Reading List for children in Year 3 and Year 4 (Age 7 and 8)
Children studying for the 8 plus exams are moving on from the initial chapter books and early reading series they may have looked at during seven plus preparation and are starting to choose more sophisticated titles. Books at this age are starting to get longer and tackle a broader range of subjects. Children themselves are starting to develop preferences for certain authors, writing styles and genres and should be encouraged to read widely across a diverse range of literature.
At this stage we like to recommend regularly taking children to the local library or bookshop, most of which have their own children’s sections that you are welcome to browse through and knowledgeable librarians who are well placed to offer recommendations from their own experience. Most schools have their own school or class libraries as well which are an invaluable resource for many. We have found this link to recent literature winners a good place to find new reads: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/resources/childrens-literature-awards/ and many school and council libraries have reading request forms where you can request a title you are particularly interested in.
I also recommend Pie Corbett, an inspiring English educator, who has developed four reading spines of the books and poems for children. These have been divided into year group categories and are well worth looking through for further ideas.
https://shop.scholastic.co.uk/reading-spine
https://peters.co.uk/pie-corbett-poetry-spine
https://peters.co.uk/pie-corbett-rich-and-diverse
https://peters.co.uk/pie-corbett-page-turners
Fiction recommendations for 8 plus
- E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web
- E.Ibbotson, The Secret of Platform 13
- R. Dahl, George’s Marvellous Medicine, The Enormous Crocodile and others
- M. Morpurgo, Miscellaneous
- Lynne Reid Banks, Indian in the Cupboard series
- E. Colfer, The Legend of Captain Crow’s Teeth
- E. Blyton, The Faraway Tree series
- T. Deary, The Fire Thief series
- D. Freedman,Golden Goal (and other titles)
- C. Funke, Igraine the Brave
- N. Hinton, Beaver Towers series
- A.Horowitz, The Diamond Brothers Series
- T. Hughes, The Iron Man
- T. Jones, Saga of Erik the Viking (and other titles)
- Jungman , Vlad the Drac
- D. King-Smith, Babe, The Sheep Pig (and other titles)
- Lawrence, The Roman Mystery series
- C.S. Lewis, Narnia Series
- Mould, The Wooden Mile (Something Wickedly Weird series)
- J. Nimmo, The Bodigulpa
- W. Price, Elephant Adventure (and other titles)
- Pringle, Big George
- P. Pullman, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter
- S. Ross, Pirates, Plants and Plunder!
- P. Stewart, Fergus Crane
- J. Strong, There’s a Viking in my Bed (and other titles)
- Temperley, Harry and the Wrinklies
Non-fiction recommendations for 8 plus
- A.Stewart and J. Todd-Stanton, Everest
- L.Dyu, Fantastic Female Adventurers
- Anonymous, The Lost Adventure
- W. Robins, Amazing Evolution: The Journey of Life
- Thomas and D.Egneus, Moth
- S.Radeva. Charled Darwin’s on the Origin of Species
- D. Poynter, Plastic Sucks
Download our 8 Plus Reading List
8 Plus Tuition
Keystone Tutors have a number of highly experienced 8 Plus tutors who can help with exam and interview preparation.
For more details on how Keystone can help prepare your child for the 8 Plus, please call the office for a chat with one of our client managers, or contact us via our request a tutor form.
Further reading on the 8 plus
- Guide to the 8 Plus
- Keystone Webinar: The 7 Plus and 8 Plus
- Should my child take the 7 Plus or 8 Plus?
- 8 Plus vocabulary list