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year 4 recommended reads 2024 50 best books

Year 4: 50 Recommended Reads

Best Books for Y4 (Children Aged 8-9)

NEWLY updated – April 2024!

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

Our experts have assembled a carefully curated list of the top books for 8-9-year-olds, selected by experienced primary teachers, librarians and children’s book experts. 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 foxes, Viking cats, wish-granting fifty-pence pieces and a mysterious giant rainforest that grows over the city of London…

Our Year 4 booklist covers a range of genres and themes 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.  If you are looking for a recommended reading list for Year 4 children, our specially selected booklist has been carefully designed to match the age, developmental stage and interest level of children in Year 4.

As well as the Y4 reading list 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.

 

year 4 recommended reads printable poster 2024

year 4 recommended reads checklist 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Browse the Y4 booklist below or 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!

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?

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.

Solve Your Own Mystery: The Monster Maker

Chapter book

One puzzling mystery. Several slippery suspects. Endless possibilities!
Welcome to Haventry, a town where the ordinary and extraordinary collide! With ghosts, werewolves and zombies living side by side, trouble is always brewing. And when a fiendish crime is committed, YOU are the detective in charge of the case.
Dr Franklefink’s precious Monster Maker has gone missing and there are lots of suspects! Along with your yeti partner, it’s up to YOU to find the culprit. Should you trail Bramwell Stoker, the terrifying vampire, or Grundle and Grinola, the mischievous goblin twins? Should you follow up a lead about the cunning witches? Or will investigating the doctor’s monstrous son Monty lead you to the thief? YOU decide!
With hundreds of paths to choose from and no dead ends, you’ll solve the mystery every time!
A fantastically imaginative detective story for readers looking for an interactive adventure.

The Highland Falcon Thief

Chapter book

Harrison Beck and his Uncle Nat are enjoying the final journey of the Highland Falcon, Britain’s most famous steam train. But when a precious jewel goes missing, Harrison and his new friend Lenny find themselves at the centre of the investigation. Can they solve the mystery and catch the culprit before they reach the end of the line?

Hear whispers in the dining car, find notes in the library and unknown passengers among the luggage, as you help Harrison solve the mystery aboard one of the world’s grandest trains.

The Highland Falcon Thief can be read as a stand-alone novel, or enjoyed as part of the Adventures on Trains series.

Grimwood

Chapter book

Laugh your head off with this fully-illustrated new series from award-winning Nadia Shireen. Perfect for readers age 7 to 107, fans of Dog Man, Roald Dahl, Mr Gum and David Walliams, and anyone who loves to laugh.

Fox cub siblings Ted and Nancy are on the run from Princess Buttons , the scariest street cat in the Big City. They flee for Grimwood, expecting to find refuge in the peaceful countryside. Instead, they are met with thieving eagles, dramatic ducks, riotous rabbits and a whole host of unusual characters. Grimwood is . . . weird. But when Princess Buttons tracks them down, Nancy and Ted and the animals of Grimwood must unite in a mind-bending race against time . . .

This memorable, distinctive and warm-hearted comedy series will have kids begging to read more.

Grandpa Frank’s Great Big Bucket List

Chapter book

From the bestselling queen of heart and humour, JENNY PEARSON, comes a great big soaring adventure about family and finding happiness.

When Frank John Davenport inherits piles of money from a grandma he didn’t know he had, things take an unexpected turn… Because the money comes with STRICT instructions…and a NEW grandpa.

Frank quickly compiles a list of all the ways he can spend the money and look after his grumpy grandpa. Money may buy hot-air balloon rides, monster-truck lessons and epic parkour experiences, but can Frank discover that happiness is, in fact, priceless?

Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City

Chapter book

Superstar, author and illustrator Rob Biddulph dazzles in Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City , the first title in an adventure series for boys and girls of 8+. This exciting, funny, middle-grade debut is from the bestselling creative genius behind #DrawWithRob and is illustrated in black and white throughout.

Some legends are born, some are drawn . . .

Drawing feels like magic to Peanut Jones. But art can’t fix her problems. Her dad has gone missing, and she’s stuck in a boring new school. Until the day she finds a unique pencil turbo-charged with special powers. Suddenly she’s pulled into a world packed with more colour, creativity, excitement and danger than she could ever have imagined. And maybe, just maybe, she might find out what happened to her dad.

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