Year 4 Recommended Reading List
1 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint- An air pilot makes a forced landing deep in the Sahara Desert. There, he makes a mysterious Exupery Little Prince, who tells him a series of wise and enchanting stories.
2 The Adventures of Hergé Resourceful junior reporter Tintin embarks on a series of exciting international adventures, Tintin accompanied by his faithful dog Snowy, in this favourite series.
3 Stig of the Dump Clive King Exploring an old chalk pit, Barney meets a strange boy who wears a rabbit skin and speaks in grunts.
4 The Hobbit JRR Tolkein This well-loved fantasy story has delighted readers ever since its first publication in 1937.
5 Matilda Roald Dahl This modern fairy-tale with a brilliantly inspiring young heroine is one of Roald Dahl's best loved stories.
6 Flour Babies Anne Fine As part of a Child Development project, each boy in Class 4C is given a 'flour baby', a sack of flour which must be looked after for three weeks, ensuring it does not get lost or dirty.
7 How to Train Your Cressida Cowell A Viking adventure set on the windy Isle of Berk, this is the first in a hugely successful 10- Dragon book series and is now being made into a film. Having just passed his dragon initiation programme, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, a young Viking searching for a way of becoming a hero, sets about the challenge. First, he must catch a dragon; then he will have to train it. Hiccup's attempts are hilarious and charming, and the cold, soggy world of the Vikings provides an endless source of mirth.
8 The Tale of Kate DiCamillo Despereaux the mouse loves reading and music. Maybe as a result of his poetic nature, Despereaux Despereaux breaks the great mouse taboo by falling in love with a human princess. Banished to a cellar full of rats, Despereaux discovers the rats' plan to capture the princess and bring her down into the darkness and decides to foil it. Full of charm, this is a heroic story of how goodness and courage can outsmart evil
9 The Demon Gillian Cross New pupil Dinah finds that all the pupils at her new school are so obedient they mindlessly Headmaster repeat the headmaster's every word. She starts to ask herself how it is done when it begins to work on her too. An entertaining story that makes good use of familiar school themes about resisting oppression and how innocence can be an advantage
10 Charlotte’s Web EB White How do words of praise such as "terrific" keep appearing mysteriously in the spider's web above the pig pen in Farmer Zuckerman's barn? These are the life-saving words that Charlotte the spider spins to save her friend Wilbur the piglet, the runt of a litter that is being reared for one purpose only. Watched over by Fern, a little girl who has adopted the pig as a pet, the interactions of Wilbur, Charlotte, Templeton the rat and the other barn animals as they campaign to save the pig's life is an exceptional story of tenderness and triumph 11 The Sheep-Pig Dick King-Smith When Farmer Hogget wins a pig at the fete, he takes it home thinking of bacon. But Babe soon shows that he is no ordinary pig. Adopted by Hogget's sheepdog, Fly, Babe quickly picks up the necessary skills of a champion herder. It isn't long before Hogget realises that he has a very special pig on his hands and soon the two of them are on their way to fame and fortune. Turned into the film Babe, The Sheep-Pig is a funny, touching story tinged with wonder.
12 One Dog and his Boy Eva Ibbotson All Hal has ever wanted is a dog. His parents refuse to contemplate the idea; a dog would mess up their beautiful house and disturb their busy routine. When they discover Easy Pets, they hire Hal a dog for a weekend thinking that will do the trick. But Hal discovers Fleck has to be returned, so he runs away, and all the dogs from Easy Pets escape with him. Soon, there's a price on his head. How Hal makes his escape and the story of his adventures as a fugitive is both thrilling and moving.
13 A Series of Lemony Snicket The Bad Beginning is a gothic tale of three orphan siblings who thwart their wicked uncle's Unfortunate Events: ideas to steal their inheritance with a clever plan. Ironic, gloomy and heroic, this brief but The Bad Beginning detailed story launched a series that has spawned many imitators.
14 The Worst Witch Jill Murphy Long before Harry Potter first went to Hogwarts, trainee witch Mildred Hubble embarked on life at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches...
15 The Wonderful L. Frank Baum The Wonderful World of the Wizard of Oz, which the the Library of Congress named as Wizard of Oz ‘America's greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale’, is one of the great works of children’s literature. The story concerns Dorothy, a young girl from Kansas, who, with her little dog Toto, is caught up in a terrifying tornado, which whisks her far away to the magical land of Oz.
16 The Falcon’s Malteser Anthony Horowitz Meet the Diamond Brothers, the world's most defective detectives, by the author of the number one bestselling Alex Rider series. When a dwarf comes into the office and leaves a package, Tim Diamond, the world's worst private-detective, is faced with his toughest case yet. The office is ransacked and the package is found to contain simply a box of Maltesers. Who was the dwarf … and why was he murdered shortly after his visit?
17 The Amazing Maurice Terry Prachet Every town on Discworld knows the stories about rats and pipers, and Maurice - a streetwise tomcat - leads a band of educated ratty friends (and a stupid kid) on a nice little earner. Piper plus rats equals lots and lots of money.
Until they run across someone playing a different tune.
Now he and his rats must learn a new concept: evil . .
18 Coraline Neil Gaiman There is something strange about Coraline's new home. It's not the mist, or the cat that always seems to be watching her, nor the signs of danger that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, her new neighbours, read in the tea leaves. It's the other house - the one behind the old door in the drawing room. Another mother and father with black-button eyes and papery skin are waiting for Coraline to join them there. And they want her to stay with them. For ever. She knows that if she ventures through that door, she may never come back.
19 Street Child Berlie Doherty Unforgettable tale of an orphan in Victorian London, based on the boy whose plight inspired Dr Barnardo to found his famous children's homes. When his mother dies, Jim Jarvis is left all alone in London. He is sent to the workhouse but quickly escapes, choosing a hard life on the streets of the city over the confines of the workhouse walls. Struggling to survive, Jim finally finds some friends. . .only to be snatched away and made to work for the remorselessly cruel Grimy Nick, constantly guarded by his vicious dog, Snipe. Will Jim ever manage to be free?
20 Peter Pan James Matthew J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan is a thrilling adventure for all ages - the story of the boy who Barrie refuses to grow up is a tale that never gets old. It follows the Darling children, Wendy, John and Michael, who befriend the magical Peter and are whisked away to Neverland, where the villainous Captain Hook and the brave Lost Boys await.
21 The Tale of Peter Beatrix Potter One of Beatrix Potter's most popular and well-loved tales, this mischievous little rabbit Rabbit has hopped into the heart of generations of book lovers. Peter Rabbit loves the yummy vegetables he finds in Mr McGregor's garden, the only problem is: Mr McGregor doesn't want Peter to get his paws on his crops!
22 The Hundred and One Dodie Smith When Missis and Pongo's puppies go missing, the two Dalmatian parents know the scary Dalmatians Cruella de Vil has had something to do with it. After all, she adores furs, and the Dalmatians have such beautiful coats... The dogs' pets, Mr and Mrs Dearly, don't understand them, so it is up to Pongo and Missis to rescue their pups.
23 Woof Allan Ahlberg He felt a curious tingling in his hands and feet. He felt his nose becoming cold and wet, his ears becoming flappy. The thought in his mind was: 'I'm turning into a dog!'
Eric is a perfectly ordinary boy. Perfectly ordinary that is, until the night when, in fifteen seconds flat, he turns into a dog! Eric and his best friend are determined to sniff out the truth - what makes an ordinary boy go 'woof'?