Books to read to a very bright 11 year old

Homer's Odyssey.
HG Wells
Jane Austen
Thomas Hardy
John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath/Of Mice and Men
Dickens

Alan Garner
I, Claudius
The Little White Horse
Cider with Rosie
Grapes of Wrath
Children of Green Knowe

Second Dark is Rising, Wizard of Earthsea & Terry Pratchett.

If she enjoys YA, is recommend cassandra clare's shadowhunter chronicles - starting with city of bones (the mortal instruments series)

There are a few series set at different times in the same world, so if she likes it there could be plenty to keep her going.

I also loved classics at her age, and my favourite book of all time is the tenant of wildfell Hall by Anne bronte - often overlooked but fabulous.

'Haroun and the Sea of Stories', Salman Rushdie's first novel for children, is good to read aloud as so much of it is about language and the act of storytelling itself. I've read it as a bedtime story to my much younger son, but an older reader/listener would appreciate it in greater depth - in part, it's a parable about freedom of speech, and plays with stereotypes and influences ranging from the Arabian Nights to the Wizard of Oz (and has a bit of a dig at 'celebrity' children's books along the way).

My 11yo DD loved Wrinkle in Time. I hadn't realised there were more in the series, thank you!

@autumncolour I've never known anyone else to have read A Wrinkle in Time and I'm so glad you reminded me of that book because I'm desperate to read it again!

DS1 is very into Agatha Christie, Art5hur Conan Doyle and George Orwell at the moment - he's fascinated by politics and spends ages watching Youtube videos about stuff, so he 'got' Animal Farm and 1984, thoroughly enjoying them. He also likes Philip Pullman, Ursula LeGuin, Neil Gaiman and loads of sci-fi stuff like Asimov. He also likes the Young Bond series and things like The Hunger Games, Maze Runner etc.

He is just turned 12 and is a very good reader - he flies through loads of books each week. I still enjoy reading to him at bedtime though. For us, it's a way that he gets to spend some one to one time with me and I get to share books that I like with him that he wouldn't necessarily pick up himself. I doubt he'll want me to read to him for much longer but I'll be sad when we stop! We enjoy talking about what we're reading together.

In terms of what we read together, we've just started the last/latest Skullduggery Pleasant book by Derek Landy. DS loved the whole series. I love Terry Pratchett and knew DS would - he wasn't convinced o I read Mort to him. He was hooked and we're working our way through the series now . Also HP Lovecraft and some of the less terrifying Stephen King short stories.

The other day, my cousin told me that we are 'weird' for still doing bedtime stories! She thinks it's bizarre that I would read to a child who can read to themselves, but then she gets her much younger kids to sleep by letting them watch DVDs in bed, which I have my own judgey thoughts on .

Agatha Christie books are great at that age as they introduce young readers to unreliable narrators, red herrings etc.

I’m glad a PP has suggested Bill Bryson as I think reading something that makes her laugh is a good idea.

She might also enjoy The Fib by George Layton and any of his others, which are very funny.

My ds had a very advanced reading age but emotionally wasn't ready for some of the books mentioned on here eg To Kill a Mockingbird.

Books he did enjoy at that age were anything by Alan Garner, the Alex Rider series, Animal Farm (although I think some of it went right over his head) and the Michelle Paver series.

I read quite a lot of Dickens and also Jane Eyre when I was 10/11 and was fine with that. However I tried Pride and Prejudice and hated it as I didn't appreciate the humour. I tried it again when I was 18 and loved it.

The Darren Shan saga and the Demonata series are both YA horror. The Thin Executioner is also good. Divergent series, beautiful creatures books and Mortal instruments.

My children on paper have advanced reading ages, but emotionally are the age they are! Also, while their reading is technically good, concentration is lacking at times so reading to them is beneficial.

Railway Children? DD found it challenging herself but understood it much more as the listener.

I think I'd have found of mice and men very upsetting as an 11 year old, with the torn dreams etc etc. My reading age was vastly ahead but my emotional age was still 11.

At that age my son loved HG Wells esp The Invisible Man and Jules Verne. Two years on and he doesn't read at all.

Was just going to say daphne du maurier. You could show her the Hitchcock film too!

Also loved Mary Stewart she is a master storyteller her King Arthur series is just an amazing feat of imagination. She is on s par with Philip Pullman ie: a much better writer than JKRowling.

I loved A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula le Guin. This series is hugely underrated and I’m surprised it’s never been turned into a series. The magic has real checks and balances, and profound consequences fir those who use it.

Also The Dark is Rising.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle is good - its part of a series, so there are another 4 or 5 if she likes that one.

What about Daphne du Maurier? Hers are fantastic read aloud. Also have you heard of Mary Stewart? I love her books - The Ivy Tree is one of my favourites. She's very underrated, in my opinion.

What about some of the Josephine Tey ones?>
Daughter of time (or is it upon time?) is great, and mine loved that at the top end of primary.
Also Brat Farrar is another good one. Franchise Affair depends on her, mine loved it, but it's a little older than the others.

Marston Baines Spy Series (being rereleased by GGBP and some are impossible to get at present) by Malcolm Saville are good for discussions.

Antonia Forest historical set (The Players Boy and The Players and the Rebels) are good too. So are her school stories etc but if you're looking for something slightly older then I'd go for those two.

I started reading Jack Higgins at about that age. Some of them were a little bit of a bloodbath though.

Hi,

I'm Head of English in a secondary school and would recommend you begin to look at some of the prescribed GCSE classic texts. Here is the list from AQA's specification:

Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens Great Expectations
Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre
Mary Shelley Frankenstein
Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Sign of Four

You might also want to introduce her to play scripts and poetry books too - both classic and contemporary.

Shakespeare:
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet
The Tempest
The Merchant of Venice
Much Ado About Nothing
Julius Caesar

The Lady in the Van
An Inspector Calls
Any Alan Bennett etc

I would say The Colour Purple is a little unsuitable for her age, purely because of the themes. That is a text previously studied in Y13 for ALevel. You might want to consider older classics from a similar period through - To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men (I've never taught a child who hasn't absolutely loved that) etc. You could also perhaps try some Bill Bryson?

Happy Reading x

My Dad used to get me to read to him. He did one of those fortnightly subscription things they always used to advertise on the tv. We did Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the D’Urbavilles, Mill on the Floss etc etc.

I think there’s a middle ground somewhere as I found it all a bit heavy going but you could find a top 100 books type list and then weed out anything not suitable for under 18s?

Just remembered ones from my own childhood about that age.

'The Hounds of The Morrigan' and 'Charlotte, Sometimes'. Maybe 'Children of the Dust' if that sort of thing (nuclear war) is ok with her. I've reread them all as an adult too.

My DD really loved the Cat Royal series at that stage - first one the Diamond of Drury Lane. Also, one from my own childhood, the swish of the curtain by Pamela Brown

Maybe H.I.V.E or poss CHERUB (some of the latter will likely be aimed at too old an age group content wise possibly.

Mysterious benedict society.

All three above have gifted children in, which seemed to go down well.

I liked agatha Christie from that age. Also Sherlock Holmes.

Possibly daisy dalrymple books might be good, not children's specifically but quite "light" murder mysteries.

There is another Phillip Pullman series that’s very good. The Ruby in the Smoke is the first one. Ages since I read them but I think they are sort of detective/murder mystery set in Victorian London.

Maybe some nonfiction - I am Malala?
Definitely Jane eyre.
Treasure island