School Reading List’s Experience and Expertise
We offer a unique blend of experience, expertise and authority in the fields of children’s and YA literature, literacy education and library management to offer highly specialised book recommendations for schools, parents and librarians. Working with trusted partners and using our expert knowledge, we review new titles and curate free-to-use children’s book lists that are trusted by schools across the UK and worldwide.
400+ years of experience
Highly qualified teachers
knowledgeable Librarians
Children’s Literature Experts
Meet Our Team
Here’s our crack team of dedicated book reviewers, proofreaders, editors, subeditors, website techies, social media moguls, compliance experts and all-around wonderful people. School Reading List draws on a breadth of diverse perspectives and professional expertise. Our volunteer editors, teachers, librarians and subject matter experts all contribute to a thriving online community that is dedicated to promoting the best of children’s and YA literature.
Tom Tolkien
Editor
BA (Hons) PGCE QTS SLT, children’s literature expert, educational consultant & 20+ years of experience as a teacher and senior leader in primary and secondary schools.
Jan Tolkien
Sub Editor
BEd QTS. Jan is a former primary science, humanities and art coordinator with over 30 years of teaching experience in a wide variety of educational settings.
Patrick Sanders
Reviewer
Patrick is a former secondary English teacher and headteacher with over 35 years of experience. He is a husband, father and grandfather
Tracy Wood
Reviewer
I used to be a learning support assistant in a senior school for eight years before leaving to home-school my now adult daughter. I have ten grandchildren who I love reading to and spending time with.
This Could Be You!
New Reviewer
Are you a qualified teacher, librarian or academic with a particular interest and expertise in children’s or YA literature? Get in touch and sign up here!
Jen Radford
Reviewer
Having been a primary teacher for over ten years, I have always been eager to engage children I have worked with in reading and to actively be a ‘reading teacher’ in the classroom and outside of it.
Amber Shanahan
Reviewer
I have been a primary school teacher for 9 years now and I am currently English subject lead within my school. I am interested in expanding children’s range of books and improving this within my current school setting.
Why You Can Trust Us
What we do
We’re all about the books! Representation, variety, breadth, choice and new voices power our reading-for-pleasure booklists.
Very useful site to get new titles and books suitable for reading at school or recommend to kids and teens!
About the School Reading List
The School Reading List website recommends children’s and young adult books to teachers, parents, schools and librarians in the United Kingdom and around the world. Our team of highly experienced and highly qualified children’s literature experts, English teachers, teacher training academics, and specialist children’s librarians are highly skilled at curating fiction and nonfiction suggested reading lists and writing reviews of the latest children’s and YA books.
We specialize in curating age group and genre-based booklists for children, teens and young adults, something we’ve done since 2011. We pride ourselves on producing consistently high-quality original content, writing from diverse perspectives and delivering consistently professional curation.
Welcome to our website, which we hope will become your go-to resource for encouraging reading for pleasure and promoting lifelong learning through literacy. We are an online platform committed to inspiring and enriching the literary experiences of children and young adults across the United Kingdom and worldwide.
Our mission
At the School Reading List, our mission is to empower teachers, parents, schools, libraries, and home educators by providing a comprehensive array of children’s and young adult books, writing competitions, children’s publishers, literacy blogs, teaching resources, home learning courses, audiobooks, revision guides, graphic novels, chapter books, nonfiction, activity books, and much more. Our purpose is to instil a profound love for reading, learning, and creativity in the hearts of the next generation.
What we offer:
- Book Recommendations: Our carefully curated age group lists, genre book lists, new term previews and new book reviews encompass a wide range of themes, catering to the diverse interests and needs of young readers. From enchanting picture books to gripping young adult novels, we ensure that there’s something for everyone.
- Literacy Resources: Find a wealth of literacy and English teaching resources, offering valuable support for educators and parents in promoting reading and language skills.
- Writing Competitions: Encourage young writers to hone their skills and showcase their creativity through our recommended writing competitions.
- Children’s Publishers: Discover renowned children’s publishers and stay up-to-date with the latest releases in children’s literature.
- Literacy Blogs: Explore our pick of a treasure trove of informative and engaging literacy blogs that offer insights, advice, and recommendations on fostering a love for reading and learning.
- Home Learning Courses: Access our expertly curated lists of home learning courses to facilitate the educational journey from the comfort of your home.
- Revision Guide recommendations: Prepare students for academic success with revision guides and study materials that support their learning objectives.
- Graphic Novel lists: Dive into the world of graphic novels, an engaging medium that combines art and storytelling to captivate young readers.
- Children’s Literature Podcast: Tune in to our children’s literature podcast, where we discuss literary trends, author interviews, and insightful commentary on the world of children’s and young adult books.
- Monthly Book Club: Join our monthly book club for primary and secondary students, where readers can explore new books, engage in discussions, and connect with fellow book enthusiasts. There are also free resources to help you start your own book group.
- Topic and Genre Guides: Navigate the literary landscape with our topic and genre guides, designed to help you discover books that align with specific interests and educational goals.
What other people say about the School Reading List
We listen to our website users. We love to receive real-world feedback and experiences from teachers, parents, librarians, academics and childcare providers that can offer us valuable insights into our resource’s effectiveness and opportunities for further improvement. Have a look at the independent reviews and evaluations of the School Reading List website below.
Our children’s book list curation process – how we choose new titles
Only children’s books that we have read to children or road-tested with classes are reviewed, suggested or recommended. We listen to our authoritative panels which comprise over 100 children’s and YA literature experts including experienced primary and secondary school teachers, specialist children’s and YA librarians, children’s literature academics and lecturers, education senior leaders and home educators when we compile and refresh our collections of year group lists, genre booklists, niche suggestions and books for gifts.
Using this wealth of professional experience and expertise, we include a range of classics, new books, diverse fiction and non-fiction and poetry across the breadth of our site, and you can be assured that all the books our panel selects have received excellent feedback from young readers, school librarians and teachers.
Our panel members are experts at selecting high-quality children’s books by age, topic, and genre. They take great care to ensure age appropriateness, relevant educational value, and pure entertainment value when curating new titles for booklists.
We champion diverse perspectives, representation, inclusivity and accessibility and we strive to produce booklists that will be useful and valuable both at school and at home. Our reading-for-pleasure booklists are a one-stop shop to cover term time, classroom demands, special occasions, school holidays and back-to-school transition.
The School Reading List has clear policies and transparent information about how we select and curate content to ensure a breadth of content and powerful representation. You can view our policies here. We welcome contact from users and feedback from teachers and schools, and you can contact us here. Our core reading booklists are reviewed, updated and revised monthly and our genre booklists are reviewed termly.
We also decide on fiction, nonfiction and picture Books of the Month which are updated at the start of each month. These titles tend to be recently published books.
The children’s books we recommend in our age group and genre reading book lists are almost always bought from bookshops – both on the high street and online. Sometimes publishers provide us with pre-release copies via national and local booksellers, authors, agents, or publishers, but you can rest assured that all the titles we select for booklists have been road-tested in schools or children’s libraries. For us, it’s important to reflect, resonate and replicate our readers’ experiences.
We also showcase the best fiction, nonfiction and picture books in our Books of the Month feature which is updated at the start of each month. These titles tend to be recently published children’s and YA books or new editions of children’s and YA books.
We are often approached by authors, agents or publishers asking us to consider a new title for a list. Do have a look at our submission page which includes full details of the submission process.
You can view the qualifications, children’s literature expertise and professional education experience of our team here.
Our commitment to diversity, inclusivity and accessibility:
We are dedicated to promoting diversity, inclusivity and accessibility in children’s and young adult literature, ensuring that our recommendations reflect a wide variety of cultures, lived experiences, and minority perspectives in the UK. Read more about this in our diversity policy.
Our vision
At the School Reading List, we believe that literacy is the key to knowledge, empathy, creativity, and personal growth. We are here to support and inspire the individuals responsible for nurturing young minds, and we invite you to join us on this literary journey. Together, even if only in a small way, we can help shape a brighter and more literate future for the next generations of children and young adults in the UK.
Our history
The School Reading List website was created by Tom Tolkien in 2011. See our timeline.
About our founder
Tom Tolkien is a highly qualified (BA Hons, PGCE, QTS) and highly experienced teacher and senior leader with over 25 years of experience working in education, including teaching KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4 and leading English and running libraries in two schools. A children’s literature expert, he has led inset courses, developed bespoke curriculum materials and spoken at conferences. He has also advised on longlisting and shortlisting for several international children’s literature and YA literature awards and he has written for educational publishers, including contributing to a BETT award-nominated app. Social profiles: Twitter | Linkedin
