11+ Recommended Reading List
11+ Recommended Reading List
We've compiled a list of suitable reading texts ot help with preparation for the 11+ English and Verbal Reasoning exams.
For success in the 11+ exams it is essential that your child has an extensive vocabulary that they can apply to their Verbal Reasoning and English tests. Encourage your child to read widely choosing and reading books that they like.
When your child is approaching their 11+ entrance examinations they need to be exposed to the sort of language they will face in their actual exam papers. If they read a wide variety of books, including more challenging reading books, this will help them develop a wide vocabulary.
Reading modern children’s books and some of the old classics will help your child develop their understanding of how language works, it will expand their vocabulary, which is crucial for the 11+ Verbal Reasoning and English tests, it will also help them understand how texts are composed - a very useful skill for any creative writing 11+ exam.
Reading well-structured books will help improve your child’s creative writing and comprehension as they will learn about grammar, sentence structure, antonyms, synonyms and other aspects of the English language.
Obviously reading widely well help your child’s spelling.
It is also a good idea for your child to read across the genres of books and this should include fiction and non-fiction. A range of difficult to easy texts should be considered but the key is that your child enjoys what they are reading.Reading should be regarded as fun and something that is pleasurable and to be enjoyed. It should never be seen as a chore or something that they “have to do”. If they are not enjoying the book consider parking that book and starting another book.
Some children love reading while others are not so keen - often girls are keener on books than boys - either way encouragement and praise can work wonders especially if you, as the parent, read alongside your child.
There are hundreds of suitable 11+ related books to choose from and the following list is intended as a list of suggestions. Since you will know your child best help them to make sensible choices choosing books, they will enjoy. Many of the books listed below are also recommended by schools as suitable reading books and the list contains some classics and some modern texts.
Anna Sewell - Black Beauty
Anne Fine- Upon Cloud Nine: Flower Babies
Berlie Doherty - Street Child
Beverley Naidoo- The Other Side of Truth
C.S. Lewis - The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe
Clive King - Stig of the Dump
Cornelia Funke - The Thief Lord
David Almond - Skellig
Dodie Smith - The Hundred and One Dalmatians
E. Nesbit - The Railway Children
Eoin Colfer- Artemis Fowl
Erin Hunter - Warrior Cats
Eva Ibbotson - Journey to the River Sea
Frances Hodgson Burnett - The Secret Garden
Garth Nix- Sabriel
H.G. Wells- The War of the Worlds
Ian Serraillier - The Silver Sword
J.M. Barrie - Peter Pan
J.R.R Tolkien - The Hobbit
Jack London - Call of the Wild
Jack London- White Fang
Jamila Gavin- Coram Boy
Joan Aitkin - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
John Steinbeck- The Pearl
Kenneth Graham - The Wind in The Willows
Lewis Carroll - Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Louis Sacher- Holes: Small Steps
Louisa May Alcott - Little Women
Lucy Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables
Lynne Reid Banks - The Indian in the Cupboard
Malorie Blackman - Noughts and Crosses
Mark Twain- Tom Sawyer
Mary Poppins - P.L. Travers
Michael Morpurgo - Kensuke’s Kingdom
Michelle Magorian - Goodnight, Mister Tom
Michelle Paver - Wolf Brother
Paul Gallico - Jennie
Penelope Lively - A Stitch in Time
Philip Pullman - The Firework-Maker’s Daughter
Phillippa Pearce - Tom’s Midnight Garden
Richard Adams - Watership Down
Robert Louis Stevenson - Kidnapped
Roger McGough - The Ring of Words (An Anthology of Poetry for Children)
Rosemary Sutcliffe- The Eagle of the Ninth
Rudyard Kipling - The Jungle Book
T.H. White - The Sword in the Stone