We invited a panel of teachers, literacy and reading experts, book reviewers and editors – see right – to choose their top 11 best books for under 11s. From picture books to older fiction, together they make an exciting and varied list of recommended reads for children from three to 11.
The ‘Claude’ series
by Alex T. Smith (Hodder)
Claude is funny, cheeky, always impeccably dressed and always has a nose for trouble (whether he’s causing it, or solving crimes along with his awesome sidekick Sir Bobblysock!). Alex T. Smith is a national children’s literary treasure!
Pants (and More Pants)
by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Nick Sharratt (David Fickling)
This was one of the first books we bought for Charlotte, and we couldn’t resist More Pants either. Brilliant rhyming sing-along read-aloud fun with more than a bit of cheek! We love it!
Troll and the Oliver
by Adam Stower (Templar)
I love children’s books that throw the rulebook away. There’s a fabulous twist to this tale that pops up three quarters of the way through that made Charlotte gasp. I can still picture her expression and we still love reading this, even now she’s older and loves chapter book stuff more than picture books.
The Queen’s Knickers
by Nicholas Allan (Red Fox)
Fun, irreverent and cheeky – this and Cinderella’s Bum still make us laugh out loud (we only have to hear the name Dilys and we’re in fits of laughter). Books that make you guffaw and grin are always winners.
The Bear Under the Stairs
by Helen Cooper (Corgi)
My daughter Charlotte loves the darker stuff and when I first read this to her, she actually didn’t like it at all as she found it too scary and disturbing. But of course the more we read it, the more she loved it and now it’s a firm favourite. The Bear isn’t really a horrid chap, he’s awesome!
The Owl Service
by Alan Garner (HarperCollins)
Another glorious book from junior school years, I read Alan Garner’s mysterious story again and again. The sort of book that has so many layers of mystery and suspense to it, that it still holds up when read as an adult.
The Runaway Dinner
by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman (Walker)
The Runaway Dinner has the most wonderful lyrical written style to it. Coupled with Bruce’s artwork which is quite child-like but utterly perfectly suited to the story, it’s a bit of an overlooked classic but so brilliant.
Peace at Last
by Jill Murphy (Macmillan)
My favourite book to read aloud to young children, with lots of sound effects, repeating lines and opportunities for little ones to join in.
Clarice Bean, that’s me
by Lauren Child (Orchard)
Lauren Child has that rare skill of being able to create something brilliant out of the banal. Featuring characters familiar to most families, the Beans are The Royle Family of children’s books.
Dogger
by Shirley Hughes (Red Fox)
The most charming, heart-warming story ever written for children? For me, it has to be Dogger.
The Snail and the Whale
by Julia Donaldson (Macmillan)
A rhyming classic by one of the most successful partnerships in children’s literature. A reminder that you don’t have to be big to make a big impact, with a clear environmental message.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by J.K. Rowling (Bloomsbury)
For me, the pinnacle of the Harry Potter series. A beautifully crafted plot that convinced me of JK Rowling’s pure genius.
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‘Be quiet!’ said Badger. ‘Keep it down!’ grumbled Hedgehog. ‘Stop banging!’ pleaded Owl. Poor Rabbit, it seemed that no-one appreciated his drumming. But when trouble
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Use these words from the story to practise the tricky spellings from A Thumping Great Rabbit.
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Our closing thought helps us think about how noise affects us and lets us consider where we can go to escape from the hustle and
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Read MoreUse this slideshow for inspiration when telling woodland stories or reciting or creating woodland poetry.
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Use these word cards to give children inspiration for their woodland writing.
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Use the map on your whiteboard to help children visualise the key events in A Thumping Great Rabbit.
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Learn about children's book illustrator Emma Chichester Clark and find exciting ways to use traditional tales to look at sentence construction.
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Poems for learning by heart, poems for performance but, best of all, poems to inspire.
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Use this planner as a scaffold to help create your own story using the same structure as A Thumping Great Rabbit.
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In some cultures foxes are often depicted as symbols of deceit and cunning. Why do the children think that foxes are thought of in this way?
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Use our editable playscript in drama activities or for a full-scale production.
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Use these planning resource sheets to help keep your class’s film productions on track.
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Cut out the caterpillar cards and place a piece of double-sided sticky tape across each caterpillar. Ask the children to sticky tiny samples of woodland
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For centuries people have been using woodland plants to decorate their homes at Christmas time. Find out why with this resource that accompanies our ‘Deck the
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Use The Christmas Elf as a festive story starter or see how many woodland creatures children can spy in this adorable poster (©StoryWorld – illustrated by Tomislav Tomic.).
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Arm your class with magnifying glasses, notebooks, cameras and viewing jars and head out and about with these sheets to find out if your local
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Choose a tree, head out with pencils, crayons and a measuring tape and fill in the boxes to create a record of it.
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Reward your Early Years and KS1 storytellers with this A Thumping Great Rabbit themed certificate.
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Our downloadable woodland animal fact cards teach us about foxes, hedgehogs, rabbits and deers and will help start children off on their voyage of discovery
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Our downloadable woodland animal fact card templates make great class displays and are perfect for children to use when presenting their findings to the class.
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Our woodland animal fact cards are ready for children to add their own pictures of four of our favourite characters from A Thumping Great Rabbit.
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Our woodland animal fact cards are ready for children to add their own facts for four of our favourite characters from A Thumping Great Rabbit.
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Bel Deering takes us through some useful minibeast basics – very useful for when you are out and about on your bug hunt.
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Our image-only ‘Storytelling prompts’ for A thumping great rabbit are the perfect accompaniment to your storytelling lessons.
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Our ‘Storytelling prompts’ with keyword phrases are the perfect accompaniment to your A Thumping Great Rabbit storytelling lessons.
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Our keyword ‘Storytelling prompts’ for A thumping great rabbit are the perfect accompaniment to your storytelling lessons.
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Give your local trees a clean bill of health with these official-looking, class-issued 'Clean bill of health' certificates.
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Use these data sheets with the woodland animal shapes resource.
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Use these outlines of the woodland animal characters in A Thumping Great Rabbit to work out water rationing.
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Amadeus’s search for his father has taken him from chip shops to Sherwood Forest and now to infinity and beyond. Is he really going to
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