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Ages 8–9

Year 4 reading list

Adventure, humour, myths and topic titles for Year 4 readers ready for a proper novel.

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Chapter Books

  • The Explorer

    Katherine Rundell

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  • The Girl Who Stole an Elephant

    Nizrana Farook

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  • The Boy at the Back of the Class

    Onjali Q. Raúf

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  • The Goldfish Boy

    Lisa Thompson

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  • Minibeast Explorer

    Robyn Swift

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Funny

  • The Queen's Nose

    Dick King-Smith

    Ten-year-old Harmony, who loves animals but isn't allowed to keep a pet, is given a magic coin with seven wishes.

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  • The Adventures of Captain Underpants

    Dav Pilkey

    When George and Harold hypnotize their principal into thinking that he is the superhero Captain Underpants, he leads them to the lair of the nefarious Dr. Diaper, where they must defeat his evil robot henchmen.

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  • Dog Man

    Dav Pilkey

    **Get ready for Action, Suspense, Romance... and Laffs!** George and Harold have created a new breed of justice. When Greg the police dog and his cop companion are injured on the job, a life-saving surgery changes the course of history, and Dog Man is born. With the head of a dog and the body of a human, this heroic hound digs into deception, claws after crooks, rolls over robbers, and scampers after squirrels. Will he be able to resist the call of the wild to answer the call of duty?

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  • The 13-Storey Treehouse

    Andy Griffiths

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  • Dog Man Unleashed

    Dav Pilkey

    **Petey is up to no good in the second Dog Man book from worldwide bestselling author and artist Dav Pilkey.** Dog Man is still learning a few tricks of the trade. Petey the Cat is out of the bag, and his criminal curiosity is taking the city by storm. Something fishy is going on! Can Dog Man unleash justice on this ruffian in time to save the city, or will Petey get away with the purr-fect crime? Dav Pilkey's wildly popular Dog Man series appeals to readers of all ages and explores universally positive themes, including empathy, kindness, persistence, and the importance of being true to

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  • Bunny vs Monkey

    Jamie Smart

    Join Bunny, Monkey, Skunky, Pig, and all the rest of the lovable and crazy characters from the first book, as science and nature fight again. There's all the same irreverent humor, bold and appealing art, and non-stop action, but this time with robotic worms, Trojan mooses, and lemony doomsday devices, of course.

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Adventure

  • Land of Roar

    Jenny McLachlan

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  • The Wild Robot

    Peter Brown

    When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants. As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.

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  • The Secret Lake

    Karen Inglis

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  • Varjak Paw

    S. F. Said

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  • The Boy in the Tower

    Polly Ho-Yen

    When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily as if they tip-toed into the world when we were all looking the other way. Ade loves living at the top of a tower block. From his window, he feels like he can see the whole world stretching out beneath him. But one day, other tower blocks start falling down around him. Strange, menacing plants begin to appear and no one knows where they came from. Now their tower isn't safe anymore. Ade and his mum are trapped and there's no way out.

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  • The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

    Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who adored him completely. And then, one day, he was lost...Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. Along the way, we are shown a miracle—that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.

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Mystery

  • The Highland Falcon Thief

    M. G. Leonard

    Harrison Beck and his Uncle Nat are enjoying the final journey of the Highland Falcon, Britain's most famous steam train. But when a precious jewel goes missing, Harrison and his new friend Lenny find themselves at the centre of the investigation. Can they solve the mystery and catch the culprit before they reach the end of the line? Hear whispers in the dining car, find notes in the library and unknown passengers among the luggage, as you help Harrison solve the mystery aboard one of the world's grandest trains.

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Fantasy

  • Northern Lights

    Philip Pullman

    In a landmark epic of fantasy and storytelling, Philip Pullman invites readers into a world as convincing and thoroughly realized as Narnia, Earthsea, or Redwall. Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an a

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  • Mummy Fairy and Me

    Sophie Kinsella

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  • The Nowhere Emporium

    Ross MacKenzie

    When the mysterious Nowhere Emporium arrives in Glasgow, orphan Daniel Holmes stumbles upon it quite by accident. Before long, the 'shop from nowhere' -- and its owner, Mr Silver -- draw Daniel into a breathtaking world of magic and enchantment. Recruited as Mr Silver's apprentice, Daniel learns the secrets of the Emporium's vast labyrinth of passageways and rooms -- rooms that contain wonders beyond anything Daniel has ever imagined. But when Mr Silver disappears, and a shadow from the past threatens everything, the Emporium and all its wonders begin to crumble. Can Daniel save his home, and his new friends, before the Nowhere Emporium is destroyed forever?

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Myths and Legends

  • Arthur and the Golden Rope (Brownstone's Mythical Collection)

    Joe Todd-Stanton

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  • Who Let the Gods Out?

    Maz Evans

    Elliot Hooper wants nothing more than a regular life for him and his mom. Then a Constellation of the Zodiac crashes from the sky into a pile of cow dung in front of him, and that wish explodes in a spray of ... well ... you know.

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Historical

  • Letters from the Lighthouse

    Emma Carroll

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Non-fiction

  • Britannica All New Children's Encyclopedia

    Christopher Lloyd

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  • Mysteries of the Universe

    Will Gater

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How we build these recommendations

Our lists combine books used in primary classrooms with recommendations from established children’s-book specialists and reading organisations. We also review useful sources such as BooksForTopics and School Reading List, then organise titles so teachers can browse them by year group and theme.

Buying books from this list

Each book links to its Amazon UK listing so schools and families can find a copy quickly. These are affiliate links: Bookflicks may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, Bookflicks earns from qualifying purchases. Our recommendations are chosen independently of any retailer.

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