With the six-week holidays here, now is the perfect time to find essential summer reads for your children. Whether your kids love action-packed adventures, can’t get enough of historical tales, or are big fans of science fiction and fantasy, there are countless books out there for every reading level, guaranteed to spark their imaginations.
Finding books that are of interest to your child is crucial to keeping them engaged with and enjoying the act of reading. Also, it is important to understand the level your child is reading at. This knowledge enables you to choose books that will challenge them the right amount. Then, they can build on their progress without getting discouraged.
If your child is struggling with reading, summer is a great time for them to catch up. An English tutor from School is Easy Tutoring can help them get a grasp on reading comprehension and literature. With tutoring, they can start the new school year prepared.
In this article, we’ll talk about reading levels for different ages. We’ll also provide you with our list of favourite books for 9 and 10 year olds to keep your young readers busy during the holidays. With our list of great summer reads, they’ll have their noses stuck in a book in no time!
What reading level is a 9-year-old?
All children will learn to read at different rates and find enjoyment in various aspects of reading. However, there are some key reading milestones a parent can look out for while helping their child learn to read. For a 9-year-old, these milestones might include:
- Moving away from learning to read and towards learning about the world through reading
- Being able to read words with more than one syllable correctly
- Having a basic understanding of root words, e.g., useful, useless
- Finding different purposes in reading, e.g., for enjoyment, for learning, etc.
- Trying out different book genres
- Describing characters, the setting, or the plot of a story
What reading level is a 10-year-old?
The difference between a 9-year-old’s reading level and a 10-year-old’s reading level can be hard to ascertain. This is largely due to the various rates at which each child develops. However, typically, a 10-year-old’s reading should be slightly ahead of their 9-year-old counterpart’s. Different milestones for parents to look out for include:
- Identifying and summarising the sequence of events in a story
- Identifying the story’s main theme and potentially minor themes too
- Being able to read between the lines using signals or clues in the text
- Being able to compare and contrast different texts
- Being able to answer questions about a text and refer back to specific segments
- Beginning to understand similes and metaphors
- Exploring different types of texts, such as poetry or biographies
- Reading to get specific information, such as from a history textbook
What books should a 9 year old read?
Finding books for 9 year olds can be tricky and finding stories that appeal to your child will depend heavily on their personal preferences and interests. It’s common around this age for children to begin to lose interest in reading. For this reason, it’s even more important to tap into subjects they love that they can further explore in books.
Below is a list of some of our favourite books for 9 year olds. These books will not only spark your children’s interest but ignite a lifelong love of books. Also, they will help them to continue to build positive associations with reading. These are enjoyable books for 9 year olds in the UK,USA, Canada, and around the world!
1.“Real Life Mysteries: Can You Explain The Unexplained?” by Susan Martineu
This book is our number one choice of books for 9 year olds. Crammed with intriguing facts and stories for kids to pore over, Susan Martineu’s “Real Life Mysteries” is the perfect reading material for the child who can’t stop asking questions about the world. In addition to revealing fascinating facts, the book is a great device for getting children thinking about what’s fact-based and what’s not, as well as the validity of outrageous claims and the evidence for them.
2.“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl
This classic of children’s literature is another one of the best books for 9 year olds. It still packs a punch nearly 60 years on from its first publication. We join the adventures of young Charlie Bucket and his companions as they make their way through the famous Willy Wonka chocolate factory. Not only a highly entertaining story with twists and turns at every stage, this novel is also a moral tale of the contrasts between rich and poor.
3.“Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” by Grace Lin
Winner of the 2010 Newbery Honor and the 2010 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature, “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” is a children’s fantasy novel inspired by Chinese folklore. This is a story of adventure, faith and friendship. Here, we follow young Minli on her extraordinary adventure to find the Old Man on the Moon and change the course of her family’s fortune.
4.“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Book 1” by Jeff Kinney
This is the first book in the hugely successful Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. In this book, we follow Greg Heffley’s attempts to become more popular in his first year of middle school and his dreams of becoming rich and famous. We witness Greg’s creative attempts at handling various social challenges and how they frequently backfire on him. Greg’s instant relatability, combined with the hilarious cartoons filling the pages, makes this one of our top books for 9 year olds.
5.“The One and Only Ivan” by Katherine Applegate
One of the best books for 9 year olds, “The One and Only Ivan” is a story about friendship, compassion for animals, and the sacrifices we make to help others. It is written from the point of view of Ivan, a silverback gorilla. This true story contains short chapters and simple sentences, making it perfect for the average 9-year-old’s reading level.
What books should a 10-year-old read?
While the gap between a 9 and 10-year-old’s reading level isn’t huge, there are a few differences. By the age of 10, many children can read between the lines, identify themes, and understand more complex language tools such as similes and metaphors. With this in mind, we’ve put together some of our favourite books for 10 year olds to challenge and inspire them.
1.“Nightfall in New York” by Katherine Woodfine
“Nightfall in New York” is a fun-packed tale of two top-secret agents, Sophie Taylor and Lil Rose. Using all their detective skills and bravery, the girls set sail for New York City on a mission. Their goal is to rescue a friend and save the city from imminent destruction. With so much action and adventure to get your teeth into, this is one of our top books for 10 year olds.
2.“A Boy Called Hope” by Lara Williamson
This is a very moving tale of a young boy’s search for his dad. “A Boy Called Hope”, follows Danas he tackles life’s questions head-on and with humour. We meet his friends, Jo and Christopher who support him through his sadness over his dad. We then learn how Dan eventually accepts his mum’s new boyfriend into his life. And, we witness first-hand how he deals with his ‘annoying’ older sister Ninja Grace.
3.“Time Travelling with a Hamster” by Ross Welford
“Time Travelling with a Hamster” is a unique and thought-provoking journey. In this story, Al travels back in time to save his father’s life. Following detailed instructions left for him by his engineer father, Pye, Al and his hamster (Alan Shearer) use an old time machine to warn the young Pye about his impending death. What Al quickly learns is that changing the past comes with unavoidable consequences.
4.“The Boy At The Back Of The Class” by Onjali Rauf
“The Boy At The Back Of The Class” is the story of eight-year-old Ahmet, a refugee who becomes separated from his family. When a group of children in his class realise Ahmet’s plight, they put together a daring plan to help him. Told from a child’s perspective, the book raises themes of friendship and compassion. It also highlights the real horrors of war faced by many refugees.
5.“Carrie’s War” by Nina Bawden
A classic of children’s literature, Carrie’s War was first published in 1973. This is the story of two siblings Carrie and Nick Willow, who flee London during World War II. Landing in a small Welsh mining village, they begin to rebuild their lives, forming lifelong friendships with another evacuee child and the unorthodox but kind local villagers.
Encouraging reading in the summer and into the school year will foster a lifelong love of reading. If your child struggles with reading and English, contact School is Easy to get them the help they need! Reading tutors will help them practise vocabulary, spelling, and writing skills. By practising these skills now, kids are set up for academic success throughout their lives.
