Tom's Midnight Garden
Philippa Pearce
Tom is sent to stay with his aunt and uncle in a flat with no garden, and he is bored and lonely. Then one night the old clock in the hall strikes thirteen. When Tom creeps downstairs and opens the back door, he finds a beautiful garden that should not be there, and a girl called Hatty.
- Length
- About 60,000 words
- To read it
- About 40 days
- Stage
- Key Stage 2
Reading time at 1,500 words a day, the pace we start from until we know your child’s own.
Where it is taught
Why Tom's Midnight Garden is on the list
- Year 5, Stretch. A step up in length or difficulty, for a confident reader.
Reading it here
What your child does with it
- 1
Choose it and set a finish date
You get a suggested target from the length of the book and your child's reading pace.
- 2
Check in along the way
A longer book has short check-ins every week or two, so it keeps moving and nothing is forgotten.
- 3
Answer two questions
When they finish: a review of the book, and a deeper question about how it works.
- 4
Get it marked, and redraft
Every answer is marked against the rubric for their year, with a reason for every score.