100 Books for Primary School Children

Here is a list of 100 fiction books all children should read before leaving primary school, as chosen by teachers.

Rather than specific books, I would just list authors and recommend you read anything by:

 - Roald Dahl. "Danny, champion of the world" would actually be my choice over "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". And "Boy" would be my non-fic pick.

 - Oliver Jeffers. The pop-up version of "Lost and Found" is a favoutite, but I also like The Hueys.

 - Mem Fox. "Wilfrid Gordon Mcdonald Partridge" = thoughtful brilliance. And every child should be read "Possum Magic" at least once in their life. For parents, Mem has written a wonderful little book called "Reading Magic" about the importance of reading from birth. It should be required reading, given out along with pre-natal vitamins.

 - Enid Blyton. Ok, so her writing is a little old, now, but I don't think the Secret Seven, the Famous Five, or her stories of magic and fantasy will ever be completely irrelevant in children's lives.

 - Dr. Seuss. Kids should read him on a train, or in the rain, or on a boat with a goat.


OK, who am I kidding? I would be listing authors for years if I continued this post! There are just so many good books and authors, there is not enough time in the day read them all.

Favourite Roald Dahl Characters

For International Book Week, Roalddahl.com has a list of Top 5 Dahl heroes and heroines.

I really can't disagree with their choices, but there are a few I think give top 5 a run for their money and at least deserve an honourable mention. They include:

Grandma from The Witches. She's unflappable, knowledgeable, wise, experienced, and an all-round fun person it would be a pleasure to know.

Mr. Hoppy, the retired bachelor from Esio Trot. This sweet man is ingenious. I envy any woman who is lucky enough to find a man who will go to such lengths to gain her affection. (I should also let you know that this book will have a movie tie-in this year!)

And I absolutely must give accolades to Roald Dahl himself as the lead in his autobiography Boy. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it.

What character would you nominate?

(I would also add, that though they aren't characters, Dahl's books Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts. HILARIOUS and a must in every upper primary school class).

Children's Books of 2014

Brainpickings has put together a list of top children's books of 2014. I haven't seen some of them, but Oliver Jeffers' "Once Upon An Alphabet" is simply genius.

Best School Libraries From Around The World

Here are some of the most inspirational school libraries from around the world. *Sigh* So many ideas, not enough money, or time, or space....

Best Quotes From Children's Books

The literacy site has compiled a list of quotes from children's books. I can see these being used in displays in primary/middle school libraries and could even form a game (match the quote to the book). I'm sure there are hundreds of others, like these and these and these.

Non-Fiction That Reads Like Fiction

Readitforward had a great little list of non-fiction that reads like fiction (Also known as narrative non-fiction). While these titles adult, not juvenile, I can see this list being gobbled up by older teens, especially those who are not really into science fiction or high fantasy.  (Of course, not all adult fiction is suitable for all young adults, so knowledge of the particular child and the particular title would help before recommending these books to teens willy nilly).

Titles include:

• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (The incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair)
• In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson (Portrait of Berlin during the first years of Hitler's reign)
• Dead Wake by Erik Larson (Story of the sinking of the Lusitania)
• A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre (Portrait of Kim Philby, the greatest spy in history, a brilliant and charming man who rose to head Britain’s counterintelligence against the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War — while he was secretly working for the enemy)
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Reconstructs the murder of four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers)
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (About a murder at Savannah's grandest mansion, 1981
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (Also made into a movie. About Christopher McCandless, who died in the Alaskan wilderness)
• The Hot Zone by Richard Preston (account of the first emergence of the Ebola virus)
• Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (Story of families striving toward a better life in Mumbai)
• The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown (Story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal at the Berlin Olympics, 1936)
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Henrietta Lacks, as HeLa, is known to present-day scientists for her cells, taken without her knowledge, and used for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions)
• Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (First-hand account of a fatal expedition up Mount Everest, 1996)
• Pilgrim's Wilderness by Tom Kizzia (True story of a modern-day homesteading family in the deepest reaches of the Alaskan wilderness)
• Black Count by Tom Reiss (Biography of General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas)
• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (Made into a movie. Story of WW2)
• Two Lives by William Trevor (Made into a movie. Actually two books: Reading Turgenev, a lonely country girl escapes her loveless marriage in the arms of a bookish young man. In My House in Umbria, a former madam befriends the other survivors of a terrorist bombing)
• Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
• Columbine by Dave Cullen
• A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel (Memoir describes the childhood of the author who grew up in the 1960s in the small town of Mooreland, Indiana)
• The River of Doubt by Candace Millard. (An expedition is led by Teddy Roosevelt down an unexplored river to see if it connects to the Amazon)
• The Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan (Account of tragedy and heroism-the great Hartford circus fire of 1944)

Other suggestions include:

• Scoop: Notes from a Small Ice Cream Shop by Jeff Miller
• The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston
• Five days at Memorial by Sheri Fink
• The Innocent Man by John Grisham
• Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer
• Red Rover by Deirdre Mcnamer
• Dewey: the small town library cat who touched the world by Vicki Myron
• The Blooding by Joseph Wambaugh
• Two Lives by Vikram Seth
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
• In the Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III (About 9/11)
• Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
• Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
• The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne
• The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
• Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horowitz
• The Bounty, the true story of the mutiny on the bounty by Caroline Alexander
• Hot Art: Chasing Thieves and Detectives Through the Secret World of Stolen Art by Joshua Knelman
• Dial M: The Murder of Carol Thompson by William Swanson
• The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
• One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
• The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
• A Civil Action Aug 27, 1996 by Jonathan Harr (True story behind the scenes of a civil action lawsuit against environmental pollution and big money)
• Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, by Johann Hari

The one that comes to my mind would be

• In Search of the Source by Neil Anderson (About missionaries in Papua New Guinea).

Top Australian Authors

Booktopia ran a poll asking people to vote for their favourite Australian authors. One of the best features of the poll was that you could vote for multiple people (seriously, who can choose only one favourite author?) and then the votes were collated to give us the TOP TEN!

Children's authors in the top ten are Mem Fox (a must for ANY picture book collection), Andy Griffiths (not hard to see how he made the list when you know how his books are gobbled up in primary school), and John Flanagan (author of the popular Ranger's Apprentice series).

Congratulations!