Wednesday 29 July 2015

Top 100 Books To Read Before Leaving Primary School

I'm very excited about this recent list from the UK, the results of a survey of teachers by TES magazine and the National Association for the Teaching of English.

It's a rather teacherly list. But these are great books that kids love and adults can appreciate. Note that some are equally placed, e.g. 12=. You've got to admire precision like that in list making.


1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (see my review)

2. Goodnight Mister Tom - Michelle Magorian





3. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

4. Matilda - Roald Dahl

5. The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson

6. The Chronicles of Narnia- C.S. Lewis (well 2 1/2 of the 7, that's a decent crack)

7. The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

8. We're Going on a Bear Hunt - Michael Rosen

9. Dogger - Shirley Hughes

10. Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

11. Sting of the Dump - Clive King

12= Black Beauty - Anna Sewell

12= The Iron Man - Ted Hughes

14. Flat Stanley - Jeff Brown

15. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

16. Funnybones - Allan and Janet Ahlberg

17= Owl Babies - Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson

17= The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien  (see my review)

19. Green Eggs and Ham - Dr Seuss

20. War Horse - Michael Morpuro (see my review)

21= Grimm's Fairy Tales - Brothers Grimm 

21= The Tiger Who Came to Tea - Judith Kerr

23. Peace at Last - Jill Murphy




24. Artemis Fowl series - Eoin Colfer (see my review)

25. Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy - Lynley Dodd

26. Not Now Bernard - David McKee

27.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney

28. The Twits - Roald Dahl

29. I Am David - Ann Holm

30. The Highwayman - Alfred Noyes

31. The Paddington Series - Michael Bond (see my review)

32. Amazing Grace - Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch

33. Esio Trot - Roald Dahl

34. Five Children and It - E. Nesbit

35. Clockwork - Philip Pullman

36. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (see my review)

37. The Magic Far Away Tree - Enid Blyton

38. Farmer Duck - Martin Waddell and Helen Oxenbury

39. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome (see my review)

40. The Silver Sword - Ian Serraillier 

41. The Worst Witch Series - Jill Murphy

42. The Alfie and Annie Rose Series - Shirley Hughes

43. Shakespeare Stories - Leon Garfield

44. Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson

45. Six Dinner Sid - Inga Moore

46. Sad Book - Michael Rosen

47. The Borrowers - Mary Norton (see my review)

48= A Dark, Dark Tale - Ruth Brown

48= The Jolly Postman - Allan Ahlberg

50. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

51. Coraline - Neil Gaiman

52. Zoo - Anthony Browne

53. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

54. Voices in the Park - Anthony Browne

55. Cinderella - Charles Perrault, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti 

56. Pig Heart Boy - Malorie Blackman

57. The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

58. Cloud Busting - Malorie Blackman




59= Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson (see my review)

59= The Sheep-Pig - Dick King-Smith

61= Beegu - Alexis Deacon

61= The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (see my review)

63= Eragon - Christopher Paolini

63= The Mr Men and Little Miss Series - Roger Hargreaves

65= Gentle Giant - Michael Morpurgo

65= Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling

67 The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams

68. Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti (see my review)

69. Eagle of the Ninth - Rosemary Sutcliff

70. Theseus and the Minotaur - David Orme and Wendy Body

71= The Just William Series - Richmal Crompton

71= On the Way Home - Jill Murphy

71= Pumpkin Soup - Helen Cooper

71= Street Child - Berlie Doherty

71= The Happy Prince and other stories - Oscar Wilde

76= Angelo - Quentin Blake

76= The Day the Crayons Quit - Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

76= The Snowman - Raymond Briggs

79. My Mum - Anthony Browne

80= The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

80= The Tunnel - Anthony Browne

82= Face - Benjamin Zephaniah




82= The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tyler - Gene Kemp

84. The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein

85= Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type - Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

85= The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster

85= The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter

88= I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato - Lauren Child 

88= The Skullduggery Pleasant Series - Derek Landy

88= The Early Years at Malory Towers - Enid Blyton

88= Wolf Brother - Michelle Paver





92= Birds Beasts and Relatives - Gerard Durrell

92= The Weirdstone of Brisingamen - Alan Garner

94. The Mrs Pepperpot Series - Alf Proysen

95= The Asterix Series - Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

95= The Fib and Other Stories - George Layton

97. The Giant's Necklace - Michael Morpurgo

98. The Kipper Series - Mick Inkpen

99= The Milly-Molly-Mandy Series - Joyce Lankester Brisley

99= The Suitcase Kid - Jacqueline Wilson

52/100

Not a bad showing, although I've read the vast majority as an adult. Of course most of these titles weren't yet written when I finished primary school.

It's such an interesting list. No surprises in the top 10 for me- although I have a clear hole in my top 10 reading. As ever there are some expected books, some I've been meaning to read and some authors and books I've never heard of.

Not surprising that Roald Dahl is a major player, although I'd forgo Esio Trot and include my favourite Dahl -The BFG - instead, actually I'd put that number one I think, I like the movies of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory more than the book! Shhhh. I was surprised that Jacqueline Wilson only just snuck in at the tail end. The Telegraph points out that David Walliams and J.K. Rowling failed to make the grade.

Nov 2016 53/100

June 2018 54/100


1 comment:

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

It's odd to me how you've read lots of these that I've never heard of at the same time that I see you haven't read lots I think are books everyone has read.

You really must look for The Day the Crayons Quit. It swept over our school as a rave read. It's a short picture book you can easily fit in.