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"The Worst Witch" by Jill Murphy. I loved it 35 years ago and my DC's love it now. I was always more Maud than Mildred. :)

My absolutely favourite book from the age of 9 onwards is 'A Little Princess' by Francis Hodgson Burnett. I still remember the first time I read it, snuggled up on the sofa and how I didn't want it to end.

As a younger child I loved Shirley Hughes 'Dogger' and I enjoy reading it to DS1 (even though it makes me cry every single time!)

Goodnight Mister Tom is my favourite book from childhood. I really do think every child should read it. I've re read it many times and love it, taught me so much.

My favourite was always Enid Blyton's The Faraway Tree. I loved the saucepan man and the sense of adventure when you climbed the tree.
Also loved Mallory Towers though I ws very pleased I never went to boardung school! My childhood reading was dominated by Enid Blyton books and by comics such as Girl and School Friend.
Glad that my grandchildren's reading habits are much better and with a wider remit though I do wonder about the amount of fantasy they read these days whilst recognising that my choice was also a fantasy!!

My two dd's have both adored 'Tatty Ratty' by Helen Cooper. Dd1 (7) was very attached to her beloved stuffed cat; it was the love of her life and had been given to dd as a gift by a visiting relative. Until one fateful day, on a trip out with dh's brother, she dropped Cat somewhere in all the excitement and nobody realised till she got home..I never did find it again, and I searched in every single shop, physical and online for months.
'Tatty Ratty' is about a little girl who loses her beloved rabbit, and the story deals so beautifully and with sensitive imagination with the emotions and moments that a child will have after losing a beloved toy they are attached to.The book has stunning illustrations and a very soothing effect (I've also read it to my reception class in the past and almost had them nodding off , gold dust I tell you) and even now dd1 drops everything and listens in when I read it to dd2. (3).
Helen Cooper, we love you.

My favourite was/is Anne of Green Gables, i was so excited to introduce DD1 to it when she was around 8, she loves it too :)

These books are treasured in my memory:
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively, Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, When We Were Very Young by AA Milne. I must mention the timeless classics BFG amd Matilda by Roald Dahl. When i was a young teenager the Judy Blume books were a favorite especially Forever and Are You There God? It's Me Margeret.

For my DH it was Kes by Barry Hines and I've recently read it and loved it.

I really loved the Mrs Pepperpot series of books by Norwegian Alf Prøysen. They were so funny and imagative and are still produced today. Highly recommend these set of books :)

On the picture book front:

The Runaway Dinner
The Night Pirates
Tiddler

My childhood favourites included a book called or about Maisie Middleton - long before the other Maisy became popular - who 'yawned, stretched and jumped out of bed' - I can still recall the cadence of my father's voice reading it.

I loved the Swallow's and Amazon's series, and Robert Jarvis's Deptford Mice trilogy as an older child.

Reading to my daughter, we both have a love for all things Julia Donaldson and Oliver Jeffers. If I had to choose favourites they'd be Tyrannosaurus Drip and Lost and Found.

My favourite to read to my children was Puck's Peculiar Pet Shop by Dean Walley. I'm disappointed that it didn't become more popular but that's maybe not so surprising when it's actually a tongue-twisting story.

e.g. "Then, how about a Twisted Tretzel? The Tretzel's twisted like a pretzel. His wrists'll twist. His whiskers twister. He lives on wisps of twisted crispers. Forget all pets like Yatz and Gletzels. Your best bet's to get a Tretzel!"

It's certainly a very memorable book although not necessarily an easily pronounceable story. I did happen to be very good at reading though.

The His Dark Materials books as a PP said. I love these books so deeply I can't wait for my little one to be old enough to share them with her.

From my childhood I loved Bottersnikes and Gumbles by S Wakefield. Made me laugh until I cried! My favorites to read with DD almost 3 are 'There are cats in this book' - really original and sweet, and The Complete Winnie The Pooh, A A Milne. She really loves this and we read it every night before bed.

I'd opt for The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams having read it with DS last year. Funny, warm and moving with a great message. We couldn't wait to read the next chapter. A modern day classic.

ELMER was always my favourite! It has a wonderful moral to it along with beautiful illustrations!

My little girl is a HUGE Fan of Beatrix Potter her favourite book at the moment is the story of Miss Moppet

Anything by Shirley Hughes. I would sit looking at the beautiful illustrations whilst stories were read to me! One about a rainy day really sticks in my mind.

I'm still an avid reader now and my son had loads of books that he likes to look through! His favourites are the 'That's not my...' series which I remember reading to my little sister as well as Hairy Mclairy!

My favourite children's book is The Boy Who Swam with Pirhanas because it is brilliant and touching and enigmatic. It is the first book that got my children really thinking and talking about what we had read. It got inside their skin in a very good way and really got them fired up about reading.

Ooh ooh ooh! How to choose!

Peter Rabbit books. I had one with all these tiny letters in which I loved!

Winnie the pooh

Harry potter

Jacqueline Wilson

BIFF CHIP AND KIPPER!!! I can't tell you how many times I dreamt of the magic key and hoping it would still be there in my hand when I woke up!

Fairytales. Rumplestiltskin comes to mind!

Dr Seuss. I really liked poetry even as a kid and had two beloved kids poetry books. I'll never forget the picture to the 'tiger Tiger burning bright' poem and trying to paint it myself!

Roald Dahl. The twits and the witches especially!

I'm sure I'll be back with more! ;)

I loved the My Naughty Little Sister series I think it was because I had two younger sisters - I could relate to the narrator (the big sister)!!

I read Julia Donaldson books to my daughter now. My absolute favourite is Paper Dolls. I must admit I had a little cry the first time. It's the line about the Granny that does it

My favourite book was 'Paddington bear' series. they were great.

For little children, Each, Peach, Pear Plum, The Tiger Who Came toTea, The Gruffalo and Would You Rather.

For young readers, The Worst Witch and The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and The BFG as the first proper big child books.

A little bit older, and DD and I both loved Ballet Shoes and the Swallows and Amazons books - we have just finished Winter Holiday, which I think is the best of all. She also adores the Harry Potter and Hetty Feather books. I'm planning on introducing her to Goodnight Mr Tom soon.

I adored The Dark is Rising series, and Rumer Godden's books.

So many! Some not mentioned above are Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising books, anything by Diana Wynne Jones, The Little Prince and (didn't see this but someone must have said it...) The Wind in the Willows.

Recent ones include A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond, Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell and The Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine.

So many to choose from!
My favourite as a child was the original edition of What Do People Do All Day - I was fascinated by the pictures.
Loved Little House on the Prairie, Heidi, Olga da Polga and the Moomin books.
The Phantom Tollbooth, wanted to name my son Milo because of it (got overruled )
So many picture books to choose from - Where the Wild Things Are my childhood favourite. Have to have The Gruffalo and Gruffalo's Child of course.
But both my children and I have read and loved a very recent book, Pugs of the Frozen North by Philip Reeve which is just delightful and I am sure it will be a classic - heartwarming, exciting and amusingly surreal.

Redwall by Brian Jacques. There are so many in the series that the children grow out of being read to before you run out of books. These books are such a delight to read out loud owing to the fact that they are written in such a way that you have to read in the characters accents. I particularly like reading in the hares accent as they speak like world war 2 fighter pilots "wot wot." My dd enjoyed these and now I am reading them to my ds.
I also think Roald Dahl deserves a mention, as he also included everything a child needs in a book.

I was a bit book mad as a child, but several have stuck with me all the way to my 40's. I'll echo Goodnight Mr Tom as excellent, and the chalet school, and Garth Nix's Abhorsen series. Thursday's Children by Rumer Godden I have read many times and love.

But the one I would recommend above all others for the 8-11 range would have to be 'The Dark is Rising' sequence by Susan Cooper. I have spent the last six months reading all five of them to my DC at bedtime every night, and we finished tonight! The look on my DS's face as I read the last line repaid the entire six months in spades. He was lit up, and speechless, then said 'that was just the best book EVER'!

I have no idea how to follow it tomorrow night!!