Recently, my student teacher asked me to send her some of the series I recommend to children when they ask what they should try for their next independent book. A series of books is powerful because it can hook a child in and encourage them to get lost in a group of characters or a particular setting. These are the ones I recommend to children in my class, organised by estimated reading age - it's all guess work and very 'ish' so please don't get hung up on the year groups. All these series have proved popular with different readers in my Y4 classes in the last few years and the school has often had to buy the rest of the books in the series when we've previously only had one or two random ones. I accept, not all of them are the highest of quality writing and there are plenty missing (leave a comment to say which ones) and obviously lots of fantastic stand-alone books which don't get a mention here. These are just the series I recommend to Y4 kids and which they recommend to each other! I love hearing them say, "You can read the next one after me," and knowing that they are enjoying reading.
Approx Y3 reading age:
Daisy series by Kes Gray
Harry Hammer series by Davy Ocean and Aaron Blecha
Jack Stalwart series by Elizabeth Singer Hunt
Sophie series by Dick King Smith
Approx Y4 reading age:
Ottoline series by Chris Riddell
Sniff series by Ian Whybrow
Hank Zipzer series by Lin Oliver and Henry Winkler (YES! Happy Days!)
Warrior Heroes series by Benjamin Hulme-Cross
Time Hunters series by Chris Blake
Football Academy series by Tom Palmer
I Was There series by various authors
Approx Y5 reading age:
The Roman Mysteries series (Books 1-10) by Caroline Lawrence
The My Story series by various authors.
Muddle Earth series by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
Barnaby Grimes series by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
Harry Potter series by J.K.Rowling
Approx Y6 reading age:
The Edge Chronicles by (yes, it's them again!) Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
P.K.Pinkerton series by Caroline Lawrence
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.Lewis
The 39 Clues series by various authors (including Rick Riordan and David Baldacci)
Percy Jackson series (and other books) by Rick Riordan
