Children complete quizzes on books to assess their understanding but can also vote for books in terms of whether they enjoyed the book or not. Of course, degree of understanding is not the same as personal preference, and the two measures should not be confused. The voting system enables pupils to select one of four ratings of a book: One of the best books I have ever read; A very good book; An OK book and Not a good book.
These four ratings are used to generate an Average Book Rating, which is then weighted taking into account issues such as a minimum number of votes, the overall number of votes cast for a particular book, and the context of ratings in that particular Year.
Year 1
Numbers of pupils responding in this Year are low, so results may not be reliable. Many books had not appeared the year before. No author had more than one book in the list. However, the top book was Fluff the Farting Fish by Michael Rosen. The other authors were very diverse (see table 35). Given the amount of change from year to year at this level, teachers and librarians have a major task in terms of their time and the funds available in updating book resources. It indicates that librarians need very up-to-date information about children’s preferences if they are to be able to respond to child motivations. Average ATOS was 1.9 (UK equivalent 2.9), up a little from the previous year, indicating the pupils were reading at nearly two years above their chronological age. Were they reading these books accurately? Average APC was 0.92, virtually the same as the previous year, so the answer overall is “yes”.
Year 2
Year 2 numbers responding were again quite low, so results again should not be taken as reliable. Jill Murphy topped the list with The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star, but Andy Griffiths had four books including three in high places. J. K. Rowling had three books. Harriet Muncaster, Daisy Meadows and Tom Fletcher had two books each. Other authors were again very diverse (see table 36). The average ATOS rating was 4.5 (UK 5.5), another large increase from the previous year. These children were reading books three and a half years above their chronological age. Average APC rose slightly to 0.91.
Year 3
In Year 3 the numbers were larger and the data more reliable. Cornelia Funke had the top book with Dragon Rider, but after that J. K. Rowling occupied the next five places. After that, Rick Riordan and Katie Tsang both had three books, much as last year. Other authors were very various (see table 37). The average ATOS rating was 5.4, much the same as the previous year (UK Years 6.4). These books were nearly three and a half years harder than the chronological age of the pupils. Average APC was 0.90, up a little from the previous year.
Year 4
J K Rowling had the top two books, with Katie Kirby close behind with two. Rick Riordan had five books lower down and Erin Hunter had four books (see table 38). The average ATOS rating was 5.5, somewhat higher than last year (UK Years 6.5). These pupils were reading two and a half years above their chronological age. Average APC was 0.92, slightly down from last year.
Year 5
J K Rowling had the top book, but Rick Riordan had the next three places and a further two books in the list. Below this, Erin Hunter had eight books in this list (one more than last year). Chris Colfer had two books, as did Soman Chainani. A number of these books were of very high readability (see table 39). The average ATOS rating was 5.6, an increase on last year (UK Years 6.6). These books were over a year and a half harder than the children’s chronological age. Average APC was 0.94 (much as last year).
Year 6
Rick Riordan topped the list with The Blood of Olympus and had one further book in the list. Erin Hunter and Christopher Paolini had three books, while Darren Shan and Tui T. Sutherland had two (see table 40). The average ATOS rating was 5.7, a substantial increase from last year (UK Years 6.7). These pupils were reading nearly a year above their actual age. Average APC was 0.93, much as last year.
Year 7
Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One was top. Erin Hunter and Christopher Paolini had two books relatively high up the list. Tui T. Sutherland had three lower down, while Derek Landy and Holly Black two lower down (see table 41). The average ATOS rating was 5.7, much as last year (UK Years 6.7). In the first year of secondary school, these pupils were reading books which were already half a year below their chronological age level. The average APC was 0.94 (much the same as last year).
Year 8
Derek Landy was top with Until the End. J. R. R. Tolkien was second with The Return of the King and had another book lower down. Erin Hunter had four books, while Taran Matharu had three lower down (see table 42). Alice Oseman had disappeared from the list (five books last year). The average ATOS rating was 5.7 (a huge increase from last year) (UK Years 6.7). The disappearance of Alice Oseman’s low readability books might have had something to do with this. These books were about a year and a half below chronological age. The average APC was 0.93 (much the same as last year).
Years 9-11
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas was top and she had one other book in the list. Tahereh Mafi had the next two places and two other books in the list. Holly Jackson had three, while Leigh Bardugo had two (see table 43). Alice Oseman had declined from five books to one. The average ATOS rating was 5.4, an enormous increase on last year (UK Years 6.4), but still lower than Year 8 pupils. These books were at least three and a half years easier than chronological age. The average APC was 0.93, much as last year.