At St Michael's School, reading is at the heart of all that we do. We have mindfully curated a bespoke sequence of texts that span from reception to year six. We believe that it is important for children engage with books that have stories and characters that they can relate to and see themselves in. With that in mind, we have incorporated a range of texts and genres that explore different religions, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. To ensure that our children experience a rich reading diet, each book/text has been selected to fit into one or more of our key categories: empathy, inclusive, culturally diverse, classics, modern classics, poetry, picture and Shakespeare. 

Please see below for more details on the books given to Year 5:

Year 5 Reading Curriculum

Astronaut's Handbook

Discover how you become an astronaut, the training you must undertake, how you travel into space and what you do when you're up there. With a foreword from ESA astronaut Tim Peake, the first British astronaut to embark on a mission to the International Space Station. Published in association with the UK Space Agency.

How to Train Your Dragon

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is a smallish Viking with a longish name. Hiccup's father is chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe which means Hiccup is the Hope and the Heir to the Hairy Hooligan throne - but most of the time Hiccup feels like a very ordinary boy, finding it hard to be a Hero.
In the first How to Train Your Dragon book Hiccup must lead ten novices in their initiation into the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. They have to train their dragons or be BANISHED from the tribe FOR EVER!

Oranges in No Man's Land     

Since her father left Lebanon to find work and her mother tragically died in a shell attack, ten-year-old Ayesha has been living in the bomb-ravaged city of Beirut with her granny and her two younger brothers. The city has been torn in half by civil war and a desolate, dangerous no man's land divides the two sides. Only militiamen and tanks dare enter this deadly zone, but when Granny falls desperately ill, Ayesha sets off on a terrifying journey to reach a doctor living in enemy territory.

Asha and the Spirit Bird   

Asha lives on a family farm with her mother in rural India in the foothills of the Himalayas. Life would be perfect if her father were with them instead of working at the factory in the faraway city. But she knows they wouldn't be able to afford their home without the money he sends home. When four months go by without a single letter, a ruthless debt collector arrives with a warning, and soon the entire world that Asha has known is threatened. Determined to save her home, Asha and her best friend must swallow their fears and set out on a dangerous journey across the Himalayas to find her father. As desperation turns to peril, Asha will face law enforcement, natural disaster, and the wild dangers of the Himalayas. But with a majestic bird and a green-eyed tiger as her guides, who she believes to be the spirits of her ancestors, she's determined to keep faith in order to save her family.

Jabberwocky   

"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The Listeners   

‘The Listeners’ was published in 1912 in de la Mare’s second collection. It is one of his most popular poems and touches on many of the themes and content that the poet is remembered for. He was fond of writing ghost stories, many of which are seen in Eight Tales as well as On the Edge and The Wind Blows Over.

Beetle Boy   

Can a boy be best friends with a beetle?
Thirteen-year-old Darkus Cuttle’s search for his kidnapped father leads him to discover a mountain of extraordinary beetles, and pits him against the mad-scientist of the fashion world, Lucretia Cutter, an haute couture villainess with an alarming interest in insects. A darkly hilarious adventure full of exotic beetles, daring schemes, and true friendship.

 Skellig

When a move to a new house coincides with his baby sister's illness, Michael's world seems suddenly lonely and uncertain. Then, exploring a ramshackle garage with new-found friend Mina, he finds something magical. A strange creature - part owl, part angel, a being who needs Michael's help if he is to survive.

Voices in the Park   

Four different voices tell their own versions of the same walk in the park. The radically different perspectives give a fascinating depth to this simple story which explores many of the author's key themes, such as alienation, friendship and the bizarre amid the mundane.
Anthony Browne's world-renowned artwork is full of expressive gorillas, vibrant colours and numerous nods to Magritte and other artists, while being uniquely Browne's own style.