Book 1 - The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon

(Mrs Ellison)

The hilarious homework diary of Tom Gates charts his progress through the trials and tribulations of school and home life, including a disastrous camping trip, his vexed relationship with nosey teacher Mr Fullerman and that perennial domestic trial - parents’ evening. Luckily, Tom’s appetite for humour means he can take such trials in his stride and mine them for comic potential. They also inspire some brilliant cartoons for the reader to enjoy.

Tom scribbles the world from his point of view, each page is an explosion of hand-written rants, funny stories and dynamic cartoons. 'All I want to do is get tickets to see the best band ever, DUDE3, when they come to town. It’s not easy when I’m up against Delia, my weirdo big sister, and all my plans seem to get me into MAJOR TROUBLE…'  

Book 2 - Mark Anchovy Pizza Detective by William Goldsmith

(Mrs Ellison)

Colin Kingsley is a pizza delivery boy with a twist. He's actually an aspiring detective. But in sleepy Rufflington-on-Sea, there are no cases to solve - until the Golden Spatula League come calling. The world's premier agency for 'caterer-detectives', run by children, the G.S.L. have been dazzled by Colin's freakish memory skills. To join their ranks, Colin - codenamed 'Mark Anchovy' - must fly to Rome to track down a valuable stolen painting, titled, 'Girl With A Squirrel'. The chief suspect: Big Alan Fresco, notorious art thief and pizza addict. It's the toughest, most pizza-ry mystery the G.S.L. have ever encountered. This hilarious adventure had me laughing from start to finish. Full to the brim of clever puns and unexpected twists, you will find this book tricky to put down!

Book 3 - Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne

(Mrs Ellison)

Four people go to the park, and through their eyes we see four different stories about what took place there. There's the bossy woman, the sad man, the lonely boy and the young girl whose warmth touches them all. As the story moves from one voice to another, their perspectives are reflected in the shifting landscapes and seasons.

I really enjoyed reading the different perspectives in this story, and then trying to connect them all together to find the relationships between the characters!

Book 4 - The Girl who stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook

(Mrs Ward)

Although this is a slightly trickier text for Year 4, I had to make it one of my recommendations!  It’s a true adventure story, with cliff-hangers at the end of almost every chapter and descriptions of true loyalty and friendship.  At the beginning of the book, Chaya is branded a thief and a rebel, but as the story unfolds, we see the true meaning behind her actions and realise that heroes come in all guises.  I hope you enjoy accompanying Chaya on her adventure and that you can identify with her friendships and sense of determination.

Book 5 - How Loud can you burp?

(Mrs Ward)

This is my Science-based Recommended Read: “How Loud can you Burp?”.

I love teaching Science at school because we get to do all kinds of fun experiments and generate lots of interesting (and sometimes quite random) questions!

I chose this book because the title captured my interest – until I read this, I had no idea how loud the loudest burp was!

I have learnt a lot about the world, animals and the human body from this book and I hope you find it as fun and interesting as I did.

Happy reading!