Heads' Tips - summer holiday reading

As the long summer holidays approach, one of the most important messages you can pass on to your daughter is to ‘enjoy a good book’. It can be difficult to keep some girls reading, particularly during the teenage years, so rather than suggest they get lost in Austen or burrow into a Bronte (great books though they are), let your daughter find her own level and set a good example by being found on your sun bed engrossed in a good book yourself! In addition don’t forget that many titles are available as audio books – these make a great diversion for long journeys, providing a welcome opportunity to share a story with the whole family and you will find your daughter will listen to her favourites again and again…
Below are some suggestions for contemporary books which you might want to share with your daughter. Use the arrow keys below the images to turn the carousel, and click though on any image to purchase the title via Amazon. With the younger age groups, try to find time to read to or with your daughter, and for the older age groups you can recommend the titles below and just hope she lets you borrow them afterwards!

Ages 5-7

The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster, David Conway
Tom & the Dinosaur Egg, Ian Beck
That Rabbit belongs to Emily Brown, Cressida Cowell
Rufferella, Vanessa Gill-Brown
Witch Baby & Me, Debbi Gliori
Oh, Kitty! Bel Mooney
The Time-travelling Cat (series), Julia Jarman

Ages 7-11

Madame Pamplemousse & her Incredible Edibles, Rupert Kingfisher
Ingo, Helen Dunmore
Varjak Paw, S.F. Said
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick
The White Giraffe, Lauren St John
Chronicles of Ancient Darkness (series), Michelle Paver
Red Sky in the Morning, Elizabeth Laird
The London Eye Mystery, Siobhan Dowd
Skulduggery Pleasant, Derek Landy
Ways to Live Forever, Sally Nicholls

Ages 11-15

Everything on a Waffle, Polly Horvath
The Kiss of Death, Malcolm Rose
Running on the Cracks, Julia Donaldson
Deeper Than Blue, Jill Hucklesby
The Carbon Diaries, 2015, Saci Lloyd
Stravaganza (quartet), Mary Hoffman
Rabbit-proof Fence, Doris Pilkington
Miles McGinty, Tom Gilling
Alis, Naomi Rich
The Red Necklace, Sally Gardner
Rowan the Strange, Julie Hearn
Girl, Missing, Sophie McKenzie
The Tales of the Otori (trilogy), Lian Hearn
The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness
Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn

Ages 15+

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne
Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson
The Time Traveller’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
The Kite Runner, Kahled Hosseini
The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak
The Wave, Morton Rhue
Uncle Tungsten, Memories of a Chemical Childhood, Oliver Sacks
Regeneration (trilogy), Pat Barker
Tamar, Mal Peet
Blood Red, Snow White, Marcus Sedgwick
Defiance, Nechama Tec
Before I Die, Jenny Downham

With Thanks to the Heads & staff at the following schools:
Amberfield School, Berkhamsted Girls, Bolton School (Girls’ Division), Central Newcastle High School GDST, City of London School for Girls, Dame Alice Harpur School , Downe House, Edgbaston High School for Girls, Francis Holland School, SW1, Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls, Hethersett Old Hall, Hollygirt, Leicester High School, New Hall School, Northampton High School GDST, Peterborough High School, Redland High School for Girls, Roedean, St Andrew’s School Bedford, St George’s School Ascot, St Margaret’s School Bushey, St Paul’s Girls School, The Godolphin School, The Kingsley School, The Queen’s School Chester, Wakefield Girls’ High School, Withington Girls’ School