Best Books for 11 Plus Exams

Best books for 11 plus exams - it is important for your child to read as much as possible as it helps improve vocabulary and comprehension skills. Your child may also be asked to write about a book they have read.  If you would like to recommend other books please contact me at: info@cambridgeacademictution.co.uk

Adventure: 

Joan Aiken: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Louisa M. Alcott: Little Women

Judy Bloom: Superfudge

Georgina Byng: Molly Moon series

Cornelia Funke: Inkworld trilogy 

Eva Ibbotson: The Beasts of Clawstone Castle etc 

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Little House on the Prairie series

Lucy Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables

Jacqueline Wilson: Double Act, Tracy Beaker, The Lottie Project

Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Lost World

William Golding: Lord of the Flies

Anthony Horowitz: The Power of Five, Alex Rider Series etc 

Eric Kastner: Emil and the Detectives etc 

Michael Morpurgo: Kensuke’s Kingdom

Robert Westall: The Machine Gunners etc 

Animal related: 

Richard Adams: Watership Down

Lucy Daniels: Animal Ark series

Colin Dann: The Animals of Farthing Wood

Gerald Durrell: My Family and Other Animals 

Brian Jacques: Redwall series 

Dick King-Smith: The Sheep-Pig etc

Anna Sewell: Black Beauty 

E. B. White: Charlotte’s Web 

Fantasy and Science Fiction: 

Charles Ashton: Dragon’s Fire

Peter Dickinson: The Ropemaker etc

Alan Garner: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen etc 

Norman Hunter: The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm

Brian Jacques: Redwall series 

Robin Jarvis: The Dark Portal etc

Ursula K. Le Guin: A Wizard of Earthsea etc 

E. Nesbit: The Phoenix and the Carpet

William Nicholson: The Wind Singer etc 

Garth Nix: The Old Kingdom series etc 

Lynn Reid Banks: The Indian in the Cupboard etc 

Jules Verne: Around the World in Eighty Days etc

J. R. R. Tolkein: The Lord of the Rings etc

H. G. Wells: The Invisible Man etc

John Wyndham: The Day of the Triffids; The Kraken Wakes 

Dianna Wynne Jones: Howl’s Moving Castle etc 

Humour: 

Philip Ardagh: Eddie Dickins trilogy

Michael Bond: Paddington series 

Helen Cresswell: Bagthorpe series 

Richmal Crompton: William series 

Roald Dahl: Boy, Danny the Champion of the World

Terry Jones: Fantastic Stories etc 

Astrid Lindgren: Pippi Longstocking series 

Terry Pratchett: Diggers etc

History: 

Kevin Crossley-Holland: Arthur trilogy 

Terry Deary: Horrible Histories etc 

Judith Kerr: When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit  

Michael Morpurgo: Farm Boy etc

Rosemary Sutcliff: The Eagle of the Ninth etc

Geoffrey Trease: Cue for Treason etc 

Henry Treece: Horned Helmet

Other authors to look out for: 

David Almond: Skellig etc

Helen Cresswell: Lizzie Dripping; Bagthorpe

Gillian Cross: The Demon Headmaster

Michelle Magorian: Goodnight Mister Tom

Classics: 

Nina Bawden: Carrie’s War 

Enid Blyton: Adventure Series, Famous Five etc 

Lewis Carroll: Alice in Wonderland 

Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe

Elizabeth Goudge: The Little White Horse 

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden 

Ted Hughes: The Iron Man 

Clive King: Stig of the Dump 

Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book 

C. S. Lewis: Narnia series 

Penelope Liveley: The Whispering Knights etc 

John Masefield: The Box of Delights etc 

Mary Norton: The Borrowers series 

Philippa Pearce: Tom’s Midnight Garden etc 

Arthur Ransome: Swallows and Amazons 

Robert Louis Stevenson: Treasure Island; Kidnapped 

Alison Uttley: A Traveller in Time 

More Challenging books: 

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice 

The Bronte Sisters: Wuthering Heights; Jane Eyre 

Charles Dickens: David Copperfield; A Christmas Carol

Alexandre Dumas: The Black Tulip etc 

Jostein Gaarder: Sophie’s World 

Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials 

J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter series 

J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings 

Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina; War and Peace 

Books for 11+ Vocabulary 

S. L. Ager – The Cadwaladr Quests

Fun 11+ Books

Katie Knapman – Revision Fun for Clever Kids; Maths Fun for Cool Kids