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Best preschool books
Hairy McClary
Just like you

The gruffalo to all the questions.
My 8 year old still loves a bit of the gruffalo @ bedtime.

We love Stick Man, Peepo and Can't you Sleep Little Bear? For our two year old. As a child I loved being read the Narnia books and The Secret Garden at bedtime.

Forgot the overall book which would have to be Peepo

Our two year old DD loves Monkey Puzzle (Julia Donaldson) too. It works well as a last bedtime story as she loves the ending and goes to sleep all happy. That and Peepo would be our favourites for under fives, although with two stories read every night there is a lot of rotation.

For 5 - 8s I remember loving the Faraway Tree books as a child so would be keen to re-read these tony children.

For over eights I remember loving the Swallows and Amazon books.

The Brambly Hedge Stories by Jill Barklem. Loved them as a child, introduced my dh to them a few years ago and he loved them too. Am looking forward to reading them to my soon to be baby boy. They are exciting and adventurous, tell tales of everyday kindness in a small community, and always end with little mice being tucked up in bed sleeping soundly. I still read them when I'm having a bad day, and they have been invaluable for clearing my head during pregnancy nightmares!

I think the best pre school books my dc enjoyed were Dear Zoo, 3 little Pigs and Goldilocks.

The best 5-8 were definitely The Little Red Hen, The Gingerbread Man and Billy Goats Gruff. They enjoyed anything they could join in with.

8-11 there were a huge variety of books they enjoyed including much of Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and of course Narnia series, Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit.

My favourite book of all time has to be Pippy Long Stocking. I read as a child and read it to dd now.

Though the Naughty Little Sister series have also been very much read and loved.

Mine is guess how much I love you, my DC are 7 & 9 now and we still.have to.read this book every night and have done for years, it still never fails to make.me teary eyed either.

I loved reading to my DDs and our favourites are:

• favourite book for under 5s (babies to 4 year olds): The Hungry Caterpillar

• favourite book for 5-8 year olds: A Necklace of Raindrops (& other stories) by Joan Aiken. The illustrations are by Jan Pienkowski and are wonderful.

• favourite book for 8-11 year olds: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

• overall favourite bedtime story of all time? Desert Station Oasis from A Necklace of Raindrops. I love this, the illustrations and the simple presents that they bring each other.

The Mousehole Cat - just utterly beautiful.

Baggy Brown - makes me cry

I love reading to my DCs, books are a big part of our lives but, TBH, my favourite stories are always the ones that we make up.
My DDad told my sisters and I a series of stories about the fairies and elves (with our names) who lived in mushrooms by The Old Oak Tree. I remember them being wonderful stories, very comforting and special.
Now I make up stories with my DCs. DS is currently having a series of stories in which he features as a superhero (who always puts on his superhero uniform one item at a time) who mostly defeats evil dinosaurs.
I know they love these stories because they would rather listen to them than anything else.

However - on the nights when I'm not up to story telling, it is hard to beat The BFG for everyone's enjoyment, whatever their age.

I dont have just one favourite for each category, sorry
Under 5s -Rumble in the Jungle, Duck in the Truck, Room on a Broom, The Little Mouse, the red ripe strawberry and the big hungry bear and the ladybird books - The gingerbread man, the magic cooking pot.
5-8 years - the Mog series (mine love that cat), Ladybird Books (ageless imho) On my way home by Jill Murphy, All the Large family books. Roald Dahl books.
8-11 years - Roald Dahl books, Shark Island by David Miller, Harry Potter Secret Seven, Famous Five,

All time favourite - Gosh thats impossible to say. If I had to chose a book that has given us the most pleasure over the years it would have to be The Gingerbread Man. Often its not the book being the best thats important its the experience of reading with your children and the conversations that follow.

Peace at Last by Jill Murphy has been the most read bedtime story by a long way in our house. Lots of joining in but with the theme of going to sleep seems to have made it a winner with every child I've put to bed with it.

Anything by Shirley Hughes, particularly the Alfie series, gives a nice, safe homey end to the day for younger children.

under 5s: Iggy Peck, Architect
5- 8s: We are loving Clarice Bean at the moment, for reading out loud, but it is a close run thing with anything by Mini Grey.

8 - 11s: I was a Rat by Phillip Pulman
favourite ever: Where the Wild Things Are. Without a shadow of a doubt. We read it most nights

Peepo is a strong contender but my favourite bedtime story for under fives is The Baby Who Wouldn't Go to Bed by Helen Cooper. I love the illustrations, and the line about the mother who was "ever so weary" but couldn't go to bed ntil the baby did.

Classic fairy tales by Helen cress well because it has the line 'the witch, for which she was'

We quite like ' time to sleep Alfie bear' at the moment (2yrs old)

8-11 the serendipity series, the faraway tree, aesops fables - morals!

As they get older I imagine reading some CS Lewis etc mainly because that's what my dad read to me.
My husbands answer would be some rudyard Kipling stories.

I have two under fives:
Monkey puzzle
The smartest giant in town
Aliens love underpants
Dear zoo
Thats not my dragon
Where is that monkey

Current fav of dd (20 months) is Dear Santa with flaps as I am asked 30+ times a day to read it that even my 4 year old can read it off by heart now.

all time fav is monkey puzzle because the kids can shout "No No No thats the ......." and a big shout of "MUM at the end of the book (it always makes us laugh)

What makes it a bedtime story?
We read anything at any time.
Saying that ds1 (4y) currently demands beatrix potter every night. DS2 (2y) demands something from my old battered traditional fairy tales book (ie the one I had as a child).
We were at my parents over the weekend, and Roald Dahls Revolting Rhymes were very popular, as was another compilation of songs and short tales from Mr Dahl.

DD1 is 2.6. Favourite bedtime stories include Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper, Monkey Puzzle and Night Monkey, Day Monkey by Julia Donaldson and I Like it When. I don't think any if us could pick a favourite.

Books I remember fondly from my own childhood include Ant & Bea and The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark.

I'll need to have an even longer think about all-time favourites.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar was one of my favourites as a child, and my 2 year old DS now loves it too. I love that it has stood the test of time. Very simple yet effective.

Not sure about the older age groups but as a child I loved the What Katy Did books by Susan Coolidge. DH is looking forward to reading the Faraway Tree and Roald Dahl books with DS.

Under 5 it's 'Guess How Much I Love You'
5-8 Fantastic Mr Fox, or George's Marvellous Medicine, or James and the Giant Peach....
8-11 I have really fond memories of a chapter a night of the Arthur Ransome stories - even though I was able to read then myself there was something special about being read to and they're good yarns!

Overall it would be Guess How Much I Love You - some books you never grow out of.

There are many books that I love but my favourite has to be "Guess How Much I Love You?" as it is a good, entertaining story but also just so heartbreakingly sweet, and with such a lovely message to share with little ones at bedtime.

Under 5's-

Harold & His Purple Crayon
The Big Blue Balloon
Crab Cat

Under 5s: I think my 2 year old would choose Julia Donaldson - either Room on the Broom or a Squash and a Squeeze. Personally I would go for The Tiger who came to Tea or Each Peach Pear Plum.
5-8 year olds: I was going to say The Owl who was afraid of the dark, an old favourite. But we have just started reading Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and 5 year old DD is listening with rapt attention like never before (DH is hooked too!). Even the 2 year old has been listening in!