Is the new nationwide reading competition, Read for My School, the perfect antidote to January blues?
Running from 21 January to 22 March 2013, the scheme is open to years five and six, with a bursting list of 90 books that children are encouraged to read.
This list is made up of books in eight categories, encouraging 9-11 year olds to sample an array of genres and writing styles. From whizzing back in time through Historical Hits, with books such as Michael Morpurgo's A Medal for Leroy, to the sci fi Out of this World, there is also a guaranteed giggle in the Laugh out Loud selection, which features Roald Dahl and David Walliams. Ghosts are prowling in It's a Mystery, while tales of our furry friends and rainforests are told in Wild Thing, which includes classics such as Anna Sewell's Black Beauty. There is a chance to go on an adventure in Thrill Seekers; an opportunity to wake the brain up in Keep it Real, with 100 Most Deadly Things on the Planet by Anna Claybourne, and a trip to the cinema in Stars of the Screenside with Frank Cottrell Boyce's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again.
In addition to these tasty titles, there is the chance for readers to reap some rewards for themselves and their schools. By logging their reads onto the website, children will receive virtual prizes and have the chance to win books the more reading they do. One school will win a mighty stash of books, selected out of a pot of 100,000.
But this scheme offers even more than just a richly diverse selection of books and prizes: 42 of the titles will be available to read online for free at the Read for My School website. Stories by favourites such as Morris Gleitzman, Roald Dahl, Rudyard Kipling and Anthony Horowitz will be available online. The remaining 48 books are "recommended reads" handpicked by librarians, teachers and booksellers, and include a sprinkling of new authors, as well some favourites by Michael Morpurgo and JK Rowling. These can be obtained from school or local libraries, or from bookshops.
Read for My School also encourages children to purchase one of the four books published specially for World Book day on 7 March 2013, including Anthony Horowitz's The Diamond Brothers in...Two of Diamonds.
Here's a full list of the 90 titles on the list. So, how many have you read? What's your verdict? Which ones do you love and which ones do you loathe? Why not send us a review of your favourite one? We'd love to know what you think of them.
Send your thoughts to childrens.books@guardian.co.uk and join the site to see your review published.
1. Historical Hits
Online titles
• Blood Red Horse, K M Grant (Penguin)
• Dead Sick: Incredible Medicine from History, Haydn Middleton (Pearson Education)
• The Great Escape, Megan Rix (Penguin)
• Kura's Story, Paul Mason (Pearson Education)
• Once, Maurice Gleitzman (Penguin)
Recommended Reads
• The Adventures of the New Cut Gang, Philip Pullman (David Fickling)
• Hero on a Bicycle, Shirley Hughes (Walker)
• A Medal for Leroy, Michael Morpurgo (HarperCollins)
• Polly's March, Linda Newbery (Usborne)
• Soldier Dog, Sam Angus (Macmillan)
• Thieves of Ostia, Caroline Lawrence (Orion)
2. It's a Mystery
Online titles
• Finlay and the Bogeyman, Steve Alton (Pearson Education)
• Foul Play, Tom Palmer (Penguin)
• Ghost Detectives: The Lost Bride, Emily Mason (Penguin)
• How to be a Detective, Paul Mason (Pearson Education)
• The Mystery of the Poisoned Pudding/Missing Finger, Josh Lacey (Pearson Education)
• Scarper Jack, Christopher Russell (Penguin)
Recommended Reads
• Laura Marlin Mysteries 1: Dead Man's Cove, Lauren St John (Orion)
• The London Eye Mystery, Siobhan Dowd (David Fickling)
• The Raven Mysteries 1: Flood and Fang, Marcus Sedgwick (Orion)
• Small Change for Stuart, Lissa Evans (Doubleday)
• Spy Dog, Andrew Cope (Puffin)
• Tales from Schwartzgarten 1: Osbert the Avenger, Christopher William Hill (Orchard)
3. Keep it Real
Online titles
• 101 Things to Do Before Secondary School, Louise Spilsbury (Pearson Education)
• Big Dinosaur Dig, Esther Ripley (Dorling Kindersley)
• Earthquakes and Other Natural Disasters, Harriet Griffey (Dorling Kindersley)
• Fantastic Mr Dahl, Michael Rosen (Penguin)
• Real Life Storytellers, Sean Callery (Pearson Education)
• The Story of Chocolate, Caryn Jenner (Dorling Kindersley)
Recommended Reads
• 100 Most Dangerous Things on the Planet, Anna Claybourne (A&C Black)
• The Periodic Table, Adrian Dingle (Basher/Kingfisher)
• Predators, Steve Backshall (Orion)
• Three Cheers for Inventors, Marcia Williams (Walker)
• Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: British, Tony Robinson (Macmillan)
• Who's in Charge? Foreword by Andrew Marr (Dorling Kindersley)
4. Laugh out Loud
Online titles
• Alternative Cinderella, Jan Burchett & Sara Vogler (Pearson Education)
• Cosmo B Henderson: What ARE you doing? Joanna Nadin (Pearson Education)
• Fantastic Mr Fox, Roald Dahl (Penguin)
• My Brother's Famous Bottom, Jeremy Strong (Penguin)
• Pizza Cake, Morris Gleitzman (Penguin)
Recommended Reads
• Billionaire Boy, David Walliams and Tony Ross (illus) (HarperCollins)
• The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, Liz Pichon (Scholastic)
• Dork Diaries, Rachel Renee Russell (Simon & Schuster)
• Fizzlebert Stump: The Boy Who Ran Away From the Circus (and joined the library), A F Harrold (Bloomsbury)
• Four of Diamonds, Anthony Horowitz and Tony Ross (illus) (Walker)
• Letters from an Alien Schoolboy, Ros Asquith (Piccadilly)
5. Out of this World
Online titles
• Heracles the Hero, Antonia Barber (Pearson Education)
• Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer (Penguin)
• Peter Pan, J M Barrie (Penguin)
• Aquila, Andrew Norriss (Penguin)
• Prehistoric Predators, Haydn Middleton (Pearson Education)
Recommended Reads
• The Haunting of Charity Delafield, Ian Beck (Bodley Head)
• Skellig, David Almond (Hodder)
• The Doomspell, Cliff McNish (Orion)
• The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide, Tony DiTerlizzi (illus) and Holly Black (Simon &
Schuster)
• Undead Pets 1: Return of the Hungry Hamster, Sam Hay and Simon Cooper (illus) (Stripes)
• Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, Kate Saunders (Marion Lloyd)
6. Stars of the Screen
Online titles
• James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl (Penguin)
• The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling (Penguin)
• The Story of Anne Frank, Brenda Ralph Lewis (Dorling Kindersley)
• Titanic Tragedy, Jane Penrose (Pearson Education)
• The Worst Witch, Jill Murphy (Penguin)
Recommended Reads
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, Frank Cottrell Boyce (Macmillan)
• Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, J K Rowling (Bloomsbury)
• The Hobbit, J.R.R Tolkien and David Wyatt (illus) (HarperCollins)
• How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell (Hodder)
• Lost Christmas, David Logan (Quercus)
• Matilda, Roald Dahl (Puffin)
7. Thrill Seekers
Online titles
• Ape Adventures, Catherine Chambers (Dorling Kindersley)
• Everything You Need to Know About Sharks (Dorling Kindersley)
• Rabbit, Bob Wilson (Pearson Education)
• Savitris' Tale and Other Heroic Stories, Anthony Horowitz - adapted by Trevor Baxendale (Pearson Education)
• Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior, Chris Bradford (Penguin)
Recommended Reads
• The Demon's Watch, Conrad Mason (David Fickling)
• The Grave Robber's Apprentice, Allan Stratton (Faber and Faber)
• H.I.V.E, Mark Walden (Bloomsbury)
• Itch, Simon Mayo (Doubleday)
• Sparks, Ally Kennen (Marion Lloyd)
• The Thief Lord, Cornelia Funke (Chicken House)
8. Wild Thing
Online titles
• Black Beauty, Anna Sewell (Penguin)
• Creatures in Danger (Globe Challenge Series), Alison Hawes (Pearson Education)
• The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog, Jeremy Strong (Penguin)
• Leopard Adventure, Anthony McGowan (Penguin)
• Rainforests at Risk (Globe Challenge Series), Alison Hawes (Pearson Education)
Recommended Reads
• Dog Called Homeless, Sarah Lean and Gary Blythe (illus) (HarperCollins)
• The Great Hamster Massacre, Katie Davies and Hannah Shaw (illus) (Simon & Schuster)
• An Imaginary Menagerie, Roger McGough (Janetta Otter-Barry)
• One Dog and His Boy, Eva Ibbotson and Sharon Rentta (illus) (Marion Lloyd)
• To be a Cat, Matt Haig (Bodley Head)
• Varjak Paw, S F Said (David Fickling Books)
The Read for My School scheme is ran by The Pearson Foundation and Booktrust. To find out more information on the scheme, visit www.readformyschool.co.uk
