What are the best 'classic' children's books?

[babybouncer]

I've finally got round to unpacking my old collection that I bought (and boxed!) before my kids were born. I spent a very happy childhood with my nose permanently in a book and wanted to create a collection of classics to share with my nieces and my own children (and maybe grandchildren way off in the future!) and now the eldest is 4 I am getting excited about reading some of them to him. I have quite a few Winnie the Pooh, Just William, Peter Rabbit leading on to things like Treasure Island, Swallows and Amazons, Charlotte's Web and The Railway Children.

I feel I'm missing Enid Blyton (but which books?) and now I can't think of what else to add to my wish list?

What others could I look out for that are classic (especially primary school age) children's books?

[Smartiepants79]

The iron giant
Stig of the dump
Dick king smith.
Anne Fine

[LizzieVereker]

The Secret Garden

[notyummy]

Yes yes to Silver Sword. Also The Machine Gunners and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit are both amazing.

[Hamwidgeandcheps]

The mouse and his child Russell Hoban

[DollyClothespeg]

Anne of Green Gables (loved that book!)

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Enid Blyton:

• The Magic Faraway Tree
  
• The Famous Five
  
• The Secret Seven
  
• The Adventurous Four
  
  The Tiger Who Came To Tea
  The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  
  The Mr Men series by Roger Hargreaves
  (also the Timbuctoo series by Roger Hargreaves too)

[Quangle]

yy to the Silver Sword (sob) and
I am David (sob, sob)

For poems, AA Milne, When We Were Very Young is fantastic. Also I Love This Poem is a great collection for children by children.

And my all time childhood favourite is a not very well known book called The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell.

I didn't grow up with this but have just read DD (6) Emil & The Detectives and it was a huge hit.

[SuiGeneris]

Robinson Crusoe
A man called Friday
20.000 leagues under the sea
Silver skates
The four mosqueteers
Sarah Crewe (or the princess in the garret)
Little Lord Fauntleroy
The little prince
Tom Sawyer
Huckleberry Finn
Pippi Longstocking
The Greek myths (in a bowdlerised version adapted for children)
Collections of fairy tales (the proper versions, not the Disneyfied ones), but be careful if the children are impressionable: I had nightmares from Bluebeard and Hansel and Gretel....

Some of these are very very old-fashioned, but very much fun.

[Hamwidgeandcheps]

Yy to the little prince it's unusual and beautiful and unforgettable

[GrouchingTiggerHiddenSomething]

I've just finished reading "The Land of Green Ginger" by Noel Langley to DS (who is 7) and we've really enjoyed it together. I remember loving it as a child.
I agree with a lot of the suggestions above others I have enjoyed rediscovering with DS include;
Moomins (Tove Jansson)
Mrs Pepperpot stories (Alf Proysen)
Green Smoke (Rosemary Manning)
The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster)
Nicolas stories (Goscinny - the guy who wrote Asterix)

Enjoy :)

[Periwinkle007]

ooh I have some Nicolas ones in the loft - had forgotten about them.

[Ponders]

Harry the Dirty Dog

I agree with most of what's already been posted but you'll need to wait a few years before starting some of them if your eldest is only 4

My own mind has gone blank apart from Harry (oh, Clifford is good too while I'm on dogs)

[Ponders]

The elephant ones - the Large family? Can't think of any titles just now...

[Ponders]

Large books by Jill Murphy who also wrote the Worst Witch. 5 Minutes' Peace etc

[DTisMYdoctor]

Some great suggestions here, and a big YY to Roald Dahl. I'm currently working through reading them to DS (5) and he adores them. Just finished BFG.

[sassafrassj]

The Betsy-Tacy series also deserve a mention. Ten books that take the friends from their meeting at age 5 to marriages. Great writing.

[MotherBluestocking]

Wholeheartedly endorse much of the above.
My five-year-old has loved:
My Naughty Little Sister (Shirley Hughes)
The Dribblesome Teapots (Norman Hunter - great fun for grown-ups too)
Anything by Roald Dahl
Harry Potter 1 and 2

Books I loved at the beginning of my reading journey included the following:
Enid Blyton Adventure series (The Valley of Adventure was the first 'proper' book I ever read!)
Little Women (first in an abridged version)
Noel Streatfeild - Ballet Shoes, Tennis Shoes, The Painted Garden etc
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Rosemary Sutcliffe - The Eagle of the Ninth is quite heavy going for little ones, but there are some simpler ones - The Armourer's House, for example
Cynthia Harnett - wonderful stories of medieval London
Just William
Biggles (trying to think of some more chappish titles here!)
All the Victorian-orphan classics - Anne of Green Gables, Pollyanna, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, What Katy Did
The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy
The Borrowers (Mary Norton)
C S Lewis, obvs

• but I think I've probably gone on quite long enough!

[henmum]

Hilary McKay - The Exiles, The Exiles at Home, Dog Friday, The Amber Cat
My daughter and I both enjoyed these a lot when she was about 8-9, the scene in The Exiles at Home where the younger children are sitting in the dog kennel making marmalade sandwiches to sell to their school friends had me laughing with tears running down my face.
I would second Teddy Robinson, and Jeremy James, we had them on tape, good for age about 5+

[claraschu]

Loads of my favourites have been mentioned but no one has suggested Dr Dolittle books, all of which I absolutely loved, and so do my children.

[LadyFlumpalot]

"Children of the New Forest", "The Psammead" and a massive YY to "I Am David"

[AmIGoingMad]

Allan Ahlberg 'heard it in the playground'

And yes to mrs pepper pot- I'd forgotten about her!

[jongleuse]

Just been slavering over the Folio Society catalogue-gorgeous editions of many old favourites including Ballet Shoes, Anne of Green Gables and The Wizard of Oz. Also Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence, CS Lewis's Narnia books and Rosemary Sutcliffe. Horribly expensive but would make a lovely christening or birthday present..

[emmalaybourn]

TH White - the Sword in the Stone (even better than the cartoon film)
and The Little Grey Rabbit Stories by Alison Uttley for gentle nostalgia

[lostintoys]

The Mary Poppins books, anything by E. Nesbit, The Family at One End Street, Tom's Midnight Garden, all the Noel Streatfield books, Tintin.

[annie06]

'Dogger' by Shirley Hughes
'The Far Away Tree' series by Enid Blyton (the language is a bit 'jolly hockey sticks' but that's part of the fun!)
'Gangsta Granny' by David Walliams
Also, Holly Webb is an author that my 8 year old daughter has just discovered and is really enjoying.

[Kikibee]

Richard scarry books, I loved lowly worm :)