The definitive list of books every child should read

[TheNightIsDark]

As chosen by you! They don't have to be masterpieces literary speaking but brilliant stories, strong characters etc

I'll start:

The Railway Children
Junk (older teen though!)
Harry Potter
A Little Princess
The Gruffalo

[TheNightIsDark]

There is a purpose to this btw! Trying to fill a kindle with all the books the DCs may ever need from birth to 14 or whenever they get into adult fiction.

[Sirzy]

things like the gingerbread man
Wind in the willows
BFG
Harry and his dinosaurs books

[EdithWeston]

There are lots of lovely suggestions on this thread

[NoComet]

Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nihm
Black beauty

My two are still refusing to read either (12&15) the older one would live both

Hers are room on a broom and secret garden

[TheNightIsDark]

I love the secret garden.

Will check out that thread. Thank you

[booksteensandmagazines]

I've got lists for 11-14 year olds on my site - contemporary and classic which you might get some ideas from. My favourites for classics are
The Outsiders by SE Hinton,
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott,
I Capture the Castle,by Dodie Smith and
Bridge to Terrabithia by Katherine Patterson.

[Rosencrantz]

The Jolly Postman series!

[melonribena]

Goodnight mr Tom
Forever
Any roald Dahl book

[TheNightIsDark]

Thank you.

I've been a bit sad and now have a notebook with 10 a5 pages of books to look out for. It includes whole series. I have told DP it's my will and if I die it's his job to pass the list on.

There's 4 DCs. The list is doable!

[KatOD]

Second Roald Dahl! Also the Narnia series by C S Lewis is a must-read, maybe also Phillip Pulman's Dark materials trilogy? How about the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings?

I really liked the Family at One End street books when I was younger but no-one seems to remember them now. Prob also the original Mary Poppins books by P L Travers.

[KatOD]

MelonRibena do you mean the Judy Blume Forever?!

[TheNightIsDark]

All on the list Kat

I spent hours searching through old threads. There's some I haven't come across before that sound brilliant.

[MrsSteptoe]

Golly, so depends on the child.
9-11 age range: Pig Heart Boy.
Five Children and It (Nesbit) - and I believe Jacqueline Wilson's updating on a theme, which I think is called Four Children and It, is also very good
Younger age range:
YY to the Roald Dahl books, but my favourites are Danny, Champion of the World and The BFG
Charlie Cook's Favourite Book (Donaldson & Schaffer)
Spike Milligan's Book of Milliganimals (that's for the grown ups too)
Dr Seuss's Ten Tall Tales

That'll do for now...

[MinkBernardLundy]

Flowers in the attic. not because they should. mother because it us good it is not but because very teenager I knew read it. and it is mainly better than 50 shades.

Another vote for Roald Dahl.
Lord of the rings?

Need to get some sci fi in there:
Dune trilogy
Terry Pratchett
Douglas Adams
Ray Bradbury short stories
William Gibson (for well into teenage years).

[NachoAddict]

I second Good Night Mr Tom, I read that so many times and was looking to buy it for DS.

I loved Jacqueline Wilson books as a child but I would read anything I could get my hands on!

Also liked the books about an indian in a cupboard, enid blyyon, loved The Secret Garden.

Oh Oh The Swiss Family Robinson, loved that and read it many times.

[monstermissy]

Any Judy Bloom! I loved it and her book will take you from child to teen. I see Forever mentioned ^^ just look out for Ralph

[MinkBernardLundy]

Oh and Charlotte web

[TheNightIsDark]

The best Judy Blume's were the Fudge stories. They still make me laugh.

I learnt all there was to know about puberty from Judy Blume. Not the fudge books of course. That would be weird.

[Amrapaali]

Calvin and Hobbes. Absolute must.

[soupmaker]

True Grit by Charles Portis. I'm going to read it to my girls then let them discover it as young teenagers. A marvellous book.

Animal Farm by George Orwell. Ditto the above. First time round it's a fairy tale second time round it's for when learning Russian history.

[NachoAddict]

I read a trilogy about psychics as a young teen which I really enjoyed and re read as an adult. Cant remember the name of it now.

I think it was Dark Visions by L J Smith (after a very brief google)

[nancy75]

Tom's midnight garden
Roald Dahl
Little Women
Diana Wynn Jones

[nancy75]

KatOD - I love the family from one end street!

[WhatAFeline]

Younger children

Tottie : Story of a Dolls House by Rumer Godden
A necklace of raindrops by Joan Aitken

Older children

Midnight is a place by Joan Aitken
Children of Morrow by H M Hoover

[WhatAFeline]

Yy everything by Diana Wynne Jones. Genius.