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best books for year 4

Year 4: 50 Recommended Reads

Best Books for Y4 (Ages 8-9)

Looking for book recommendations for Year 4 children? Look no further than BooksForTopics.com.

Our website offers a carefully curated list of the top books for 8-9-year-olds, selected by expert primary teachers and librarians. Find the best books to top up your Y4 book collection with our hand-picked list of storytime favourites, thought-provoking tales, funny books, picturebooks, graphic novels, poetry collections, non-fiction texts and more. We hope that there will be something for everyone, but do keep your eyes open for magical cats, crime-busting pigeons, wish-granting fifty-pence pieces and the odd day of the week that mysteriously vanishes from memory…

Our Year 4 booklist covers a range of genres and themes in order to cater to a range of children’s reading levels and interests. This booklist includes some of the most popular Year 4 stories such as The Land of Roar, The Boy at the Back of the Class and How to Train Your Dragon as well as some lesser-known storytime delights that we recommend for Y4, like David Almond’s AI-inspired Brand New Boy, Elizabeth Laird’s Song of the Dolphin Boy and the super fun choose-your-own-adventure style mystery The Monster Maker.

The experts at BooksForTopics have hand-picked each book based on merit for its age-appropriateness, quality storytelling, engaging illustrations and ability to challenge children to think imaginatively and creatively.  So, if you are looking for a recommended reading list for Year 4 children, our specially selected ‘best of the best’ booklist has got you covered with favourite books that have all been carefully matched to the age, developmental stage and interest level of children in Year 4.

As well as the Y4 booklist below to browse, we’ve also got a printable poster and downloadable checklist for you, and schools can purchase full sets of the books via Peters.

Scroll down to find more purchasing options and printable resources.

It’s a Wonderful World

Non-fiction

DK brings you a beautifully illustrated and engaging book to teach young readers how to protect our planet and change the world!

Introducing It’s a Wonderful World – a captivating storybook set out to encourage children to look after the world around them, one step at a time.

Celebrate your child’s curiosity as they navigate through this perfect conservation book to discover all the wonderful ways to protect and preserve the biodiversity of the natural world, whilst learning about the main challenges our planet faces today.

An empowering and practical guide o looking after our planet, your child can discover:

-An excellent introduction to nature conservation for young readers
-A unique guide to studying different ecosystems and the biodiversity within the environment
-Graphic illustrations to complement stunning photography featured throughout
-An enthralling insight into lesser-known animals that inhabit the natural world

Did you know that more than 50% of child psychologists in England are currently seeing patients distressed about the state of the environment? It’s time to change that!

Invest in this all-encompassing environment book and shape your child’s learning for the better.
Proving to be an excellent education tool for children aged 7-9, this is a must-have volume for any young reader with a passion for protecting the planet, whether it’s researching plastic pollution or studying snow leopards, this nature book for kids really does have it all.

At DK, we believe in the power of discovery. So let us quench your thirst for knowledge and teach you a trick or two about balance and biodiversity along the way!

One book at a time, we believe you can change the world!

A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch

Chapter book

Hilarious, illustrated school-based antics where everything that happens leads to DRAMA and RUNNING AROUND and even some FAINTING!

Izzy and her friends are on a school trip to a big lake. Gary Petrie is excited because the lodges where they’re staying have ROBES AND SLIPPERS! The lake is dark and deep and a bit scary. But it’s when they open their packed lunches that they know! There’s a MONSTER in the lake and it’s coming for their CRISPS!

Laugh-out-loud fun from Blue Peter Award winners Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham.

Apes to Zebras: An A-Z of Shape Poems

Poetry

This gorgeous collection of animal poems from Roger Stevens, Liz Brownlee and Sue Hardy-Dawson will entrance and delight in equal measure.

Featuring a full alphabet of animals, birds, and insects, with the odd extinct or imaginary creature thrown in, these beautiful shape poems are a perfect way to introduce children to poetry. Some funny, some serious, there is something here for everyone.

Brand New Boy

Chapter book

“Mam, did you think George was,” I say, “a bit … weird?”
“Weird? Yes, I suppose so. But you kids are all a bit weird if you ask me. And to tell the truth, it’d be weird if you weren’t.”

When a new boy joins the class, everyone thinks he’s a bit strange, but he’s brilliant at football and loves crisps, and that’s all that matters to Dan and Maxie. However, the truth about George is stranger than anyone could have imagined … and more sinister, too. Can his new pals help him to become truly free?

Viking Voyagers

Non-fiction

Around 1,200 years ago the legendary voyaging Norsemen set sail to raid and trade – the Viking Age had begun. Step back in time to find out what Viking life was like, how they travelled, where they traded and their rich mythology. Come face to face with a fearsome berserker, explore inside a Viking longhouse and learn how these expert boat builders made their fleets.

Bold graphic illustrations of vibrant Viking characters, incredible artefacts and stunningly detailed scenes by author-illustrator Jack Tite showcase the Viking Age in full brilliant colour. Lively, engaging text throughout is informative and easy to read, and big fold-out pages allow you to discover the Vikings in exciting detail.

Consulted by Viking expert, Chris Tuckley, of the Jorvik Centre in York.

This book is a must-read for any history-mad child.

Welcome to My Crazy Life

Chapter book

Packed full of silly, funny, or downright hilarious poems (with some serious ones mixed in), this new collection by Joshua Seigal (winner of the Laugh Out Loud Awards) is perfect for fans of Michael Rosen.

With poems on every topic from demon cats to why you should NEVER forget your trousers, this is a must-have new collection from prize-winning poet Joshua Seigal. This book is a wonderful mix of subversive humour and brilliant insight into children’s perspectives on the world. Get ready for the craziness to begin!

How to Train Your Dragon

Chapter book

An absolute winner of a story and a brilliant choice for KS2 children in Year 4, 5 or 6. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is a smallish Viking with a longish name. Hiccup’s father is chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe which means Hiccup is the Hope and the Heir to the Hairy Hooligan throne – but most of the time Hiccup feels like a very ordinary boy, finding it hard to be a Hero.

In the first How to Train Your Dragon book, Hiccup must lead ten novices in their initiation into the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. They have to train their dragons or be banished from the tribe FOR EVER!

But what if Hiccup’s dragon resembles an ickle brown bunny with wings? And has no teeth? The Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus is stirring and wants to devour every Viking on the Isle of Berk . . . Can Hiccup save the tribe – and become a Hero?

Amazing Animals

Non-fiction

Discover over 100 of the world’s most remarkable creatures in this beautifully illustrated tour of Earth’s wildlife.

Animals come in all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes and sizes. From the record breaking tongue of a chameleon to the dashing dance of the peacock spider, you’ll learn about the most amazing examples from air, land and sea. Discover playful dolphins, sleepy koalas and even a fish that keeps its babies safe in its own mouth, uncovering the secrets of their survival, the incredible habitats they call home as well as the environmental threats putting them in danger.

A central gatefold offers a world map which reveals the locations of all the animals included in the book.

The Great Chocoplot

Chapter book

It’s the end of chocolate – forever! At least, until Jelly can solve the mystery of the great chocoplot…

Jelly and her family live in Chompton-on-de-Lyte, where everyone loves a Chocablocka bar or two – so when the end of chocolate is announced, she can’t believe it.

Determined to investigate, Jelly and her gran follow a trail of clues to a posh chocolate shop and its owner, the pompous Garibaldi Chocolati. Gari’s suspiciously smug, despite his failing business and yucky chocolate.

Is it really the chocopocalypse, or is there a chocoplot afoot?

An exciting, laugh-out-loud funny adventure featuring a truly ghastly villain – think evil mastermind meets Willy Wonka! – and a down-to-earth heroine with a sidekick grandma.

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