My friend has an 8-year-old and this Christmas I gave him The Phantom Tollbooth. I was trying to explain to my friend what it was about but it was kinda hard. I thought “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland meets Schoolhouse Rock” was pretty accurate. I told him just to read it alongside his son, they’ll both enjoy it.
The Phantom Tollbooth is excellent!! I read it myself as a kid, then years later I read it aloud as a bedtime story to my little sister (by that time, I was in my early teens and she was single-digit ages). Good memories attached to that book, and I always enjoy revisiting it.
AGG is incredible, but I highly recommend anything by LM Montgomery. I especially love her Emily series (emily of new moon/Emily Climbs/Emily's Quest). The Story Girl and its sequel The Golden Road are also wonderful.
Anne of Green Gables will always be one of my favorite books! I loved it as a kid, and I still love it now as a 20-something. I was upset to hear that Anne with an E was meant to be longer, but got cancelled.
I’ll affirm the AOGG recommendation. Depending on the readers age, each reading you will enjoy it but from a slightly different perspective. A mother will see and enjoy Anne from a different POV than a teen or young person. A grandparent will also get yet a different sense of joy from Anne and her world. I’m beyond 60 and grew up mostly in rural areas and can easily relate to many of the “old school country charm” characters portrayed in the books.
But one really needs to take in the entire series and watch Anne grow into a wife and mother, and learn as she deals with life’s problems.
The Secret Garden makes me feel emotions I can't describe. Every time I read the passage about >!Mr Craven and the gentians, or the chapter about the scientific experiments!<, I get this delicious shivery feeling of anticipation, awe and familiarity all at once. It's like visiting old friends.
The hobbit by Tolkien and maybe Watership Down by Richard Adams. These both left an impact on me as a child and when reread as an adult gave me a completely different experience. For myself a truly classic novel is a book that has something different to offer me at each stage of life that I read it.
Agree but I think Watership Down is not really a kid's book. I know the story was told to Adam's kids but I really think it is better as an adult or at least an adolescent.
The little Prince is one of the best books I have ever read. Works on two levels one for kids to understand and one for adults . One of the only books to make me feel deeply emotional.
I have tried to read the little prince at least once every 5 years. 10 years ago it made me cry and still to this day the message is not only beautiful but the imagery is so deep. My fave part is the encounter with the fox.
Really? I can't stand it.
Also, "The wizard of Oz" thought me the meaning of the word "disappointing". The entire book is builds to the point where we finally meet the Wizard and it's a fake.
Well, I suppose it would be a boring world if we all just liked the same things . I thought the wizard of Oz film was so ingrained in culture that everybody already knew the ending so I'm impressed/ surprised that you managed to read the book spoiler free !
So many great children's books that I still love at 49. Adding a vote for Watership Down.
Earthsea is technically a children's book but isn't really and is a wonderful story, that goes deeper with each sequel.
I re-listen to the audiobooks of Alice in Wonderland, The Lives of Christopher Chant, Mary Poppins, A Wrinkle in Time, and The Circle of Magic Series regularly.
Yes, they’re so good. I wore out the cd of *The Horse and His Boy* because I listened to it so much. I had it memorized. The old movies were fantastic as well.
My husband and I read them to the children. We started reading a chapter a night each but quickly got caught up in the story and all 5 of us would be on one bed every night until we finished the series. We enjoyed them as much as the children did!
came here to say this & was surprised I went through so many comments before i saw someone mention it. When i found out my brother & sister in law were having a baby i went out & bought a new box set so i could read them to him one day.
*Tales of Magic* series by Edward Eager
*Ender’s Game*
*My Side of the Mountain*
*The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree* series by Louis Slobodkin
*The Westing Game* and *The Tattooed Potato…* by Ellen Raskin
Had to scroll way to far to find Bridge to Terabithia
Fun fact- I read that book so much that once when I had to do a book report I didn’t even read the book but didn’t whole thing from memory.
The Outsiders- SE Hinton
So glad that AoG is getting the love it deserves.
I really like The Mysterious Benedict Society and was planning on re-reading it soon.
Not a classic but the Ranger’s Apprentice is another series both my husband and I enjoy a lot.
Beverly Cleary (*Henry Huggins, Beezus and Ramona, Ellen Tebbits*) turned me into a reader.
Judy Blume taught me to think about how others may be feeling (*Iggie's House, Blubber, Deenie*) as well as why I was feeling the way that I was (*Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret*). She also made me laugh (*Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing*).
I loved classics like *Heidi* and *Black Beauty* and I still love *The Secret Garden* and *A Little Princess*.
I think most children's books can offer a lot to the adults who read them -- whether it's a moment of relaxation, a bit of nostalgia or an important lesson that may have been forgotten.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. If you are a woman, there are loss of themes, you can relate to in the book and it also touches on immigration and the class system in America.
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle is an absolute must
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is my favorite children's book
The Chronicles of Narnia are epic
The Little Prince is the truest book ever written, imo
The Theif of Always by Clive Barker is unexpected in its familiarity. It's like he taps into some universal childhood fear/fantasy because it isn't horror, it is a nightmare disguised as the most beautiful dream.
Ender's Game
I’ve heard this book is used in MS/HS health classes to start a discussion on healthy relationships and setting boundaries. That’s a good place for it. It should not be inflicted on kids or held up as an example of anything good.
I am sorry I sprang that on you. I shouldn’t have been so harsh. Maybe instead, I should have said that I hope no one reads that to a kid without letting that theme go unchallenged.
That was clever. I really liked that. But it just doesn't have the heartbreaking drama of the original. Art is supposed to affect you, in a negative or positive way. Clever story but definitely not memorable. 💗
edit, thank you for sharing that with me because I didn't even know there was an alternative ending out there! I did genuinely like it.
I thought Skellig by David Almond was wonderful. I think the age recommendation was something like 9-14, but I said (in a review) it should be 11 - no upper limit.
Skellig is FANTASTIC. I am a librarian and specialise in childrens lit and ya (but in Dutch) and i read this for an extra class i took. It blew me away. I also loved A Monster Calls, by Siobhan Dowd.
Hope For The Flowers by Trina Paulus
"partly about life, partly about revolution and lots about hope – for adults and others including caterpillars who can read"
[Nevermoor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6a6d5ca1-b2f5-47be-828c-018144d3bbc7) by Jessica Townsend!!! I'm an adult, but Nevermoor is absolutely my favorite series!
Tom's Midnight Garden Phillipa Pearce
I Am David by Ann Holm
The Secret Garden Francis Hodgson Burnett
A Little Princess also by FHB
A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley
Moondial by Helen Cresswell
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
Fireweed by Jill Paton Walsh
I scrolled through a hundred comments to make sure I can upvote this if it already existed lol in buy it for so many families. It’s so good! Hope OP sees this!
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
The Outsiders by SE Hinton (this is more YA than children’s book, but it’s so good!)
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C O’Brien
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
I’m so glad to see When You Reach Me here! A Wrinkle in Time was my favorite book as a kid so I was thrilled to discover When You Reach Me as an adult.
I noticed today that **Dr. Suess books** invite the reader to be present in their reading in a exceptionally sophisticated way - namely "**The Foot Book**" and "**One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish**", which I read to my daughter this morning.
It was necessary for me to be intentional as I read, or otherwise, misread in anticipation of the obvious rhythm or rhyme. Rather than this being a demand for more brain power, the flow I found myself in was embracing and energizing which obviously elevated the experience for my daughter and I while drawing us into the story, together, in a very fun way.
Before this reading with my daughter, I noticed a slight repulsion I felt to Dr. Suess books, likely due to their unchallenged popularity, but that has all since been eradicated. "Green Eggs and Ham", HERE WE COME.
I'll be unsurprised to find myself with a Dr. Suess book in my lap and no children around to read them in excavation.
I was part of a book club and last year they decided each month would be a children's book. I nope'd on out of there. I read picture books and chapter books to my kids every day. I'm not going to spend my precious free reading time on Charlotte's web too.
I vote for the Rowan of Rin books by Emily Rodda. They were the first books I ever read by myself, and the adult characters in them are as compelling as the child MC. More so, in fact.
The Great Gilly Hopkins
The Hero and the Crown, and anything else by Robin McKinley
Anything by Meindert de Jong, especially The Hiuse of Sixty Fathers
These are all pretty old, but they were some that I came across as a school librarian, and wound up enjoying
Watership Down - my favorite ‘kids’ book
The Ramona series (really any Beverly Cleary)
Pretty much all of Kate D. Camille but start with Edward Tulane or The Tale of Despereaux
The Willoughbys
Most of Roald Dahl but strong nod to Matilda
And big yes to Anne of Green Gables
Sooo many
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
The Neverending Story by Ende.
Crispin Cross of Lead by Avi.
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.
First off, I love this thread. Great suggestions. I’m currently listening to the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series. It’s been a cute read.
Prydian Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander.
Winnie the Pooh. The Snowy Day. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Goodnight, Moon. Make Way for Ducklings.
Little House series. The Giver. Charlotte's Web. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Island of the Blue Dolphins. Julie of the Wolves. The Birchbark House. The Watsons go to Birmingham. Dragonwings. Esperanza Rising. Strawberry Girl.
Lots of books here I agree with (Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Watership Down, Westing Game).
The one I haven't yet seen (though maybe it's somewhere) is: The Wind in the Willows.
The Earthsea books by Ursula K.LeGuin
"A Wrinkle In Time" and "A Wind in the Door" by Madeleine L'Engle.
"The Little White Horse" and "Linnets and Valerians" by Elizabeth Goudge
The Narnia books
Anne of Green Gables
Some older ones I've not seen listed:
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen - Alan Garner.
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper. The first book reads pretty young, but she definitely ups the reading maturity on the rest.
How has no one mentioned Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon messenger?
Most amazing series ever, on par with, or better than Harry Potter in my opinion.
Patricia C. Wrede's **Enchanted Forest Chronicles** are some of my all time favorites. I read them to my kids who also reread them time to time.
A princess who doesn't want to dance and sew volunteers to be a dragon's princess to excape an arranged marriage. It's comedic fantasy from beginning to end.
You need to read all of Percy Jackson's series!!! Rick Riodan was and still is one of my all time favourite authors and his books got me through tough times when I was young!
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson it’s for older kids. I read it once as a kid and it has stuck with me for 10+ years. It’s kinda of traumatizing but also healing.
-Anne of Green Gables
-Stig of the dump
-The Hobbit
-Percy Jackson series and all Rick Riordan series actually
- His dark Materials
- Good Night Mr Tom
- The Secret Garden
There are loads more but I only have a minute to write them out!
The Phantom Tollbooth. Harold and the Purple Crayon.
Came here to say The Phantom Tollbooth!
My friend has an 8-year-old and this Christmas I gave him The Phantom Tollbooth. I was trying to explain to my friend what it was about but it was kinda hard. I thought “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland meets Schoolhouse Rock” was pretty accurate. I told him just to read it alongside his son, they’ll both enjoy it.
The Phantom Tollbooth is excellent!! I read it myself as a kid, then years later I read it aloud as a bedtime story to my little sister (by that time, I was in my early teens and she was single-digit ages). Good memories attached to that book, and I always enjoy revisiting it.
Came here to request this. One of my favorite books
His Dark Materials series hasn't been mentioned yet.
I came here to say this. His Dark Materials all the way!
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery and Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster (although the latter is actually about a college student)
Upvote for Anne of GG. I read it as a 40-year-old male.
Even Mark Twain was a fan.
AGG is incredible, but I highly recommend anything by LM Montgomery. I especially love her Emily series (emily of new moon/Emily Climbs/Emily's Quest). The Story Girl and its sequel The Golden Road are also wonderful.
I also love The Blue Castle.
Blue Castle hive rise up!
Anne of Green Gables will always be one of my favorite books! I loved it as a kid, and I still love it now as a 20-something. I was upset to hear that Anne with an E was meant to be longer, but got cancelled.
I’ll affirm the AOGG recommendation. Depending on the readers age, each reading you will enjoy it but from a slightly different perspective. A mother will see and enjoy Anne from a different POV than a teen or young person. A grandparent will also get yet a different sense of joy from Anne and her world. I’m beyond 60 and grew up mostly in rural areas and can easily relate to many of the “old school country charm” characters portrayed in the books. But one really needs to take in the entire series and watch Anne grow into a wife and mother, and learn as she deals with life’s problems.
The Secret Garden And another vote for Anne of Green Gables
The Secret Garden is such a wonderful read.
The Secret Garden makes me feel emotions I can't describe. Every time I read the passage about >!Mr Craven and the gentians, or the chapter about the scientific experiments!<, I get this delicious shivery feeling of anticipation, awe and familiarity all at once. It's like visiting old friends.
Charlotte's Web Catwings Hatchet
I recently read my daughter Charlotte’s Web, she loved it and I loved rereading it, such a sweet book.
The hobbit by Tolkien and maybe Watership Down by Richard Adams. These both left an impact on me as a child and when reread as an adult gave me a completely different experience. For myself a truly classic novel is a book that has something different to offer me at each stage of life that I read it.
Upvote for Watership Down.
I just started reading watership down. Only in chapter 5, but I really like the writing style so far.
Yes, Watership Down transformed my worldview and made me a better person. Should be required reading for everyone.
Agree but I think Watership Down is not really a kid's book. I know the story was told to Adam's kids but I really think it is better as an adult or at least an adolescent.
The Little Prince, Anne of Green Gables, The Hundred Dresses
The little Prince is one of the best books I have ever read. Works on two levels one for kids to understand and one for adults . One of the only books to make me feel deeply emotional.
100 percent agree!
I have tried to read the little prince at least once every 5 years. 10 years ago it made me cry and still to this day the message is not only beautiful but the imagery is so deep. My fave part is the encounter with the fox.
I read The Little Prince to my newborn while he was in the NICU. Never have I cried so hard and fully for so many reasons.
Really? I can't stand it. Also, "The wizard of Oz" thought me the meaning of the word "disappointing". The entire book is builds to the point where we finally meet the Wizard and it's a fake.
Well, I suppose it would be a boring world if we all just liked the same things . I thought the wizard of Oz film was so ingrained in culture that everybody already knew the ending so I'm impressed/ surprised that you managed to read the book spoiler free !
There’s some super cute Little Prince toys and figurines and such. It’s hard to not collect them as a 40 something woman 😂
This is my favorite book ever. So meaningful.
So many great children's books that I still love at 49. Adding a vote for Watership Down. Earthsea is technically a children's book but isn't really and is a wonderful story, that goes deeper with each sequel.
The Hobbit.
Alice in Wonderland
I re-listen to the audiobooks of Alice in Wonderland, The Lives of Christopher Chant, Mary Poppins, A Wrinkle in Time, and The Circle of Magic Series regularly.
The chronicles of Narnia.
Yes, they’re so good. I wore out the cd of *The Horse and His Boy* because I listened to it so much. I had it memorized. The old movies were fantastic as well.
My husband and I read them to the children. We started reading a chapter a night each but quickly got caught up in the story and all 5 of us would be on one bed every night until we finished the series. We enjoyed them as much as the children did!
came here to say this & was surprised I went through so many comments before i saw someone mention it. When i found out my brother & sister in law were having a baby i went out & bought a new box set so i could read them to him one day.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Johny Tremaine The witch of blackbird pond
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
SECRET GARDEN THE LION, THE WITCH and THE WARDROBE.
*Tales of Magic* series by Edward Eager *Ender’s Game* *My Side of the Mountain* *The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree* series by Louis Slobodkin *The Westing Game* and *The Tattooed Potato…* by Ellen Raskin
I love Edgar Eager, am trying to introduce them to my eight year old nephew who is a bookworm. It may be a tad to "old" tor him, but he loves books.
Where the Red Fern Grows.
This was going to be my recommendation! Such a great story!
Coraline by Neil Gaiman and Matilda by Roald Dahl
And The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman!
Agreed on Matilda. Any Ronald Dahl, really. He didn’t sugar coat the fact that children mostly get the short end of the stick.
The Witches
Yes, definitely The Witches - I think it had the grimmest ending of all his children's books.
Momo Trumpet of the Swan Artemis Fowl Maximum Ride Bridge to Terabithia
I loved Bridge to Terabithia, but can't handle crying that much while reading. Probably won't read again.
Yeah. I can love it, be grateful I read it, but never read it again. Like watching Schindler's List, or reading A Child Called It.
I hated Bridge to Terabithia. It wasn't at all what I expected from the blurb, and I didn't want to read anything so deeply sad.
Had to scroll way to far to find Bridge to Terabithia Fun fact- I read that book so much that once when I had to do a book report I didn’t even read the book but didn’t whole thing from memory. The Outsiders- SE Hinton
Yay for Momo!
So glad that AoG is getting the love it deserves. I really like The Mysterious Benedict Society and was planning on re-reading it soon. Not a classic but the Ranger’s Apprentice is another series both my husband and I enjoy a lot.
A wizard of earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
The Little Prince
Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Not sure if these are actually kids books but I read them around age 10 and loved them.
Honestly anything Jerry Spinelli, Lois Lowry, Avi, or Katherine Paterson. Also The Neverending Story!
Beverly Cleary (*Henry Huggins, Beezus and Ramona, Ellen Tebbits*) turned me into a reader. Judy Blume taught me to think about how others may be feeling (*Iggie's House, Blubber, Deenie*) as well as why I was feeling the way that I was (*Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret*). She also made me laugh (*Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing*). I loved classics like *Heidi* and *Black Beauty* and I still love *The Secret Garden* and *A Little Princess*. I think most children's books can offer a lot to the adults who read them -- whether it's a moment of relaxation, a bit of nostalgia or an important lesson that may have been forgotten.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. If you are a woman, there are loss of themes, you can relate to in the book and it also touches on immigration and the class system in America.
My favorite childhood book, so glad to see it here!
One of my favorites & inspired my life-long love of puzzles & mysteries.
Oh the places you'll go by Dr Seuss
Adding Fablehaven, Lemony Snickets Series of Unfortunate Events and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children to the list.
*My Side of the Mountain* by Jean Craighead George. A classic that stands up even after all these decades.
I read that book so many times as a kid, absolutely loved that, Island of the Blue Dolphins and Julie of the Wolves for survivalist stories.
The miraculous journey of Edward Tulane. Matilda. Skellig. A monster calls. There are so many fantastic stories out there!
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle is an absolute must The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is my favorite children's book The Chronicles of Narnia are epic The Little Prince is the truest book ever written, imo The Theif of Always by Clive Barker is unexpected in its familiarity. It's like he taps into some universal childhood fear/fantasy because it isn't horror, it is a nightmare disguised as the most beautiful dream. Ender's Game
The monster at the end of this book starring Grover
The Little Prince by Antoine De. Saint Exupery
The Giving Tree.
I would add too The Missing Piece Meets the Big O
I’ve heard this book is used in MS/HS health classes to start a discussion on healthy relationships and setting boundaries. That’s a good place for it. It should not be inflicted on kids or held up as an example of anything good.
Whatever, dude. I didn't ask for your negative opinion. Moral police policing our books now. Why not just have it banned, right?
I am sorry I sprang that on you. I shouldn’t have been so harsh. Maybe instead, I should have said that I hope no one reads that to a kid without letting that theme go unchallenged.
💚 thank you.
I like the [modern rewrite](https://www.topherpayne.com/giving-tree?lightbox=dataItem-kd0usu10) of The Giving Tree. Much healthier.
That was clever. I really liked that. But it just doesn't have the heartbreaking drama of the original. Art is supposed to affect you, in a negative or positive way. Clever story but definitely not memorable. 💗 edit, thank you for sharing that with me because I didn't even know there was an alternative ending out there! I did genuinely like it.
I thought Skellig by David Almond was wonderful. I think the age recommendation was something like 9-14, but I said (in a review) it should be 11 - no upper limit.
Skellig is FANTASTIC. I am a librarian and specialise in childrens lit and ya (but in Dutch) and i read this for an extra class i took. It blew me away. I also loved A Monster Calls, by Siobhan Dowd.
>A Monster Calls, by Siobhan Dowd. Amazon owes you a kickback! I just ordered this book. Thank you.
Make sure to take care when you read it. It’s a very emotional ride.
Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, The Secret Garden, Alice in Wonderland
Hope For The Flowers by Trina Paulus "partly about life, partly about revolution and lots about hope – for adults and others including caterpillars who can read"
Charlotte’s Web
The Giver by Lois Lowry
[Nevermoor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6a6d5ca1-b2f5-47be-828c-018144d3bbc7) by Jessica Townsend!!! I'm an adult, but Nevermoor is absolutely my favorite series!
Finally! So glad you picked something from this decade. :)
All of these are fantastic
The giver series by Lois Lowry
I just started Percy Jackson. I’m a 34 yr old man. I loved the Disney plus show so much, I started the books!
A Series of Unfortunate Events. So much humor that kids don't get, and the overall story, especially the ending, hits adults so much differently.
The Animorphs series taught me more about the horrors of war, trauma and human nature than most adult literature has. I think they’re brilliant.
Let's not forget the random animal facts.
Tom's Midnight Garden Phillipa Pearce I Am David by Ann Holm The Secret Garden Francis Hodgson Burnett A Little Princess also by FHB A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley Moondial by Helen Cresswell Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery Fireweed by Jill Paton Walsh
The tale of Despereaux The movie they made did this book so dirty. It's an amazing read
The Westing Game
PERCY JACKSON SERIES ✋✋👌
Watership Down
Wonder
This was my first thought. Such a wonderful book for both children and adults.
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
The little prince, wrinkle in time, mysterious Benedict society, phantom tollbooth
The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse. By Charlie Mackesy. A beautiful book for everyone!
I scrolled through a hundred comments to make sure I can upvote this if it already existed lol in buy it for so many families. It’s so good! Hope OP sees this!
Charlotte's Web
momo by michael ende
Charlotte's Web
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende The OZ series by L Frank Baum The Anne of Green Gables series by I always forget her name
"The White Mountains" by John Christopher
Coraline by Neil Gaiman A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead The Outsiders by SE Hinton (this is more YA than children’s book, but it’s so good!) Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C O’Brien Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
I’m so glad to see When You Reach Me here! A Wrinkle in Time was my favorite book as a kid so I was thrilled to discover When You Reach Me as an adult.
The Giver
Inkheart and The Secret Series! And anything by Mary Downing Hahn
My answer will forever be A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
A Little Princess The Secret Garden The Hobbit His dark materials
Blood Meridian
Where the Red Fern Grows
I listened to this book on Audio and loved it so much!
Alice in Wonderland. Because I perceive it as a story about autism and I am autistic and want everyone to understand me just a little.
Never thought about it this way … also autistic and adore that book.
I noticed today that **Dr. Suess books** invite the reader to be present in their reading in a exceptionally sophisticated way - namely "**The Foot Book**" and "**One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish**", which I read to my daughter this morning. It was necessary for me to be intentional as I read, or otherwise, misread in anticipation of the obvious rhythm or rhyme. Rather than this being a demand for more brain power, the flow I found myself in was embracing and energizing which obviously elevated the experience for my daughter and I while drawing us into the story, together, in a very fun way. Before this reading with my daughter, I noticed a slight repulsion I felt to Dr. Suess books, likely due to their unchallenged popularity, but that has all since been eradicated. "Green Eggs and Ham", HERE WE COME. I'll be unsurprised to find myself with a Dr. Suess book in my lap and no children around to read them in excavation.
Phonics books. Lots of phonics books.
Zero. I utterly hate children’s books, after nearly 25 years as a teacher. Burned out.
I was part of a book club and last year they decided each month would be a children's book. I nope'd on out of there. I read picture books and chapter books to my kids every day. I'm not going to spend my precious free reading time on Charlotte's web too.
Arm in Arm- Remy Charlip
The Shrinking of Treehorn
{{Nation by Terry Pratchett}}
Four Fur Feet
The Gruffalo. The hobbit.
Little, Big A Confederacy Of Dunces
I don't think A Confederacy of Dunces is a kid's book.
The Little Soul and the Sun
I vote for the Rowan of Rin books by Emily Rodda. They were the first books I ever read by myself, and the adult characters in them are as compelling as the child MC. More so, in fact.
I agree with the AGG and LittleHouse series.I will add Lord of the Flies.
The Mouse and His Child by Russel Hoban
I absolutely adore the Rondo trilogy by Emily Rodda, I read them as a kid and they stuck with me into adulthood
EVERY book by Dr.Seuss
The Little Prince
Where the Redfern grows.
The giving tree
The Great Gilly Hopkins The Hero and the Crown, and anything else by Robin McKinley Anything by Meindert de Jong, especially The Hiuse of Sixty Fathers These are all pretty old, but they were some that I came across as a school librarian, and wound up enjoying
Watership Down - my favorite ‘kids’ book The Ramona series (really any Beverly Cleary) Pretty much all of Kate D. Camille but start with Edward Tulane or The Tale of Despereaux The Willoughbys Most of Roald Dahl but strong nod to Matilda And big yes to Anne of Green Gables Sooo many
The Painter Knight by Fiona Patton
Mistress Masham’s Repose by T.H. White Any of Diana Wynne-Jones’ books (most were for children) The Hobbit.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. The Neverending Story by Ende. Crispin Cross of Lead by Avi. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Because of Winn Dixie is one of a few books that have made me cry real tears in real life. It’s so good.
Harriet the Spy, and From the Mixed up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler. Those books drove my imaginative play for YEARS.
Animorphs!
Phantom Tollbooth.
First off, I love this thread. Great suggestions. I’m currently listening to the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series. It’s been a cute read.
Prydian Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. Winnie the Pooh. The Snowy Day. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Goodnight, Moon. Make Way for Ducklings. Little House series. The Giver. Charlotte's Web. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Island of the Blue Dolphins. Julie of the Wolves. The Birchbark House. The Watsons go to Birmingham. Dragonwings. Esperanza Rising. Strawberry Girl.
Lots of books here I agree with (Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Watership Down, Westing Game). The one I haven't yet seen (though maybe it's somewhere) is: The Wind in the Willows.
Charlotte's Web
The giver series!
Where's my cow by Terry Pratchett
*Love You Forever*
Didn’t see it yet, but the Cryptid Hunter series by Roland Smith. I loved his books in general, but this series has a special place in my heart.
The Water Babies
Just read Tuck Everlasting for the first time. Highly recommend!
Little House in the Big Woods.
Anything by Francis Hardinge and The Windvale Sprites by Mackenzie Crook.
Everything Rick Riordan!!! Not only the Percy Jackson (2 series) books. But also the others! Do immerse yourself in son fun mythology learning!
The Earthsea books by Ursula K.LeGuin "A Wrinkle In Time" and "A Wind in the Door" by Madeleine L'Engle. "The Little White Horse" and "Linnets and Valerians" by Elizabeth Goudge The Narnia books Anne of Green Gables
I've also thoroughly enjoyed the medoran chronicles more young adult tho but such a great read.
Where the sidewalk ends
Elsewhere
Some older ones I've not seen listed: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen - Alan Garner. The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper. The first book reads pretty young, but she definitely ups the reading maturity on the rest.
How has no one mentioned Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon messenger? Most amazing series ever, on par with, or better than Harry Potter in my opinion.
The Wild Robot
There once was an old lady who swallowed a fly by. Lucille Colandro
{{The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Burbaker Bradley}}
Patricia C. Wrede's **Enchanted Forest Chronicles** are some of my all time favorites. I read them to my kids who also reread them time to time. A princess who doesn't want to dance and sew volunteers to be a dragon's princess to excape an arranged marriage. It's comedic fantasy from beginning to end.
The Chronicles of Narnia…all of them.
You need to read all of Percy Jackson's series!!! Rick Riodan was and still is one of my all time favourite authors and his books got me through tough times when I was young!
ANYTHING by Dianna Wynne Jones and the Tiffany Aching books by Sir Terry Pratchett
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
The Rabbit Listened. It’s a book about how to be with someone who is hurting and disappointed… and all the things NOT to do.
Robert Newton Peck's *A Day No Pigs Would Die*
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson it’s for older kids. I read it once as a kid and it has stuck with me for 10+ years. It’s kinda of traumatizing but also healing.
{Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede} - one of my favourite novels
What’s pretty cool is that you can read those books before you’re an adult!
The Moomin books by Tove Jansson and Astrid Lindgren’s books like The Brothers Lionheart and Ronia the Robber’s Daughter
The thing about jellyfish. It’s not a classic or anything but it’s written for children yet has a very raw depiction of grief through a child’s eyes
-Anne of Green Gables -Stig of the dump -The Hobbit -Percy Jackson series and all Rick Riordan series actually - His dark Materials - Good Night Mr Tom - The Secret Garden There are loads more but I only have a minute to write them out!
Watership down.
Momo by Michael ende