Children’s books: top titles for ages 8-12

Each year our schools team select from the books published in the previous year to compile a list of some of the best books for children aged 4-12. Book choices are often outside the usual promotions and our criteria are ‘a good read’ along with ensuring diversity of characters, authors, settings and story line.

This set of books is selected to provide a robust range for all ages and abilities of primary school pupils and has become a highly valued resource for the schools we work with as core library stock, as a guide for introducing readers to new titles in the bookshop, and forms the basis of our World Book Day offer. This year we introduced a collection of ‘super readable books’ to encourage struggling or reluctant readers. They have engaging plots, strong characters, interesting themes as well as dyslexia friendly features.

Top titles for Year 4, 5 & 6 (ages 8-12)