Get Reading: Must-read series books for 6-11 year olds

One they’ve finished the first, they’ll be hooked and want to get the rest – perfect for getting them to ask you to buy them books rather than you having to encourage them to read.
Niki Chesworth10 July 2013

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Greg Heffley’s escapades are hilarious and the comic drawings make these books entertaining and easier to read. Although set in America – with Middle School and Thanksgiving – the tales of family life and his battles with older brother Rodrick are universal. There’s a new one on the way.
Buy this book from the NOOK store here

Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross

For slightly young readers but a similar series of tales about the family, friends and school life of Henry and, in this case, his annoying brother Perfect Peter. There are so many books in the series, they’ll be entertained for months. The best bit ... Henry may be naughty, sneaky and be a tiny terror but kids love him.
Buy this book from the NOOK store here

The Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell

Humour and illustrations are a winning combination once again. Although the “dork” is 14-year-old Nikki Maxwell, her “not-so fabulous life” at Middle School appeals to younger tween readers between nine and 12 and has been described as Wimpy Kid for girls.
Buy this book from the NOOK store here

Hetty Feather by Jaqueline Wilson

The Tracy Beaker writer’s series about a girl abandoned by her mother at the Foundling Hospital in 1876 follows her story as she grows up. For girls nine to 11, part two sees Hetty returning as Sapphire Battersea.

Mr Gum by Andy Stanton and David Tazzyman

With bizarre characters and surreal stories, this series is full of humour, gross descriptions and strange tales set in Lamonic Bibber that also leave room for children to use their imaginations. Read them and laugh.
Buy this book from the NOOK store here

Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Slightly younger characters (fourth graders in the US – roughly aged 10), who are best friends, neighbours, class clowns and comic book creators whose hero – the eponymous Captain Underpants – is in fact their obese, cruel principal who has been hypnotised.
Buy this book from the NOOK store here

Tom Gates by L. Pichon

Perfect for readers who struggle with pages of dense text, these books are packed full of drawings, different sized fonts, doodles and jokes – making them easy page-turners that also entertain.

Bella Donna by Ruth Symes

She appears to be an ordinary little girl, but is secretly a little witchling who goes to school in the day but at her children’s home Coven Road, learns spells and magic. An antidote to princess stories, these are sweet tales for younger girls.
Buy this book from the NOOK store here

The Flip-Flop Club by Ellen Richardson

These tales of a wannabe aspiring actress Elly and her friends - girlie girl Sierre and Tash, who is more of an outdoors type - who form their own club is for any girl who loves pink and is desperate to grow up.

Beast Quest by Adam Blade

One for the boys with magical beasts, wizards, treasure, battles between good and evil, enchantments and heroes - they will appeal to boys of a certain age and as there are 60 in the series, there’s plenty to keep them engrossed (and they can even collect the playing cards).
Buy this book from the NOOK store here

More like this

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in