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Topic: Reception 50 Recommended Reads

Reception Booklist: 50 Recommended Reads

Best Books for Reception (Children Aged 4-5)

We’ve hand-picked a list of 50 recommended books to read with 4- and 5-year-olds. Update your class library or home book collections with this list of the best Reception books, covering everything from rhyming frogs and pesky punctuation to round-the-world adventures and journeys inside the human body. Not to mention the odd heroic potato or a giant who lives in a shoe, too…

The Reception year of primary school is an important phase in developing children’s love of literacy, and it is vital to offer children a choice of high-quality and appealing books, matched to their age and stage. The BooksForTopics Reception Booklist includes popular Reception stories such as Supertato, Oi Frog and Elmer, as well as some lesser-known storytime delights that we highly recommend, like Pumpkin Soup and Jabari Tries.

This list of books for reception has been carefully curated with help from our team of teachers, reviewers and children’s reading experts. From classic tales and funny read-alouds to new releases and information books, we’ve included books to suit all different tastes on this Reception booklist.

As well as the Reception recommended reading list below to browse, we’ve also got a printable poster, a downloadable checklist and a handy bookmark for you, and schools can purchase full sets of the 50 books via Peters.

Browse the Reception booklist below or click on each book to find out more. Scroll down to find more purchasing options and printable resources.

Puffin Peter

Petr Horacek

Picturebook

This sweet story is about a young puffin called Peter who loses his best friend Paul during a storm. On his quest to be reunited with his friend, Peter enlists the help of a friendly blue whale. The whale attempts to follow Peter’s descriptions of his friend, but ends up leading him to other birds that match Peter’s partial descriptions. There’s a happy ending and the friends are ultimately reunited.

Reception classes adore this story about friendship, helping others and perseverance. We love the beautifully illustrated seascapes and the vibrant, textured illustrations of the various birds. There’s a mild ‘find the match’ puzzle element to the plot, reminiscent of Julia Donaldson’s Monkey Puzzle, and young children love the tease of knowing more than the characters and wanting to jump into the story and tell the whale what he hasn’t realised. At its heart, though, this is a really gentle story that plays on the feeling of belonging together – a feeling that best friends will find familiar.

Pattan’s Pumpkin

Chitra Soundar & Frane Lessac

Picturebook

Pattan has an amazing pumpkin… it grows BIGGER than the goats, BIGGER than the elephants, until it is as TALL as the mountains.

But can Pattan’s pumpkin save his family and all the animals when the storm-clouds burst and the waters rise ?

My Encyclopedia of Very Important Animals

Non-fiction

We highly recommend DK’s ‘My Very Important Encyclopedia’ series, which also features volumes on dinosaurs, oceans and sport. It is not easy to find comprehensive non-fiction books that are suitable for the younger age range, but the spacious pages, simplified text and high ratio of images (both photographs and illustrations) make this is a brilliant choice for Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 children.

Each page in this animal book features a different animal, giving information in simple language with bright colours, speech bubbles and text boxes to break up the information into bite-sized chunks. It feels like a real encyclopedia, but is perfectly pitched for the youngest readers without having any overwhelming chunks of text or overly complicated diagrams.

This absolutely super young non-fiction series will become a go-to for animal-loving children who are curious to learn more.

Tad

Benji Davies

Picturebook

This is the story of Tad, the smallest tadpole among her siblings. Tad desperately tries to keep up with the others, not wanting to get left behind – especially as she has heard that ‘Big Blub’ is lurking in the depths of the water. Over time, Tad watches her siblings grow and change, and eventually make the leap out of the water as they become fully grown frogs. When the time comes for Tad to follow in their path, it will take a heap of courage to embrace the next adventure and leap into life.

This is a vibrantly illustrated nature story by Benji Davies, with plenty to spot and count. A good book for Reception or KS1 about life cycles, growth and change or facing new challenges.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

Judith Kerr

Picturebook

The classic picture book The Tiger Who Came to Tea has brought joy to children and adults for over 50 years. Author Judith Kerr is said to have written the book based on a bedtime story that she made up for her young daughters.

Sophie is all set for a quiet afternoon with her Mummy. The doorbell rings, and to her surprise there at the door is a big, stripey, furry tiger. The loveable tiger is welcomed in and wreaks a small amount of chaos, eating the food and drinking everything in sight.

The sheer joy of the afternoon tea with the tiger makes for a delightful story and is a crowd-pleasing storytime favourite for preschoolers.

Zog

Axel Scheffler & Julia Donaldson

Picturebook

A firm favourite in Reception classrooms from national treasure Julia Donaldson. This is the story about a dragon called Zog, who is determined to try his best at dragon school but doesn’t always manage to win the teacher’s gold star. The story shows how perseverance and following dreams can lead to positive outcomes, and that different people’s strengths emerge in different situations.

This is an exciting and original story with a brilliantly strong rhyming structure. Zog is a memorable character and Axel Scheffler‘s bright illustrations of the different coloured dragons are a bit hit with young children. A great read-aloud for EYFS and a real modern classic.

Afraid of the Dark

Isabel Otter & Sarah Shaffi & Lucy Farfort

Picturebook

Today we are moving house but my new room is strange and scary. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sleep…
A gentle first experience story about new beginnings, friendship and finding ways to cope with fear.

Caterpillar Cake

Krina Patel-Sage & Matt Goodfellow

Poetry

“Caterpillar caterpillar caterpillar cake – it’s the only thing that my mum can make!”

Would you like to eat a caterpillar cake? Join a rocket race into space? See crazy crocodiles at the zany zoo or play with a furry, purry cat? Wherever these 16 fun-filled poems lead you, they will brighten your day.

Splashing at the seaside, storytime at school, playing in the bath or riding home on Daddy’s shoulders – this brilliant, read-aloud collection for young children has lots to join in with and lots to explore in the brightly coloured illustrations.

William Bee’s Wonderful World of Things That Go!

William Bee

Non-fiction

Children who love vehicles will adore Wonderful World of Things That Go.

With diagram-style illustrations of trucks, trains, boats, planes, tractors and farm machines, there are plenty of transport-themed facts to consider. Each page is adorned with cute cartoon animals and traffic cone characters who add to the fun of the book.

This information book for younger children helps readers to consider the purpose of each type of machine, including what jobs they help to do and what the essential parts of each moving machine are. The short sentences on each page give the information in a matter-of-fact way so as not to overwhelm young learners, while the pictures offer plenty to spot and discuss.

A winner of a non-fiction book on a very popular topic among children in their younger school years.

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