Books for 9 year old boys with poor English?

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I offered to buy some books for the class library. The teacher has asked for some for the kids whose English isn't so great yet - the school gets foreign transfers occasionally.

Any suggestions? Books are really expensive where we are, so I was hoping to do something like buy collections from the book people and ship them over. Postage is usually the same price as the books, approx.

I imagine a lot of the 'classic' books might use language that isn't really up to date (and not helpful for those still learning it), and things like beastquest seem to have lots of gauntlets etc which I remember explaining a few years ago; may not be the best words for learners? Honestly, I'm flying blind, though; if anyone knows better, I'd love advice/suggestions. TIA

Find out from the class teacher if they already have books from Oxford Reading Tree. If they don't have those, I would think they would be an appropriate starting point for kids with poor English.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Would be okay for 9yo who are reluctant or poor readers. They can follow the story in pictures and text.

Good thinking! I did consider some graphic novels but was hoping to find some that come a bit cheaper in collections ...

Dogman?

The edge: monsters like us series are very good

Boffin boy books

13 storey treehouse series is partially graphic and very engaging. Also second the Wimpy Kid suggestion.

I'm sure we've got lots of those at home ... will have to go check them out ...

Try Barrington Stokes https://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk

Bookdepository.com does free worldwide shipping, and books are usually very similar in price to Amazon.

Yes to Barrington Stokes.

There is a list here for 9-10 year olds, but you might be better looking at the 8-9 lust linked at the bottom of that page.

Dahl? Dick King Smith? David Walliams? 13-story treehouse.
Tho if beast quest is more the level you are after, look at Magic Tree house series, and Astrosaurs.

When I was living in another country, my sister in the uk used to order my book depository books and I read my card out to get over the phone as the prices were significantly cheaper than if I bought them.

These are great suggestions. Particularly the Thirteen Stories Treehouse Series.

My dd has a lot of graphic novels. I'll go and have a look at the vocabulary in them later.

See if you can find some dual translation books in the most common languages for your school. I use these in my class for some of my EAL children. Their spoken English is often fairly ahead of their English reading comprehension. It also really helps their parents support them in home learning.

Thanks for all your help everyone. The English class is about a year behind what the UK does so I think the books are a tad simpler than those that a 9 year old might otherwise be reading; then add in the language challenge and it's finding stuff that's interesting. I've been really busy the last few days but hopefully will get a chance to review all these suggestions properly today...