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Book reading lists

New translation, the Magna Carta

Book reading lists is a supplementary document to how to teach a child to read using phonics.
Reading suggestions,
compiled in 1925
compiled in 2009

reading suggestions, compiled in 1925

The two reading lists below were compiled by asking a group of high IQ children and a group of average children for their favourites, compiled in about 1925.

The Twenty Books Most Liked by Boys   The Twenty Books Most Liked by Girls
1 Treasure Island* Stevenson   1 Little Women Alcott
2 Call of the Wild* Jack London   2 Anne of Green Gables Montgomery
3 Tom Sawyer Mark Twain   3 Ivanhoe* Scott
4 Robinson Crusoe Defoe   4 Little Men Alcott
5 Three Musketeers* Dumas   5 Treasure Island* Stevenson
6 Ivanhoe* Scott   6 Laddie Porter, G. S.
7 Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain   7 Three Musketeers* Dumas
8 Penrod Tarkington   8 Alice in Wonderland Carroll
9 Sherlock Holmes Conan Doyle   9 Heidi Spyri
10 Kidnapped Stevenson   10 Pollyanna Porter, E.
11 Black Beauty Sewall   11 Secret Garden Burnett
12 Swiss Family Robinson Wyss   12 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Wiggin
13 Connecticut Yankee Twain   13 David Copperfield Dickens
14 Tale of Two Cities* Dickens   14 Little Lord Fauntleroy Burnett
15 Count of Monte Cristo Dumas   15 Call of the Wild* London
16 Penrod and Sam Dumas   16 Eight Cousins Alcott
17 White Fang London   17 Freckles Porter, G.
18 Last of the Mohicans Cooper   18 Little Minister Barrie
19 Jungle Books Kipling   19 Tale of Two Cities Dickens
20 Oliver Twist Dickens   20 Uncle Tom’s Cabin Stowe

[Asterisked items appear in both lists.]

From pp.452-3, Genetic studies of genius, Vol. I,: Mental and physical traits of a thousand gifted children by Lewis M Terman, Stanford Univ. Press, 1925.

reading suggestions, compiled in 2009

  • by Enid Blyton
  • Molesworth - Down with Skool and How to be Topp by Geoffrey Willans and Ronard Searle
  • by Alan Garner, especially The Owl Service
  • Sherlock Holmes stories, by Conan Doyle
  • by E Nesbitt, especially The Railway Children
  • Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
  • The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
  • The Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield
  • CS Lewis’s Narnia series
  • the Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge
  • Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome
  • Just William books by Richmal Crompton
  • by John Buchan, such as Greenmantle, Three Hostages
  • other books by Rudyard Kipling, such as Stalky and Co, Kim, Puck of Pook’s Hill
  • by John Verney, especially Friday’s Tunnel
  • Biggles series by W. E. Johns
  • boys’ adventures from the early 20th century:
    by Percy Westerman [mostly with military themes]
    by John Westerman [probably related to Percy, mostly with aviation themes]
  • science fiction - for example by Paul Capon, John Wyndham, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov
  • by A.A. Milne, especially Winnie the Pooh and Now we are six
  • Cautionary Tales for Children by Hilaire Belloc
  • Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

[With contributions by joblard and DVH]

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Related links for further reading:
how to teach a child to read using phonics
a phonetics chart for british english
Reading test and related information
reality, laying the foundations for sound education
aristotle’s logic - why aristotelian logic does not work
citizenship curriculum
introduction to franchise discussion documents The logic of ethics
franchise by examination, education and intelligence power, ownership and freedom

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