Core Book Lists

Core Book Lists
 
We have structured our curriculum around sets of Core Texts in Nursery and Reception.  These are key books that we have selected for the children to read. We also plan much of the other learning activities around these books so that your child becomes immersed in a creative and imaginative world from the time they start with us.
 
The core Nursery Texts are:
 
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
  • Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
  • Where’s Spot by Eric Hill
  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Eric Carle
  • Jasper’s Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen
  • Kipper by Mick Inkpen
  • Come On, Daisy! by Jane Simmons
  • The 3 Little Pigs by Mara Alperin and Ag Jatkowska
  • Sharing a Shell by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks
  • We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
  • The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
  • Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers
 
The core Reception Texts are:
 
  • The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
  • The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson
  • Oi Dog! by Kes Gray
  • Hairy Maclary by Lynley Dodd
  • Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman
  • If I had a Dinosaur by Gabby Dawnay
  • Oliver’s Vegetables by Vivien French
  • The Bad Tempered Ladybird by Eric Carle
  • Mrs Armitage by Quentin Blake
  • Whatever Next by Jill Murphy
  • Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
  • The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
 
We encourage you to read these book again and again with your child at home. Children love hearing the same stories over and over and this also helps develop neuro-linguistic pathways in their brain. It also helps them to develop their own vocabulary and lets them hear how language flows as it is read fluently.
 
We appreciate that buying 12 books is expensive, we therefore have all these titles in our school library for you to borrow if you wish. In addition, any children who are in receipt of Free School Meals and the Pupil Premium Grant will receive a full set of these Core Texts when they are in Nursery and Reception.
 
In addition to the Core Texts, we also have a list of other recommended reads. These are available in school but may not necessarily have activites planned around them.
 
Recommended Texts:
 
  • Tabby McTat by Julia Donaldson
  • The Koala Who Could by Rachel Bright
  • Fergal is Fuming by Robert Starling
  • The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
  • Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
  • Oi Frog! series by Kes Gray
  • Funnybones by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
  • Not Now Bernard! by David Mckee
  • Elmer (series) by David McKee
  • What the Ladybird Heard (series) by Julia Donaldson
  • Zog by Julia Donaldson
  • Mr Men and Little Miss Books by Roger Hargreaves / Adam Hargreaves
  • Blue Penguin by Petr Horacek