Top 100 Children’s Books for Teachers – ages 5-7

Posted on 5 March 2017

Earlier this academic year, we conducted a survey with over 1000 book-loving teachers across the UK and Ireland to find out which books they most loved sharing in class.

The result is the top 100 children’s books for teachers. Chosen for teachers by teachers, you’ll find an inspiring mix of new and old classics – perfect for instilling a love of reading in every child.

Our experts have split the top 100 into four age-ranged lists, so it’s easy to pick out books based on your class or key stage. In a series of posts, we’ll be looking at each list in more detail and giving some suggestions for how you can use these books in class to their best effect. In our second post, discover the top picks for children ages 5-7.

Five tips on reading with Year 1 and Year 2 classes

1. Remember when….. Help children begin to make links from the things they read about to their own experiences, by comparing a scene or event in the book you’re reading to something you’ve done together as a class.

2. Sing together. This is a brilliant time to introduce poetry, or focus on rhyming picture books. Once you’ve read the book together as a class and it’s more familiar to them, ask them to repeat it back to you until eventually you can sing and rhyme the whole thing altogether.

3. Dialogue. Differentiate between characters by the way you speak and move. Ask children how they think a particular character would talk, or act, to get them thinking about characterization.

4. What happens next? A fun way to get children thinking about how a story is structured is to ask them what they think could happen on the next page. Don’t set any limits – tell them they can make anything they want happen, and it’ll get their imaginations working straight away.

5. Make time. Set outside an hour or less as often as possible where you sit together as a class and read a story together. This is great for any age, and it’s a mantra we’ll be repeating throughout these posts!

The books – five to get started with

Burglar Bill

Burglar Bill is a very naughty man. Each night, he eats a stolen supper and goes out stealing things. But when he accidentally steals a baby, it turns his naughty life upside down!

Rosie’s Walk

Rosie the hen sets off for a lovely stroll. But what’s that foxy shadow behind her? In this funny classic, the unique pictures are what tell the real story. With its folksy art style and witty use of pictures, this is one of those rare books you truly never forget.

Handa’s Surprise

Handa puts seven different fruits in a basket to take to her friend Akeyo. There’s a yummy guava, a tasty banana, an orange, a mango, a pineapple, an avocado and a passion fruit. But her walk takes her past lots of cheeky animals who have their eyes on the yummy fruit…

Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers

Grannie Island doesn’t think much of Granma Mainland’s fancy ways, but when a prize sheep gets stuck in Boggy Loch on Show Day, it’s up to the ever-resourceful Katie Morag to save the day – with a little help from her two grandmothers…

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

The doorbell rings just as Sophie and her mummy are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? It’s a big, friendly orange tiger. He’ll have to stay for tea, of course!

Take a look here to see the full range of books and the rest of the Top 100.