Books for KS1 and EYFS school pupils – our reading lists

Books for KS1 & EYFS

KS1 books – recommended reading lists for learners in KS1 (Key Stage 1) and EYFS (Early Years and Foundation Stage) with picture books and first chapter books have been carefully selected by teachers and librarians.

There are over 100 high-quality picture book texts to read before you are five in EYFS, and over 100 picture books, non-fiction reference, poetry books and short chapter books for 5-7-year-olds in KS1 – all featuring rich language and engaging illustrations.

KS1 book choices

There are lots of choices with reading ideas to suit all abilities – with a wide variety of suggested picture books, emerging reader books, and first chapter books for 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds, and 7-year-olds in primary school.

These stories include texts to encourage shared reading, individual reading, reading aloud, and reading for pleasure. There are plenty of picture books to share with classes, inspire a love of independent reading, and for reading with parents at home.

This is a pivotal time in your child’s education. We hope you find some great books within the free Key Stage 1 recommended reading lists we’ve prepared: books this will inspire, challenge, enthuse and entice and above all, spark a love of reading and thirst for knowledge and understanding.

Books for KS1 – our recommendations

Key Stage One (KS1) is quite possibly the period of a child’s education where they will make the most significant and visible leaps in progress. Early readers will begin infant classes still learning to segment words with phonics, recognise words by sight, and differentiate homonyms. Many will start this period of early learning by reading picture books. Learners will often be exposed to reading schemes and structured programs, such as the Oxford Reading Tree, or phonics schemes such as Read Write Inc or Jolly Phonics.

KS1 books – what should you expect from your child?

But by the end of KS1, many students will have gained sufficient ability and confidence to choose books for themselves, read short chapter books, and start to read for pleasure. For these reasons, there can be a massive variation in reading ability for youngsters between the ages of 5 and 7, and schools, educators and home learners will need access to a variety of picture books, graded schemes, and early reading chapter books to cater for a child’s ability, interests and reading confidence.

For these reasons, the books selected in our KS1 reading lists included a range of easy readers, more challenging emerging reader chapter books, thought-provoking picture books for discussion, books to read aloud around the class, and high-interest stories to appeal to reluctant readers.

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By Tom Tolkien. This page was last updated on October 7th, 2024.