How Many have You Read?

These recommendations originally appeared in the Telegraph – a UK newspaper.

To quote  Michael Morpurgo - "If children are to become readers for life, they first must love stories"

These books are recommended because of their ability to engage the child, allow them to use their imagination, for the life lessons they teach, and just because they are fun - of for all of these reasons.

After reading through I was most surprised to find that many of the following books were part of my own childhood.

Many of these stories have stayed with me in memory long after I read them.

I wonder how many you have read?

Early Years

The Twits, by Roald Dahl

Burglar Bill, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

The Tiger Who Came To Tea, by Judith Kerr

Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, by Beatrix Potter

Yertle the Turtle, by Dr Seuss

Fungus the Bogeyman, by Raymond Briggs

The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business, by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch

The Cat in the Hat, by Dr Seuss

Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle

Charlotte's Web, by EB White

The Story of Babar, by Jean de Brunhoff

Winnie-the-Pooh, by AA Milne, illustrated by EH Shepard

Middle years

Stig of the Dump, by Clive King

Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild

Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling

The Borrowers, by Mary Norton

Struwwelpeter, by Heinrich Hoffman

The Magic Faraway Tree, by Enid Blyton

Danny, the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl

George's Marvellous Medicine, by Roald Dahl

Underwater Adventure, by Willard Price

Tintin in Tibet, by Hergé

The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales

Erik the Viking, by Terry Jones, illustrated by Michael Foreman

When the Wind Blows, by Raymond Briggs

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by TS Eliot

The Iron Man, by Ted Hughes

The Owl and the Pussycat, by Edward Lear

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame

The Worst Witch Collection, by Jill Murphy

Peter Pan, by JM Barrie

Mr Majeika, by Humphrey Carpenter

The Water Babies, by Charles Kinglsey

A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I'm The King of the Castle, by Susan Hill

The Wave, by Morton Rhue

Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl

Bambert's Book of Missing Stories, by Reinhardt Jung

The Firework-maker's Daughter, by Philip Pullman

Tom's Midnight Garden, by Philippa Pearce

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

The Silver Sword, by Ian Serrallier

Cue for Treason, by Geoffrey Trease

The Sword in the Stone, by TH White

A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K LeGuin

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by JK Rowling

The Chronicles of Narnia Box Set, by CS Lewis

His Dark Materials Box Set, by Philip Pullman

The BFG, by Roald Dahl

Swallows and Amazons, by Arthur Ransome

Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now, by Lauren Child

The Railway Children, by E Nesbit

The Selfish Giant, by Oscar Wilde

Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

Just William, by Richmal Crompton

Jennings Goes to School, by Anthony Buckeridge

Comet in Moominland, by Tove Jansson

The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket

Teen Years

Call of the Wild, by Jack London

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll

The Outsiders, by SE Hinton

I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens

The Owl Service, by Alan Garner

The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank

Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, by Mildred D Taylor

A Kestrel for a Knave, by Barry Hines

The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien

War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo

Beowulf, by Michael Morpurgo

King Solomon's Mines, by H Rider Haggard

Kim, by Rudyard Kipling

The Road of Bones, by Anne Fine

Frenchman's Creek, by Daphne Du Maurier

Treasure Island, by RL Stevenson

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

Anne of Green Gables, by L M Montgomery

Junk, by Melvin Burgess

Cider With Rosie, by Laurie Lee

The Go-Between by LP Hartley

The Rattle Bag, edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes

The Song of Hiawatha, by H W Longfellow

Watership Down, by Richard Adams

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain

True Grit, by Charles Portis

Holes, by Louis Sachar

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

Carrie's War, by Nina Bawden

The Story of Tracy Beaker, by Jacqueline Wilson

The Lantern Bearers, by Rosemary Sutcliffe

I hope these book titles brought back some memories for you too.

Thank you for taking the time to read through. If you enjoyed your brief stay, please vote yes below.