Ages 6–7

Year 2 reading list

Short chapter books, funny stories and first non-fiction for readers moving beyond picture books.

Animals

I am going to save a panda!
Lauren Child
Save an Animal Week at school, and Lola and Lotta are going to raise money to save a panda. To do this, Lola gets sponsored to hop for as long as she can, and Lotta will skip. But then Lola gets the chicken pox. Now how will she save a panda?

Chapter Books

Jenny Peckles Lays Eggs with Speckles
Rachel Emily
Join Jenny Peckles and her chicken friends for a wild, rhyming adventure – perfect for fans of Hairy Maclary and Oi Frog!
Pippi Longstocking
Astrid Lindgren
Somebody Swallowed Stanley
Sarah Roberts
The Lost Homework
Richard O'Neill
onny devotes his weekend to helping his neighbours and fellow Travellers with a variety of tasks. He uses many skills, from calculating the amount of fuel needed for a journey, to restoring a caravan. In fact, the only thing he doesn’t do over the weekend is his homework – his workbook is missing! What will his teacher say?

Fantasy

Fantastic Mr Fox
Roald Dahl
Mr Fox is a very clever fox - every evening he creeps down into the valley and helps himself to food from the nearby farms. Chickens from Farmer Boggis, ducks and geese from Farmer Bunce, and turkeys from Farmer Bean. But now the farmers have had enough, and together they hatch a plan to get rid of Mr Fox for good! But what they don't know is Mr Fox has some help, and a fantastic escape plan of his own...
The Magic Finger
Roald Dahl
Out the window they flew, far up into the sky, and soon the whole family was flying around and around together. Every Saturday morning the Gregg family goes off to shoot animals and birds. But the girl who lives next door hates hunting. Now it's made her so angry that she's PUT THE MAGIC FINGER ON THEM ALL. And very strange things have begun to happen . . .

Funny

Flat Stanley
Jeff Brown
After a bulletin board falls on Stanley while he's sleeping, he finds that being flat has its advantages.
George's Marvelous Medicine
Roald Dahl
What's the only cure for the meanest grandmother in the world? George creates a fierce and fantastic bubbling brew, the perfect cure. In this popular Dahl story, George creates a very special medicine to cure his grandma of her nasty habits. Great new Quentin Blake cover as well as a whole new exciting end section about Roald Dahl and his world.
Martin's mice.
Dick King-Smith
A farm cat who doesn't want to catch mice keeps a family of them as pets in the barn; but then he is given away to a townswoman and acquires a new perspective.
Esio Trot
Roald Dahl
Downstairs lives Mrs Silver. Mr Hoppy loves her. And Mrs Silver loves her tortoise, Alfie. Oh, if only Mr Hoppy could perform some great feat that would make him a hero in her eyes! Then one day his mind goes click and an amazing idea rushes into his head. With the help of a magical spell, some cabbage leaves and one hundred and forty tortoises, can shy Mr Hoppy win Mrs Silver's heart?
The Witches
Roald Dahl
A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice.
James and the Giant Peach
Roald Dahl
James Henry Trotter lives with two ghastly hags. Aunt Sponge is enormously fat with a face that looks boiled and Aunt Spiker is bony and screeching. He's very lonely until one day something peculiar happens. . . At the end of the garden a peach starts to grow and GROW AND GROW. Inside that peach are seven very unusual insects - all waiting to take James on a magical adventure. But where will they go in their GIANT PEACH, and what will happen to the horrible aunts if they stand in their way? There's only one way to find out . . .
Matilda
Roald Dahl
Danny, The Champion of the World
Roald Dahl
Danny lives in a caravan with his father, the most marvellous and exciting father any boy ever had. All the land around them belongs to Mr Victor Hazell, a rich snob with a great glistening beery face and tiny piggy eyes. Nobody likes him, not one-little bit. So one day, Danny and his father concoct a daring plot that will give the old blue-faced baboon Victor Hazell the greatest shock of his life - so long as they don't get caught ...
The BFG
Roald Dahl
"Human beans is not really believing in giants, is they? Human beans is not thinking we exist." One dark, silvery moonlit night, Sophie is snatched from her bed by a giant! Luckily it is the Big Friendly Giant (the BFG), who is no ordinary bone-crunching giant, but instead prefers snozzcumbers and frobscottle to children. But there are other giants in Giant Country. And those giants have a plan to gallop far and wide to find some tasty human beans to eat. Can Sophie and the BFG stop them?
The Enormous Crocodile
Roald Dahl
"For my lunch today", he said, I would like a nice JUICY little child." The Enormous Crocodile is planning what to have for his lunch. He's the greediest croc in the whole river, and he wants to eat something juicy and delicious. But what can the greedy grumptious brute guzzle up? Beware! He's looking for someone to feast upon... someone who looks a lot like YOU!
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Roald Dahl
şekerlik satılıktır onu biri alır ama kim...
The Twits
Roald Dahl
The misadventures of two terrible old people who enjoy playing nasty tricks and are finally outwitted by a family of monkeys.

Non-fiction

Boy
Roald Dahl
As a boy, all sorts of unusual things happened to Roald Dahl. There was the time he and four school friends got their revenge on beastly Mrs Prachett in her sweet shop. There are stories of holidays in fishing boats, African adventures and the days of tasting chocolate for Cadbury's. You'll hear tales of horrible school bullies and the motor-car accident when Roald's nose was nearly sliced clean off . . . Roald Dahl vividly shares his memories; some are funny. Some are painful. Some are unpleasant. All are true.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Roald Dahl
Taking up where Charlie and the Chocolate Factory leaves off, Charlie, his family, and Mr. Wonka find themselves launched into space in the great glass elevator.
Owl Babies
Martin Waddell
Three owl babies whose mother has gone out in the night try to stay calm while she is gone.

Storybooks

The Snail and the Whale
Julia Donaldson
Wanting to sail beyond its rock, a tiny snail hitches a ride on a big humpback whale and then is able to help the whale when it gets stuck in the sand.
A squash and a squeeze
Julia Donaldson
With the help of an old man and all of her animals, an old lady realizes that her house is not as small as she thought it was.
Room on the Broom
Julia Donaldson
The witch and her cat couldn't be happier, flying through the sky on their broomstick -- until the witch drops her hat, then her bow, then her wand! Luckily, three helpful animals find the missing items and all they want in return is a ride on the broomstick. But is there room on the broom for so many new friends? And when disaster strikes, will they be able to save the witch from the clutches of a hungry dragon? From the acclaimed creators of The Gruffalo, this enchanting story of quick wits and friendship is full of humor and adventure -- and just the right amount of spookiness. - Publisher.
The Gruffalo
Julia Donaldson
The Gruffalo is a British children's picture book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, that tells the story of a mouse, the protagonist of the book, taking a walk in the woods. The book has sold over 13 million copies, has won several prizes for children's literature, and has been developed into plays on both the West End and Broadway and even an Oscar nominated animated film. The Gruffalo was initially published in 1999 in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Children's Books.
The Gruffalo's Child
Julia Donaldson
The Gruffalo's Child goes out to find the Big Bad Mouse she has heard so much about.
Secret of Black Rock
Joe Todd-Stanton
Erin is fascinated by the stories of Black Rock: a huge, dark and spiky mass that is said to destroy any boats that come near it! But are the tales really true? One day Erin sneaks on board her mother’s fishing boat to find out…
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Judith Kerr
A tiger comes to tea at Sophie's house and eats and drinks everything in sight, so that there is nothing left for Daddy's supper.
The spiffiest giant in town
Julia Donaldson
George the giant is very proud of his smart new outfit . . . until he bumps into some animals who desperately need his help – and his clothes! – and he realises that a kind heart is more important than looking smart.