Hello, it’s me Harry from Away With The Steiners.  I love to read while we are travelling!  Here are my Top 10 Books for 10-year-olds.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I have:
- Wonder
- Smart
- The Famous Five
- Diary Of A Wimpy Kid
- The Westing GameÂ
- The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nighttime
- The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry
- Horrible Histories
- The Hunger Games
- One Of Us Is Lying
1. Wonder – Books For 10-Year-Olds
- Title:Â Wonder
- Author:Â R.J. Palacio
WONDER is about a 10-year-old boy named August Pullman who has Treacher Collins syndrome. He is the same age as I am!
August has never been to school before as he was always homeschooled. Now he has started middle school and is meeting new friends along the way.
Some are nice to him and others not so much. But August is strong, and he is determined to have a good year at school.
I really enjoyed this book. It was sad at some parts. But I liked reading about August’s friend Jack Will who stands up for him when he needs a good friend.
2. Smart – Books For 10-Year-Olds
- Title:Â Smart
- Author:Â Kim Slater
This one was a good read for me. It is about a boy called KIEREN WOODS who is trying to figure out the mystery of a homeless man who has drowned near the local embankment.
Kieren and his new friend Karwana from Uganda who work together to solve the mystery and find the killer.
Also, Kieren really likes to draw and is a fan of the artist Trowly.
If you like a mystery story you will enjoy SMART.
3. The Famous Five Series
- Title:Â Five Go Off In A Caravan
- Author:Â Enid Blyton
I love this book series. It always has me on the edge of my seat when I’m reading it. I am currently on the sixth trilogy of the series!
This book series is about 4 children named Julian, Dick, Anne and George plus George’s faithful dog, Timmy.
Julian is the eldest and Dick is the second oldest sibling. George is the same age as Dick and her real name is Georgina. Although she doesn’t answer to anyone who calls her by Georgina!
Then there’s Anne who is the youngest and really enjoys cleaning and cooking. She likes everything organized and looks after everyone even though she is the youngest of the four kids.
The final character of the five is George’s dog Timothy – or Timmy. He is her faithful dog and is part of every adventure.
In every story they all go on epic adventures together. There is always some kind of mystery that they must solve.
I like how they meet different children and characters in the stories.
My favourite of the Famous Five books is Five Go Off in a Caravan where they meet a wandering circus, a boy called Nobby and his chimpanzee Pongo.
4. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Series
- Title:Â Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Author:Â Jeff Kinney
This series is really funny. I think it is a great book for 10 year olds. It is fun to read so even younger kids aged 8 – 10 would really like it.Â
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series follows a 12-year-old boy named Greg Heffley as he tells stories about his daily life and his family.
He writes funny diaries about his life at middle school.
He is not very good at making friends, but he has a best friend named Rowley. Greg and Rowley are the weaklings in their class and in the hallways. They have to try and survive with kids who are taller, meaner and some of them have to shave twice a day!
I really like this book series because it is funny to read.
5. The Westing Game – Books For 10-Year-Olds
- Title:Â The Westing Game
- Author:Â Ellen Raskin
The Westing Game is a story that follows 16 people who think they have nothing in common. But actually, they are all heirs that might inherit Sam Westings 200-million-dollar fortune.
In the story, none of them know he was their uncle. They must play the Westing Game to figure out clues while being paired in teams of two to see who will inherit their uncle’s 200-million-dollar fortune.
This is a great mystery story that keeps you wanting to find out the end!
6. The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nighttime
- Title:Â The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nighttime
- Author:Â Mark Haddon
This book follows a 15-year-old boy with Asperges syndrome, who finds his neighbors dog murdered with a garden fork. His name is Christopher.
He finds letters from his mother who he thinks is dead from a heart attack, but the letters are very recently sent from London.
Christopher must figure out 2 things at once. Who killed Wellington? (That’s the name of the dog that was murdered). And is his mother still alive?
I love this book. It might be my favourite out of the list of books here! It makes you want to keep reading and find out what has happened.
7. The Secret Of Ron Mor Skerry
- Title:Â The Secret of Ron Mor SkerryÂ
- Author:Â Rosalie K. Fry
This story is about a young girl named Fiona from the Scottish Isles.
She moved from her old island home to the mainland, but her baby brother Jamie was left behind on the island.
Fiona came back from the mainland and stayed at her grandparent’s cottage. From there she went to the island she used to live on to see if she could find Jamie.
This one is another great mystery story.
8. Horrible Histories – Books For 10-Year-Olds
- Title:Â Rotten Romans
- Author:Â Terry DearyÂ
This book series is absolutely amazing with funny drawings and text. It always makes me laugh!
The best part of all the book are the titles – Rotten Romans, Vile Victorians, Groovy Greeks, Terrible Tudors – and many more.
This is good for all the curious children from 6-10-year-olds who like all the gory and gruesome details.Â
My favourite one is the ROTTEN ROMANS. This was cool to read before we went to Rome. Plus, it has a funny history of toilets!
9. The Hunger Games Series
- Title:Â The Hunger Games
- Author:Â Suzanne CollinsÂ
This is an action story. It is a series of four books.
The stories follow 12 districts that every year send two contestants for a Battle Royale.
The contestants are young people from the districts of Panem, and they are forced to fight to the death.
It is quite graphic. But it is a really good read!
10. One Of Us Is Lying
- Title:Â One Of Us Is Lying
- Author:Â Karen M. McManus
This is another book series with three stories. It is about five teenagers that are sent to detention for the afternoon.
One of them, Simon dies of an allergic reaction, leading the remaining four to become suspects in his murder. The rest of the children must figure out who did it.
This was another book that had me hooked on the mystery. Though it does have a big surprise at the ending!
Which one would you choose?
Do you have a favourite book too?
I love reading while we are travelling.
Sometimes we have long journeys on a train across India or driving to new countries in Europe and Morocco in our motorhome. So, I love to read while we travel.
In India I like to visit a cool bookshop in Main Bazaar in New Delhi. It is called Jackson’s Bookstore, and it has all kinds of great finds of new and secondhand books.
Some of my favourite hostels that we have stayed also have bookshelves that are really big! Lots of travelers carry a Kindle now. But it is like finding a treasure when you can swap a book to carry on and travel with you.
I hope you enjoy some new reads!
From Harry.
Want to read more about our travels?Â
Read about our travel as a family and what it is like to travel the world as a 10-year-old!
These are some of our favourite places:
- Bali (Indonesia)Â
- IndiaÂ
- JapanÂ
- Kyrgyzstan
- MoroccoÂ
- PakistanÂ
- PhilippinesÂ
- Saudi ArabiaÂ
- TaiwanÂ
- Uzbekistan
- VietnamÂ
More useful links for your travel with kids
These are the companies we use and can recommend for planning and booking travel.
- Booking.com – The best all-around accommodation booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation. It is easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally.Â
- 12GoAsia – Book trains anywhere online.Â
- Skyscanner– This is by far our favourite flight search engine. They are able to search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites often miss. We book all our flights through Skyscanner. Â
- GetYourGuide– Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions offered all around the world. Everything from walking tours, to street-food tours, cooking classes, desert safari’s and more!
- SafetyWing – A global travel insurance that covers people from all over the world while outside their home country. You can buy it short or longterm; and even if you are out of the country.Â
- World Nomads – Travel insurance tailored for longterm travel and nomads (including those who have already left home). Make sure you have insurance before embarking on family travel!
