Recommended reading books for primary and secondary aged children in the UK
Jen Bryant (née Jennifer Fisher) is an American author, poet and educator whose work includes picture books, novels in verse and biography for young readers.
She earned a BA in French with a minor in German and secondary education from Gettysburg College, then later completed an MA in English at Arcadia University. In 2013, Gettysburg College awarded her an honorary doctorate.
Before turning to full-time writing, Bryant taught French and German at secondary level and coached cross-country. She later taught writing and children’s literature at West Chester University and Bryn Mawr College.
Her picture-book biographies with illustrator Melissa Sweet include A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams (a Caldecott Honor book) and The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus (a Sibert Medal and Caldecott Honor). She also co-wrote A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, which received a Robert F. Sibert Honor and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award.
In her novels in verse, she has published titles such as The Trial, Ringside, 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial and Pieces of Georgia. Her historical sports biography Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball won the 2021 Orbis Pictus Award.
Her work has also been recognised with multiple honours, including the Charlotte Zolotow Honor, the Schneider Family Book Award, the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award and the Robert F. Sibert Medal.
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus earned a Sibert Medal and a Caldecott Honor.
Books about sight loss for children and teens including titles by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, Marcus Sedgwick, Lucy Edwards, Katy Birchall, Kody Keplinger, April Henry, Penny Joelson, Beth O’Brien, Jen Bryant, and Paola Peretti.
Biographies and autobiographies for children with titles by Mick Manning, Brita Granström, Michael Rosen, Vashti Harrison, Floella Benjamin, John Agard, Jacqueline Wilson, Alastair Humphreys, Malala Yousafzai, David Long, William Grill and Linda Sue Park.
Books to help teach diversity to children in KS1 and KS2 in primary schools – with characters and settings to introduce age-appropriate discussions of the diversity of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, education, disability, identity, nationality, religion, sexuality, neurodiversity, social background, and beliefs.
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