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Best Books for 9-11 year olds

Goodnight Mister Tom

In 2015, we put together a list of the 100 best books for children from the last 100 years.

The books below are ones suitable for children aged 9-11.

Interested in seeing all 100 books across the different age groups?

See our best books for other age groups

  • Flour Babies

    Flour Babies

    Author: Anne Fine
    Publisher: Penguin

    As part of a Child Development project, each boy in Class 4C is given a 'flour baby', a sack of flour which must be looked after for three weeks, ensuring it does not get lost or dirty.

  • Private Peaceful

    Private Peaceful

    Author: Sir Michael Morpurgo
    Publisher: HarperCollins

    Set during World War I, Private Peaceful charts eight hours in the life of Tommo, a young soldier at the Front.

  • Journey to the River Sea

    Journey to the River Sea

    Author: Eva Ibbotson
    Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

    Orphan Maia is thrilled to learn she is to live with relatives in South America and cannot wait to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the Amazon.

  • Millions

    Millions

    Author: Frank Cottrell Boyce
    Publisher: Pan Macmillan

    One night, a bag containing £229,370 falls from the sky and flattens the hermitage. Damian is convinced it is a gift from God.

  • Matilda

    Matilda

    Author: Roald Dahl Illustrator: Quentin Blake
    Publisher: Puffin

    This modern fairy-tale with a brilliantly inspiring young heroine is one of Roald Dahl's best loved stories.

  • Once

    Once

    Author: Morris Gleitzman
    Publisher: Penguin

    Morris Gleitzman brings heart and humour to the difficult subject of the Holocaust in this ground-breaking children's book.

  • The Story of Tracy Beaker

    The Story of Tracy Beaker

    Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt
    Publisher: Random House

    Tracy lives in a children's home but constantly hopes that her absent, glamorous Mum will come and take her away.

  • Skellig

    Skellig

    Author: David Almond
    Publisher: Hodder Children's Books

    Exploring a ramshackle garage with his new-found friend Mina, Michael discovers a strange, magical creature who needs his help. A contemporary classic. 

  • Artemis Fowl

    Artemis Fowl

    Author: Eoin Colfer
    Publisher: Penguin

    Twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl hatches an ingenious plot to steal all the gold in fairy land.

  • Carrie's War

    Carrie's War

    Author: Nina Bawden
    Publisher: Puffin

    Inspired by Nina Bawden's own experiences of living as an evacuee in a Welsh mining valley as a child, Carrie's War is now considered a modern classic. Funny, sad and thought-provoking. 

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Author: J K Rowling
    Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

    After the misery of life with his ghastly aunt and uncle, Harry Potter is delighted to have the chance to embark on an exciting new life at the Hogwart's School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.

  • Goodnight Mister Tom

    Goodnight Mister Tom

    Author: Michelle Magorian
    Publisher: Puffin

    Willie Beech, a lonely and deprived child, is evacuated to a tiny English village just before the  Second World War, and finds himself living with reclusive widower Thomas Oakley.

  • The Borrowers

    The Borrowers

    Author: Mary Norton
    Publisher: Puffin

    The Borrowers are tiny people who live in the secret places of old houses - behind the mantlepiece, inside the harpsichord, under the kitchen clock.

  • The Hobbit

    The Hobbit

    Author: JRR Tolkein
    Publisher: HarperCollins Children's

    This well-loved fantasy story has delighed readers ever since its first publication in 1937.

  • Stig of the Dump

    Stig of the Dump

    Author: Clive King
    Publisher: Puffin

    Exploring an old chalk pit, Barney meets a strange boy who wears a rabbit skin and speaks in grunts.

  • The Adventures of Tintin

    The Adventures of Tintin

    Author: Hergé Translator: Michael Turner and Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper
    Publisher: Egmont

    Resourceful junior reporter Tintin embarks on a series of exciting international adventures, accompanied by his faithful dog Snowy, in this favourite series.

  • Swallows and Amazons

    Swallows and Amazons

    Author: Arthur Ransome
    Publisher: Red Fox

    It's the summer holidays, and the Walker children are excited to set sail on their boat Swallow and camp on Wild Cat Island.

  • Ballet Shoes

    Ballet Shoes

    Author: Noel Streatfeild
    Publisher: Penguin

    First published in the 1930s, this classic story of three very different girls who work hard to master their talents has captivated children's imaginations for decades

  • The Little Prince

    The Little Prince

    Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupery Translator: Katherine Woods
    Publisher: Egmont

    An air pilot makes a forced landing deep in the Sahara Desert. There, he makes a mysterious Little Prince, who tells him a series of wise and enchanting stories.

  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

    The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

    Author: C S Lewis
    Publisher: HarperCollins Children's

    When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy - step through a wardrobe door in the strange country house where they are staying, they find themselves in the land of Narnia.

  • The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

    The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

    Author: Joan Aiken
    Publisher: Vintage

    There are wolves outside the walls of Willoughby Chase, but for cousins Bonnie and Sylvia, the real danger lies inside.

  • The Witches

    The Witches

    Author: Roald Dahl Illustrator: Quentin Blake
    Publisher: Puffin

    Real witches disguise themselves as lovely ladies, when secretly they want to squish and squelch all the wretched children they despise.

  • Truckers

    Truckers

    Author: Terry Pratchett
    Publisher: Random House

    The first title in the Bromeliad trilogy, this is an enchanting fantasy from favourite author Terry Pratchett.

  • Holes

    Holes

    Author: Louis Sachar
    Publisher: Bloomsbury

    Stanley Yelnats' family has a history of bad luck, so he is not entirely surprised when a miscarriage of justice sends him to the Camp Green Lake Juvenile Detention Centre

  • A Monster Calls

    A Monster Calls

    Author: Patrick Ness From an idea by Siobhan Dowd Illustrator: Jim Kay
    Publisher: Walker Books Ltd

    Connor's mum has cancer and life is changing. There is the nightmare, then there is school, where people avoid him, or persecute him. And then there is the immense, mythic Monster.