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Summer Reading Bingo

Our new-look summer reading bingo challenge is designed to keep children motivated to read over the summer holidays.

Our Summer Reading Bingo is an activity that keeps the focus on reading for pleasure experiences rather than specific texts, with activities like make a den and read inside, read in the dark using a torch and read to a pet or a soft toy. Children can choose what they read for the challenges, although we have included some Summer 2023 recommended reads for those looking for new ideas.

summer reading bingo

Instructions

Teachers can print out the bingo cards for pupils to take home over the summer holidays or the cards can be shared online and printed by parents at home as a fun reading challenge.

There are two levels of difficulty to choose from – 9 squares or 25 squares. Children and adults participating in the challenge can fill in the squares over the holidays as they complete each reading experience challenge.

When pupils return to school after the holidays, they may be awarded prizes, house points or certificates for a completed line or for a full house! Scroll down to find the pupil certificates.

Summer Reading Inspiration Gallery

See the Summer Reading Bingo challenge in action!

From reading up a tree to making a den and reading inside, nothing brings us sunshine like seeing you enjoying reading for pleasure wherever you are over the summer.

If you want to share your #SummerReadingBingo photographs with us, tag us on social media as @booksfortopics or drop us an email to tell us about your summer reading adventures.

Certificates

These downloadable certificates are designed to reward pupils for participating in the Summer Reading Bingo challenge.

Remember to return to the page after the summer holidays to download and print your certificates.

Summer 2023 Recommended Reads

If you want to find recommended books for the children to read over the summer holidays, check out our Summer Reads list or download the printable PDF version to share with your school community. 

For even more up-to-date children’s books recommendations, you could try our Year Group Recommended Read lists or our Branching Out lists.

Recommended Books for Storytime

Our lists of storytime favourite lists for different age and year groups include books that are particularly well suited for being read out loud. From the best class readers to favourite bedtime stories, browse our lists of books that are brilliant for capturing the magic of storytelling…

The Booksfortopics Best of 2020

2020 has been a year full of twists and turns – but our to-be-read piles have kept us going throughout the year.

We asked our community of teachers, TAs, authors, librarians and book lovers to nominate their favourite children’s books published in 2020.

This is what they told us…

We love to hear about which books are popular among our community of primary teachers, TAs, librarians, authors and children’s book lovers.

At the end of each year, we search for your top children’s books published during the previous twelve months. Browse the SHORTLISTED books from past years below.

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Becoming a member of the website will enable you to create your own account and log in. It’s absolutely free to become a member and once you’ve signed in, you will be able to save your favourite books or booklists in your own account area. That way, you can keep track of the booklists and books that are most relevant to you, and quickly find them again when you log in.

Once you are a member, you will also have access to our newsletter archives and you will be able to vote for books in important book selection events like our Books of the Year award.

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    Chapter book

    Orphaned twins Connor and Grace Tempest take to the ocean in a desperate attempt to flee from a terrible life on shore. But a vicious storm wrecks their ship and leaves them fighting for their lives. For Connor his only salvation is a pirate ship… but this is no ordinary pirate ship.

    Desperate to survive Connor must join the terrible crew of the Diablo. In his quest to find his lost twin sister he discovers mysteries and secrets deeper than the ocean he now sails.

    Chapter book

    Agatha Christie’s audacious mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.

    For an instant the two trains ran together, side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth witnessed a murder. Helplessly, she stared out of her carriage window as a man remorselessly tightened his grip around a woman’s throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away.

    But who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there were no suspects, no other witnesses… and no corpse.

    Picturebook

    Discover The Polar Express, a true Christmas classic. “Magical” Guardian “Evocative and atmospheric” Sunday Times “A thrilling tale” Independent All aboard the Polar Express to the North Pole! Follow one boy’s journey to receive a very special gift from Santa himself: a bell that only true believers in Father Christmas can hear ring. Discover the beloved Christmas classic that inspired the blockbuster family favourite movie starring Tom Hanks.

    Chapter book

    Neverwhere is the stunningly original first novel from Neil Gaiman, the bestselling and prizewinning author of The Ocean at the End of the Lane and American Gods . Wired called it ‘the sort of book Terry Pratchett might produce if he spent a month locked in a cellar with Frank Kafka’. This is a must-read for all those who loved Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell or the magical world of J.K. Rowling.

    Under the streets of London there’s a world most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, and pale girls in black velvet. Richard Mayhew is a young businessman who is about to find out more than he bargained for about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his safe and predictable life and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and yet utterly bizarre. There’s a girl named Door, an Angel called Islington, an Earl who holds Court on the carriage of a Tube train, a Beast in a labyrinth, and dangers and delights beyond imagining . . . And Richard, who only wants to go home, is to find a strange destiny waiting for him below the streets of his native city.

    Chapter book

    When Roberta, Peter and Phyllis’s father is taken away and they move to a tiny cottage in the countryside, the only advantage is the nearby railway. Join them on their adventures as they befriend all those who work with the trains, prevent a railway disaster and try to discover the truth behind their father’s disappearance.

    The Railway Children, a much-loved children’s classic, was first published in 1906 and has never been out of print.

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    Your Review

    Stone Girl Bone Girl

    review

    Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:

    Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:

    Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?

    Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?

    Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?

    yes

    Curriculum links (if relevant)

    Curriculum links (if relevant)

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    Any other comments