RTRP Books
Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils produces three high-quality and diverse booklists for teachers each academic year which are chosen by a panel of experts.
The book lists consist of five books each and there is one for Lower-KS2 (Years 3/4), one for Upper-KS2 (Years 5/6) and one for KS3 (Years 7-9).
Any teachers are welcome to read and share these lists, but they are predominantly used by teachers in our RTRP Independent Partner network of teacher’s book groups who read and discuss the books with their peers before sharing with their pupils all over the country.
Selection Criteria
The five RTRP books are chosen for each age range according to the following criteria:
- Suitable for the age of the children
- High-quality texts (linguistically and/or thematically) that require some level of teacher mediation and inspire rich booktalk in the classroom
- Range of genres and writing styles (in terms of fantasy vs real world, character-driven vs language vs plot-driven)
- Diverse representation both in terms of author and protagonist
- 3 must be published in the last 2 years
- 1 must be published pre-2000
- 1 must be a visual narrative where the pictures and text are interdependent to offer multi-layered meanings
Our RTRP Panellists strive to strike a balance between all these things across the academic year.
The books are presented below in an order which our panellists feel best reflects the structure of the academic year, but you are welcome to read and use the books in any order.
2023-2024
Please see below the booklists for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Check back in June 2024 for the 2024-2025 booklists.
LOWER KEY STAGE 2
Frankenstiltskin by Joseph Coelho (illustrated by Freya Hartas)
Join us for a free, interactive Frankenstiltskin Zoom Webinar with Joseph Coelho
Suitable for Years 3 and 4
Tuesday 5 December 2023
11am-12pm
Seed by Caryl Lewis (illustrated by George Ermos)
Watch this space- Submit your pupils’ questions for a chance to be included in RTRP’s interview with Caryl Lewis
Submissions open here on Monday 19 February 2024 and close on Thursday 22 March 2024
The interview will be published here on Monday 15 April 2024.
The King Who Banned the Dark by Emily Haworth-Booth
Watch this space - we’ll be releasing a classroom resource on this book in February 2024 in partnership with CLPE.
Too Small Tola Gets Tough by Atinuke (illustrated by Onyinye Iwu)
Watch this space - we’ll be releasing a creative writing challenge for this book in May 2024.
Clementine Loves Red by Krystyna Boglar
Join us for a free, Tell Me booktalk session on Clementine Loves Red
Suitable for Lower-KS2 teachers and school librarians
Tuesday 4 June 2024
4.30 - 5.30pm
UPPER KEY STAGE 2
Tyger by SF Said (illustrated by Dave McKean)
Join us for a free, interactive Tyger Zoom Webinar with SF Said
Suitable for Years 5 and 6
Tuesday 28 November 2023
2 - 3pm
Mwikali and the Forbidden Mask by Shiko Nguru
Watch this space - we’ll be releasing a creative writing challenge for this book in January 2024.
Fire, Bed and Bone by Henrietta Branford
Watch this space - we’ll be releasing a classroom resource on this book in February 2024 in partnership with CLPE.
Hilda and the Troll by Luke Pearson
Join us for a free, Tell Me booktalk session on Hilda and the Troll
Suitable for Upper-KS2 teachers and school librarians
Wednesday 17 April 2024
4.30 - 5.30pm
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Watch this space - Submit your pupils’ questions for a chance to be included in RTRP’s interview with Kelly Yang
Submissions open here on Monday 10 June 2024 and close on the Friday 21 June 2024
The interview will be published here on Monday 15 July 2024.
KEY STAGE 3
The Blackthorn Branch by Elen Caldecott
Watch this space - we’ll be releasing a creative writing challenge for this book in November 2023.
The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander
Watch this space- Submit your pupils’ questions for a chance to be included in RTRP’s interview with Kwame Alexander
Submissions open here on Monday 19 February 2024 and close on Thursday 22 March 2024
The interview will be published here on Monday 15 April 2024.
Needle by Patrice Lawrence
Join us for a free, interactive Needle Zoom Webinar with Patrice Lawrence
Suitable for Years 7-9
Thursday 14 March 2024
2 - 3pm
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Join us for a free, Tell Me booktalk session on The Phantom Tollbooth
Suitable for KS3 teachers and school librarians
Thursday 18 April 2024
4.30 - 5.30pm
The Roles We Play by Sabba Khan
Watch this space - we’ll be releasing a classroom resource on this book in May 2024 in partnership with the English and Media Centre.
MEET THE PANEL
The booklists above were chosen by three panels each made up of children’s literature and education experts from academics, book critics, teachers, librarians and translators. The panels were chaired by Cheltenham Festivals’ Head of Learning and Participation (KS3) and one of our Learning and Participation Managers (Lower & Upper- KS2).
You can download the biographies of our fantastic 2023-2024 panellists below.
