Ages 7 to 11 Reading List
Here are some books that our members recommend as suitable reading for ages 7 to 11.
The Children's Book of Richard III
By Rosalind Adam
A colourful book, lots of illustrations with short paragraphs of text makes this accessible to good readers aged 7 +.
All the usual aspects of Richard’s life and death are treated fairly and in keeping with the historical record. The education of a nobleman, Richard’s older brother Edward’s two reigns, execution of the middle brother George, the Princes in the Tower, Bosworth, finding Richard’s skeleton under a car park and the scientific analysis to prove identity, and his reburial. Also, a balanced debate on good king-bad king.
The Fox and The Ghost King
By Michael Morpurgo
A delightful tale of victory against all odds from master storyteller, Michael Morpurgo, lavishly illustrated by Michael Foreman.
“Every fox in the whole town, in the whole country just about, is a football fan… And we all have an impossible dream.”
In a cosy den under a garden shed lives a family of foxes. They love to watch football – all foxes do. But their favourite team keeps losing and losing, and it seems like things will never look up.
That is, until Daddy Fox finds the ghost of a king, buried underneath a car park. A king who wishes only to be free.
“Release me,” says the Ghost King, “and I can do anything. Just tell me your greatest wish.”
For these football-loving foxes, might everything be about to change…?
The Barley Hall - A Day in a Medieval Town House
This medieval house still stands in York and has been brought back to life by the York Acheaological Trust. You can visit the hall and take part in activities as they would have been 500 years ago,
The book is an introduction to everyday life in a medieval house: clothing, furniture, cooking food, drink, writing, bathing, beds, prayers, richly illustrated with both photographs and sketches.
Well worth reading and then visiting the hall for real.
The Secret Diary of John Drawbridge
By Philip Ardagh
John Drawbridge has moved to Widemoat Castle to learn to become a knight. And there is a LOT to learn. . . How to charge with a lance on horseback without falling off. Why the spiral staircases always go up in a clockwise direction. How to defend the castle against invading parties. Why the plates served at banquets are made of stale bread (and why you shouldn’t eat them…). And much, MUCH more. So it’s no wonder that John decides to keep a diary (even if it is only an imaginary one…) of his time at the castle. Things REALLY liven up when the castle is attacked by an invading Welsh party – but can John foil their plot before it’s too late…?
Richard III, I was There
By Stuart Hill
A story, well told, of the eleven-year-old Richard of Gloucester growing up in the household of the Earl of Warwick with his best friend Francis Lovell and his future wife, Ann. The two boys are taken to view their first battle at Hexham. We find out about the daily life inside Middleham Castle, the training of a young knight, horsemanship, weapons & armour and battle tactics.
Medieval Tewkesbury
MEDIEVAL TEWKESBURY: A BOOKLET FOR CHILDREN
Learn why the town of Tewkesbury grew up here, meet some of the people you might have seen if you had lived here in Medieval times and hear about the dramatic events that happened in Tewkesbury on the 4th of May 1471.
