Reading

Term Three 2020 

Dogs Don't Tell Jokes by Louis Sachar

Compulsive joke-teller Gary Boone--aka Goon--thinks his jokes are hysterical, but almost everyone in his class knows different. Only his best friend, Angeline, really enjoys his humor. Still, when Gary sees the posters for a talent show, he knows his moment has come. Gary's parents will let him perform, but only if he agrees not to tell a single joke in the three weeks before the big night. Going cold turkey teaches Gary a lot about socialization and a little about baseball cards, and gives him the confidence to weather disaster at the talent contest.

Term Three 2020 

Holes by Louis Sachar

Stanley Yenats isn't too surprised to find himself at Camp Green Lake, digging holes in the dried-up lake bed, day after scorching day. After all, his family has a history of bad luck. 

The boys at Camp Green Lake must dig one hole each day, five feet deep and five feet across. But what are they digging for? Why did Green Lake dry up? And what do onions and lizards have to do with it all? The answers lie in Stanley's own past. 

Term Two 2020 - Literacy Week 

George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl 

George, is forced to stay with his witchlike grandmother, with a penchant for eating bugs. However, considering her elderly state, she must have her medication each day, and her grandson must bring it to her. George, being the curious young boy he is, decides he will instead create his own medicine for her, just to kind of shake her up a bit.

Term One / Two 2020

Wonder by R J Palacio

You can't blend in when you were born to stand out.

"My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice-cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an X-Box. Stuff like that makes me ordinary. I guess. And I feel ordinary. Inside. But I know ordinary kids don't make other kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go." 

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade,  and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

Term Four 2019 

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

"I am Ivan. 

I am a gorilla.

I've learned not to get my hopes up."

Ivan has lived in a cage, in a shopping mall for most of his life. He rarely misses the jungle. In fact, he hardly every thinks about it. Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant, who opens his eyes and shows him that there might be another way to live... 

Inspired by the true story of an unforgettable gorilla.   

Term 3 2019

Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo

 

"I disappeared on the night before my twelfth birthday."

Cast away after a terrible accident, Michael is washed up on a desert island with no food, no water and only his dog Stella Artois for company. But can he survive? And is he really alone? 

Term 3 2019 

Flamingo Boy by Michael Morpurgo

" What is broken can always be mended," Maman told me. "Remember that."

Set in the unique landscape of the Camargue in the South of France during WW2. A young autistic boy lives on his parents’ farm among the salt flats, and the flamingos that live there. There are lots of things he doesn’t understand: but he does know how to heal animals. He loves routine, and music too: and every week he goes to market with his mother, to ride his special horse on the town carousel.

But then the Germans come, with their guns, and take the town. A soldier shoots a flamingo from the sky, and it falls to earth terribly injured. And even worse is to come: the carousel is damaged, the horses broken. For Lorenzo, everything is falling apart.

Only there’s a kind sergeant among the Germans – a man with a young boy of his own at home, a man who trained as a carpenter. Between them, perhaps boy and man can mend what has been broken – and maybe even the whole town…

Term 1 2019 

The Tale of Despereaux  by Kate DiCamillo

Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.

Term 3/4 2018 

Paul Jennings  Uncanny 

 When a boy goes fishing with his father, he finds a severed finger with a bear tattoo on it. This tattoo comes to life and directs the boy to its former owner, who is covered with tattoos; all of those tattoos then come to life and attach themselves to the boy.

An old man makes a living by collecting dead animals and freezing them in his ice factory. A brutal man keeps a cow locked in his home, and another boy tries to get it back to the countryside.

A boy gets many punishments from his angry teacher, the worst of which is having to look after the teacher's pot plant for a night. However, the worst part is that two people died in his bedroom at his new house; the spirit of one of them tickles him, causing him to break the pot plant, then the next day at school, the spirit follows him around; as he is the only one that can see it, he gets in trouble for things that it does.

A poor man makes a living by blowing up tree stumps and selling the wood chips as firewood. But when a whale washes ashore, dies, and causes problems for the town, this man is promised a lot of money if he can get rid of it.

Outbreak by Chris Ryan 

Ben Tracy is in Africa with his scientist father when they discover a danger they cannot even see: a deadly virus, spawned in an underground lake and newly released by the opening of a mine. Can Ben and his new friend Halima get the news out so that the virus can be stopped. If they fail, millions of people could die in a world wide pandemic. 

Term Two 2018 

Demon Dentist

By David Williams  

He ought to have realised she was evil from the start. After all, how many dentists do you know who love — yes, really love — rotten teeth? Brown, yellow, cracked, full of cavities, diseased, covered in plaque . . . you get the picture. And for Alfie, a boy who loathes dentists from the bottom of his heart and whose teeth are so rotten they ought to be a tourist attraction, danger definitely looms. You can practically hear the background music when the two meet at a school assembly: dum-dum-DUUUUMMMMMM!!!!

But even before this, something nasty's been going on in town. The tooth fairy's supposed to leave money under your pillow, right? So who's putting creepy-crawlies, dead slugs and old scabs there instead? Alfie and his new friend Gabz need to sort this horrible problem out, and fast. (source: thebookbag.co.uk)

Term One 2018

Maddy West and the Tongue Taker 
By Brian Falkner

Maddy West can speak every language in the world. When she is asked to help translate some ancient scrolls, she is thrilled. But she soon learns that the scrolls hide many secrets . . . secrets that send Maddy on a wild adventure with a stowaway ninja, a mysterious monkey, a Bulgarian wrestler, evil magic, and a fiendish witch. Does Maddy have what it takes to save herself and her new friends?

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

By Kate DiCamillo

                                                                            

Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, for he was owned bu a girl names Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely.

And then, one day, he was lost.

Term Two and Three 2017 

Wonder 

by R J Palacio

You can't blend in when you were born to stand out.

"My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice-cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an X-Box. Stuff like that makes me ordinary. I guess. And I feel ordinary. Inside. But I know ordinary kids don't make other kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go." 

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade,  and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

Term 1 2017 

The Tale of Despereaux  by Kate DiCamillo

Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out.

Term 4 2016 

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl 

James Henry Trotter lives with his two horrid aunts, Spiker and Sponge. He hasn't got a single friend in the whole wide world. That is not, until he meets the Old Green Grasshopper and the rest of the insects aboard a giant, magical peach! 

James and the Giant Peach was Roald Dahl's first classic novel for children.

Term 3 2016

The Witches  

by Roald Dahl

Witches really are a detestable breed. They disguise themselves as lovely ladies, when secretly they want to squish and squelch all the wretched children they despise. Luckily one boy and his grandmother know how to recognize these vile creatures - but can they get rid of them for good? 

Term 3 2016

The Twits  by Roald Dahl

My favourite Quote 

"If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it.  

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. " 

Term 2 2016

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents thing she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be different, but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull, she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It'll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves, and Matilda may be just the one to do it! 

Term 1 2016

Varjak Paw by S F Said  

Mesopotamian Blue cat, Varjak Paw, has never been Outside before; he and his family have always lived in the isolated house at the top of the hill. But Varjak is forced out into the city when the sinister Gentleman and his two menacing cats take over his home. With help from his mystical ancestor, Jalal, Varjak manages to overcome challenges such as self-survival and a threat from the gangland cats, and he ultimately discovers the terrifying secrets behind the Vanishings. But can he save his own family from their fate?