Best Books For Children - Voted By The Nation's Kids

Best Books For Children - Voted By The Nation's Kids
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Stuck for ideas about what will really get your kids passionate about reading? Who better to give you some inspiration than the nation's schoolchildren?

Renaissance Learning, whose software allows kids to rate books online after reading them, has released a list of the 20 most popular books, as voted for by primary school and secondary school pupils.

For parents whose ideas of childhood favourites call to mind the likes of Black Beauty and Anne of Green Gables, this list could well be an eye-opener.

Long-standing favourites like Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Morpurgo still make the cut, but they are joined by newcomers like David Walliams and Derek Landy. Parents who haven't heard of Cassandra Clare may be surprised to find her urban fantasy series appears five times in the older pupils' top 20.

While results from primary-aged children showed an equal mixture of comedy and drama in their book choices, by secondary school kids had developed a pronounced preference for dark and moody YA (young adult) fiction.

For instance, while all of J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series appeared in the top 20 for primary school pupils, only the bleak final installment - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - made the cut for older kids

Particularly popular with the adolescent crowd was dystopian fiction, which usually sees plucky teens battling to survive in a harsh post-apocalyptic society. Combining tension, violence and a healthy dollop of melodrama, books like Divergent seem to have found a winning formula to get teens hooked.

You can see the full list below. For more information, and to read the full report from Renaissance Learning, click here.

Primary

Demon Dentist - David Walliams

Everything's Amazing (sort of) - Liz Pichon

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

Gangsta Granny - David Walliams

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling

Ratburger - David Walliams

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates - Liz Pichon

The Worst Thing About My Sister -Jacqueline Wilson

Queenie - Jacqueline Wilson

Candyfloss - Jacqueline Wilson

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Shadow - Michael Morpurgo

Emerald Star - Jacqueline Wilson

Secondary

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Divergent - Veronica Roth

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

Insurgent - Veronica Roth

City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare

City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

Looking for Alaska - John Green

The House of Hades - Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena - Rick Riordan

City of Glass - Cassandra Clare

City of Lost Souls - Cassandra Clare

Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian - Rick Riordan

City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare

The Son of Neptune - Rick Riordan

Light: A Gone Novel - Michael Grant

Allegiant - Veronica Roth

Eragon - Christopher Paolini

Inheritance - Christopher Paolini

Kingdom of the Wicked -Derek Landy

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