Books to Read with a 10 Year Old (Year 5)....Lesser Known Ones

[SplodgeOfCustard]

That are fictional and may help expand vocabulary.

I would really appreciate your suggestions.

Rosemary Sutcliff wrote very good historical books for kids which I loved at that age. The vocab is definitely more complex than the average kids' book. The Witch's Brat was my favourite but there is also a King Arthur trilogy.

I loved Morris Gleitzman at that age, but j think his books are hard to get hold of nowadays (I’m in my 30s). I don’t remember how they were for vocabulary though. Also Secret Seven (despite not getting on with Famous Five) and given the age of those they do have a different vocab to more recent books.

The swallows and amazons series of books are brilliant, and good for vocab too.

Nevermore by Jessica Townsend - magic and mystery, beautiful world-building. Can't wait for book four this autumn.

At that age I loved the Ramona Quimby books by Beverley Cleary.
A little bit older (12) I was obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

"A Murder Most Unladylike" series by Robin Stevens. Interesting murder mysteries that prompted a lot of discussion and theorising with my daughter. They definitely helped her widen her vocabulary.

Another vote for the Nevermore series.
Also the Skandar series (book 3 out soon, yay).

Frostheart, some good expansive language and engages DS

A M Howell is a wonderful middle grade writer of historical fiction.

Leon Garfield

Yes - was also coming on here to say little house on the prairie - especially the first one, little house in the big woods.
Also swallows and amazons (was so happy to find these so readable and undated compared to other children’s books of that era that I also loved). And totally agree with Rosemary Sutcliff (especially if child is female try The armourers apprentice - it’s one of her books with a female lead character, I loved all her other books as well but had a special soft spot for this one with a lead who “could have been me”) and also agree with Ramona books, and would add Fudge books too.

The Legend of Podkin One Ear
Malamander
The Nowhere Emporium
Cogheart

Great. Thank you.

The adventure books by William Corlett (the steps up the chimney, the door behind the waterfall are the ones I remember best) are formal language- complex sentences and lots of vocab opportunities.

Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series
Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series
Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series

Thanks

We’ve been enjoying the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series.

Stig of the Dump

Thank you for these replies.

Anne of Green Gables
The Family From One End Street
Charlotte's Web
Diana Wynne Jones books
The London Eye Mystery

Jennings series - boarding school antics.
Mudpuddle Farm - shorter stories from Morpurgo with more humour than his longer tales.
The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict

I read Swallows and Amazons to DS and it felt so slow I abandoned plans to read the rest of the series.

Came on to suggest the Ramona Quimby books. I loved them, and still do!

@karmakameleon I did t know it was a series. Is it the same characters?

The second book picks up the story of one the characters from the first. We haven’t started the third yet but I understand that it is about one of the characters in the second.

Edge Chronicles