The importance of summer reading (with recommended reading lists!)
For children and adults alike, reading is a lifelong skill, and one that has a profound impact on academic and personal development. There are many benefits of reading during the Summer Holidays, such as maintaining and improving literacy skills, fighting the summer slide and continuing to foster a love of books and reading in students!
Not only will this blog explore just some of the many benefits of reading in more depth, but we’ve also put together our top 10 recommended reading list for years 4 to 13 for you to test out this summer!
As we spoke about in our earlier blog all about the summer slide, this phenomenon sees students experiencing a decline in reading ability and comprehension as a result of lack of practice during the long summer break. Regular reading over the 6-week break can help combat the summer slide and ensure a smooth transition back to school in September, without students needing to catch up!
Reading also exposes students to new words, interesting phrases, and inventive language structures, helping to expand vocabulary and develop their language skills.This in turn improves readers’ comprehension and communication skills, not just in the English subjects but in all aspects of school and in life!
Reading fiction and imaginative stories can ignite students’ imagination and creativity. Exposure to different genres and narratives can also inspire students to think critically and develop their own ideas, for example when reading mysteries!
Reading a diverse range of literature exposes the readers to different cultures, experiences, and perspectives, and can help them not only expand their understanding but also their empathy for others. Empathising with characters and their journeys fosters understanding, tolerance, and empathy.
Lastly, reading improves cognitive skills like concentration, focus, and memory, all skills that are very useful for students when preparing for events in their lives like exams! Analysing plots, characters, and themes also enhances critical thinking and problem-solving abilities which can help in all aspects of life.
These are just many of the ways in which regular reading can help students, both children and adults, why not get started today and experience these and more!
Check out our top 10 recommended reading lists for each year to help you:
Year 4:
The Land of Roar by Jenny McLachlan & Ben Mantle
The Girl who Stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook
How to Train your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
The Queen’s Nose by Dick King Smith
Starfell by Dominique Valente and Sarah Warburton
Matilda by Roald Dahl
When the Mountains Roared by Jess Butterworth
Call me Lion by Camilla Chester
Sky by Holly Webb
The Highland Falcon Thief by M.G.Leonard, Sam Sedgman and Elisa Paganelli
Year 5:
Jaz Santos vs The World by Priscilla Mante
Freddy and the New Kid by Neill Cameron
The Treasure Hunters by Lisa Thompson and Gemma Correll
Brightstorm: A Sky-Ship Adventure by Vashti Hardy
The Last Bear by Hannah Gold and Levi Pinfold
Alex Neptune, Dragon Thief by David Owen and George Ermos
The Day My Family Disappeared by Jo Simmons and Lee Cosgrove
Diary of an Accidental Witch by Honor and Perdita Cargill and Katie Saunders
Frankie’s World by Aoife Dooly
The Song Walker by Zillah Bethell
Year 6:
The Boy who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter
The Tale of Truthwater Lake by Emma Carrol
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Malamander by Thomas Taylor
TrooFriend by Kirsty Applebaum
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Mountain Rescue Dog by Juliette Forrest
The Shark Caller by Zillah Bethell and Saara Soederlund
No Ballet Shoes in Syria by Catherine Bruton
My Life on Fire by Cath Howe
Year 7:
Running out of Time by Simon Fox
Holes by Louis Sachar
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson
The Box of Delights by John Masefield
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Wonder by RJ Palacio
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Kick by Mitch Johnson
Year 8:
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Tulip Touch by Anne Fine
Lord of the Flies by Willam Golding
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Peterson
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Liccle Bit by Alex Wheatle
Year 9:
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Of Mice and Men by George Steinbeck
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
The Secrets Act by Alison Weatherby
Lionheart Girl by Yaba Badoe
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Year 10:
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
1984 by George Orwell
As Far as You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Every Day by David Levithan
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
Year 11:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Savage Her Reply by Dierdre Sullivan
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Baby Teeth by Meg Grehan
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Dune by Frank Herbet
Year 12:
Witch Light by Susan Fletcher
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Shtum by Jem Lester
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
Year 13:
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
A Fort of Nine Towers by Qais Akbar Omar
Philomena by Martin Sixsmith
White Rabbit, Red Wolf by Tom Pollock
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Colour Purple by Alice Walker
Atonement by Ian McEwan
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway
Paradise Lost by John Milton
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
(we get lots of recommendations each year from https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/ so head there to find even more!)
Is your favourite book on here? If not, let us know so we can add it for the future!
For more recommended reading, or advice on helping your student foster a love of reading this Summer Holidays and beyond, speak to a member of our team today!
