Toppsta

Resource type: Booklists and book reviews

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4

Region(s): All of UK

Toppsta is a children’s book recommendation site that is powered by reviews from young people. Readers looking for a new book can browse by age range or by category to find recommendations from other readers just like them.

Toppsta also encourages young readers to post reviews of books that they have read to help other readers find their next great read. To become a reviewer, readers need to register. Children over the age of 13 can do this for themselves. Younger children require an adult to register as a Group leader and add them as members to their Group. Once added, younger children have their own login and can post their individual reviews.

You can review any children’s book that is currently in print – fiction and non-fiction. Reviewers can also apply to receive free giveaways of books that have just been published in return for a review. There are daily giveaways, but numbers are always limited and competition can be fierce!

Toppsta’s dedicated section for Schools and teachers provides recommended reading lists for Year Groups, for specific topics, or to tie in with events from the literacy calendar.

Cost: Free

Toppsta: Toppsta was launched in 2014 to help young people, their parents, grandparents and teachers find the best books. It now has over 80,000 book reviews from young readers and adults reading to or with children.

Literacy Hive Likes:

Teachers can set up Groups for a whole class, or for smaller groups such as book clubs to encourage their students to review the books that they have read.
As group leaders, teachers can see what their group members have been reading and reviewing.
There is a book review template to download, along with tips on how to write a good book review.
Seeing their reviews in print can be a great incentive and provides children with a reason to write.