RTRP Books
Reading Teachers = Reading Pupils produces three high-quality and diverse booklists for teachers each academic year which are chosen by a panel of experts. The book lists consist of five books each and there is one for Lower-KS2 (Years 3/4), one for Upper-KS2 (Years 5/6) and one for KS3 (Years 7–9).
Any teachers are welcome to read and share these lists, but they are predominantly used by teachers in our RTRP Independent Partner network of teacher’s book groups who read and discuss the books with their peers before sharing with their pupils all over the country.
Our Selection Process
Selection Criteria
The five RTRP books are chosen for each age range according to the following criteria:
- Suitable for the age of the children
- High-quality texts (linguistically and/or thematically) that require some level of teacher mediation and inspire rich booktalk in the classroom
- Range of genres and writing styles (in terms of fantasy vs real world, character-driven vs language vs plot-driven)
- Diverse representation both in terms of author and protagonist
- Three must be published in the last two years
- One must be published pre-2000
- One must be a visual narrative where the pictures and text are interdependent to offer multi-layered meanings
Our RTRP Panellists strive to strike a balance between all these things across the academic year.
The books are presented below in an order which our panellists feel best reflects the structure of the academic year, but you are welcome to read and use the books in any order.
Please see below the booklists for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Lower Key Stage 2
The Notwitches
by Gary Panton
Register your class for our free and interactive live The Notwitches webinar with Gary Panton.
The webinar will be taking place on Monday 1st December 11am – 12pm
The Last Zookeeper
by Aaron Becker
It's time to take part in our creative writing challenge for the chance to win a prize and a certificate.
Entries close Thursday 19 March 2026.
Time Travellers: Adventure Calling
by Sufiya Ahmed
We will be hosting an in person Booktalk session for Gloucestershire Teachers on Tuesday 10th March 2026 4:30-5:30pm.
Please register to participate in this session.
Dungeon Runners: Hero Trial
by Kieran Larwood and illustrated by Joe Todd Stanton
Register your class for our free and interactive live Dungeon Runners: Hero Trial webinar with Kieran Larwood.
The webinar will be taking place on Monday 11th May 2026 11am – 12pm
Upper Key Stage 2
Reek
by Alastair Chisholm
We will be hosting an in person Booktalk session for Gloucestershire Teachers on Thursday 20th November 4:30-5:30pm.
Please register to participate in this session.
Birdie
by JP Rose
Register your class for our free and interactive live Zoom Birdie webinar with JP Rose. The webinar will be taking place on Wednesday 11th February 2-3pm
The Ogre Downstairs
by Diana Wynne Jones
It's time to take part in our creative writing challenge for the chance to win a prize and a certificate.
Entries close Thursday 21st May 2026.
Gold Rush
by Flora Delargy
Teaching notes for Gold Rush are now available to use in your classroom created by The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.
Bringing Back Kay-Kay
by Dev Kothari
Register your class for our free and interactive live Bringing Back Kay-Kay webinar with Dev Kothari. The webinar will be taking place on Thursday 2nd July 2026 11am – 12pm
Key Stage 3
Wild Song
by Candy Gourlay
We will be hosting an in person Booktalk session for Gloucestershire Teachers on Wednesday 19th November 4:30-5:30pm. Please register to participate in this session.
Young Hag
by Isabel Greenberg
Check out the free teaching resource for using Young Hag created by English and Media Centre here.
Wild East
by Ashley Hickson-Lovence
Register your class for our free and interactive live Zoom Wild East webinar with Ashley Hickson-Lovence. The webinar will be taking place on Friday 15th May 11am - 12pm
Howl’s Moving Castle
by Diana Wynn Jones
It's time to take part in our creative writing challenge for the chance to win a prize and a certificate.
Entries close Thursday 18th June 2026
Kingdom Over the Sea
by Zohra Nabi
Register your class for our free and interactive live Zoom Kingdom Over the Sea webinar with Zohra Nabi. The webinar will be taking place on Thursday 2nd July 2-3pm.
