a child can read books are still vitally important. Indeed I was told at an INSET day that if a child is read a bedtime story from an early age they will start school with a 5 month advantage over those who have not listened to a story. As such I have come up with a number of suggestions of books that can either be used as a bedtime story book or picture books to help with reading.
For very young readers (for those with a reading age of 4 to 6) there are many very good picture books. One boy I work with absolutely adores Winnie the Witch books. Another loves Mr. Men books. There are other very good ones as well such as Winnie the Pooh, Paddington, Babar, Clifford the Big Red Dog, the Wombles, the Peter Rabbit series and the Little Miss books. Julia Donaldson, Michael Rosen, Shirley Hughes, Sue Hendra, Judith Kerr, David McKee, Chris Judge, Eileen Browne,Maurice Sendak and Dr. Seuss books are also very popular.
For those a little older, perhaps with a reading age of 6 to 9, Enid Blyton stories are very good, especially the Enchanted Wood and Wishing Chair series'. Pippi Longstocking is a wonderful book, full of humour and still very popular, as of course are the C. S. Lewis Narnia series. Another classic series is Tove Jansson's series of books about the Moomins. I still remember my son loving The Moomins and I write to the by then elderly Tove Jansson to tell her. Not only was she kind enough to reply, but she also sent some things for my son which was very kind of her. Other much loved classic stories include The Wind in the Willows, Charlotte's Web, Winnie the Pooh, The Borrowers and Stig of the Dump. Of the recent books I very much enjoyed Heather Dyer's The Girl with the Broken Wing. It is not a long book, but is very good nonetheless. Another short but good book is Ted Hughes' The Iron Man. Time Train to the Blitz is also a recent book, and having read it in a day can see why it won the Red House Children's book award. It is a great read for anyone interested in history, specifically World War 2. Talking of prize winners Michael Morpurgo's The Butterfly Lion won the 1996 Smarties book prize and has now been adapted into a stage play.
Fairy tales are also popular such as Twisted Tales. I am also fond of discovering folk and fairy tales from other countries, and my favourite of these involves the Icelandic Yule lads. There are books available about them and other fascinating tales from Iceland, but one interesting book incorporates them into another story, called Tomfoolery and 13 Yule Lads of Iceland.
Finally, for very reluctant readers who like football, I strongly suggest Michael Hardcastle's books. A lot are out of print at the moment, but they really are very good for encouraging reading.
For the older primary age readers there are many excellent classic books. Tolkien's The Hobbit was a book that I really enjoyed reading at school. Charles Dickens' endearing classic A Christmas Carol is rightly considered the best short story ever written, and is an excellent introduction into 19th century literature. Treasure Island is also a classic Victorian story, and another excellent classic story, albeit much longer, is the wonderful Anne of Green Gables. Alice in Wonderland remains a favourite with many, as does Worzel Gummidge, The Railway Children and of course all the Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and E. Nesbit books remain popular, and rightly so.
It is also sometimes worth exploring books that were very popular in the past but have faded in popularity because the tales of life growing up, especially school life, no longer resemble twenty-first century Britain. Nonetheless these are still worth checking out, especially the many works of Richmal Crompton's 'William', Anthony Buckeridge's 'Jennings', Susan Coolidge's 'Katy' and Frank Richards' 'Billy Bunter' (even if the latter's books are currently out-of-print and only available second-hand). Enid Blyton's Malory Towers books are also excellent. For those who like war stories the Biggles' books are excellent, as is the short Hornblower series. Other very good books with a war backdrop include Goodnight Mister Tom, Carrie's War and the Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.
There are a lot of great books for this age range. The Horses of Follyfoot, Lizzie Dripping, The Jungle Book, Moonfleet, The Secret Garden, Heidi, Black Beauty, Swallows and Amazons, The Lost World, The Little House on the Prairie, The December Rose,The Phoenix and the Carpet, The Graveyard Book, Holes, Dragon's Fire, The Water Babies, Moondial, Frozen In Time, The Seeing Story, A Wrinkle in Time and Tom's Midnight Garden to name but a small number of them. The Machine Gunners is a modern classic and the Roman mysteries series is also very good, as are the books of Michael Morpurgo, such as The Wreck of the Zanzibar and War Horse. For anyone who likes longer books, especially about dragons, then Eragon would be a good choice. For those who like science fiction The Jupiter Chronicles is also a popular read, as are a relatively new series of books written by noted physicist Professor Stephen Hawking and his daughter Lucy. A school librarian that I know recommends them highly. Terry Pratchett also wrote several good books for children, and although not written for children, Douglas Adams' books are recommended for 11+ by at least one school. Finally for lovers of mystery stories the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Series' of books are well worth reading.
Another series which are sadly hard to get now is the Lone Pine series written by Malcolm Saville. Growing up these were one of my favourite series of books, helped by winning one in a library prize as a boy. I then went on to join the "Lone Pine" club which was run by Malcolm Saville himself who would willingly communicate with his young readers.
For any parent whose child is going to sit the 11+ exam, or whose child finds story writing difficult, one book above all others will help. It does not come cheap, but is the most helpful book that I have ever used - and I have used a lot of books over the years. Not buying this book is truly a false economy. I have included the latest two versions below. I have also added a few dictionaries that I think would be useful for students.
For those about to enter secondary education, or those that are already in secondary education, there are again a lot of very good books that would provide an excellent grounding for the future. Some schools, usually grammar schools, even provide recommended reading lists. Below is a selection of books that I feel would be beneficial. It is quite a varied selection so it is worth having a look at various books before selecting one to read. Some are quite long, but if you want a quality read, and have little time then try A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury, that was for at least a time the most published twentieth century short story.
Text books are also invaluable to those studying at Key Stage 3,GCSE's, A/S and A levels. Most can be quite expensive, and can often only cover part of a course of study. Syllabus changes also often impact upon the lifespan of a textbook, so it is wise to be cautious before purchasing one. One of the exceptions to this is for those studying English, especially studying texts such as Shakespeare or Chaucer, as the language used in the past is completely alien to today's students. Shakespeare is always a popular topic for the examination books, and I still remember struggling with Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet myself in days gone by. One invaluable source of help is to find a good 'commentary" on the play being studied. There are many good ones available, although from a personal viewpoint I tend to prefer York Notes, although I have also found SparkNotes helpful. With a commentary, and hopefully their own copy of the book, the student can then annotate their copy of the play to help with their understanding. Some students just prefer to find a modern copy of the play, but this is not always the best approach as it doesn't sufficiently explain the background to the play.
Advertisement time! Although most of the above books are ones that I know well myself, as this section grows I have been relying on advice from the campus librarian where I work. He has written a quirky and entertaining book for adults, that everyone who likes this type of book rates highly (although it is not to everyone's taste). If you have a look on Amazon and read the reviews you will see what I mean. Anyway, if this list has proved useful do consider buying his book, but please remember it is for adults.
Most of the books on this website should be available from various libraries. Most are also available from other retailers as well as Amazon. I just use Amazon because I don't have much time to shop.
One final advert. As I was once a school's computer manager, and have a fair knowledge of computing, people sometimes ask me for advice over what laptop to buy. This is a very difficult decision, as new laptops become available all the time. Because of that I will change the recommendation below when a better deal becomes available.