The best children's books survive the hundredth bedtime reading - for the grown-up as much as the child. Our shelf now runs eighteen deep, organised the way parents actually shop: by age. Ages are a rough guide; good stories cheerfully ignore them.
Editor's Picks
- We're Going on a Bear Hunt - the best read-aloud there is
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea - the teatime institution
- Room on the Broom - Donaldson at her warmest
Picture Books (Ages 3-6)
Read-alouds that survive endless repeats - for laps and bedtimes.
01The Gruffalo
A mouse invents a monster to scare off predators - and then meets it. Donaldson and Scheffler's rhyming masterpiece; the modern bedtime standard. For ages two to five, and the rhythm is built for the tenth reading as much as the first.
02Where the Wild Things Are
Max sails to where the wild things are and becomes their king. Sixty years old and still the most perfect picture book about a temper. Ages two to six, endlessly repeated.
03The Very Hungry Caterpillar
One caterpillar, one glorious week of eating, one butterfly. The first book most children ever love - and the holes are still magic. The board book survives toddler handling.
04We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Swishy swashy, splash splosh - the family adventure that begs to be performed, not read. The best read-aloud in the business. Learn the actions, they matter enormously.
05The Tiger Who Came to Tea
A tiger arrives at teatime and eats everything in the house. Utterly unexplained, utterly perfect - a British institution since 1968. Two to five, and briskly short.
06Room on the Broom
A generous witch, a crowded broom and a dragon who fancies witch with chips. Donaldson's warmest - and the one that teaches sharing without preaching. Ages three to six, rhyme perfect.
First Readers (Ages 6-9)
Chapter books for new readers - short, funny and confidence-building.
07Matilda
A brilliant girl, terrible parents and the hammer-throwing Miss Trunchbull. Dahl's love letter to readers - every bookish child's favourite. Best for seven to ten, ideally with the Quentin Blake illustrations rather than a film tie-in cover.
08Charlotte's Web
A spider sets out to save a pig's life with words in a web. The gentlest introduction to the big subjects - and the best animal story ever written. Read aloud from about five, alone from about seven, and keep tissues nearby for the last chapters.
09Fantastic Mr Fox
One fox outwits three of the meanest farmers in fiction. Short, wicked and perfect for reading aloud in silly voices. An hour aloud, five upwards.
10Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Greg Heffley's cartoon-strewn diary of middle-school indignity. The most reliable hook for readers who say they hate reading. Nearly twenty books, all equally devoured.
11The Worst Witch
Mildred Hubble, the clumsiest witch at Miss Cackle's Academy. Magical-school charm decades before Hogwarts - and still winning converts. Short chapters and big print make it a confident early solo read for six to eight year olds.
12The Iron Man
A giant iron figure appears on a cliff and eats the farms' machinery. Hughes wrote a modern myth in five short chapters - strange and unforgettable. Barely an hour to read aloud, and it holds children who normally will not sit still for a story.
Middle Grade (Ages 9-12)
The big adventures - where lifelong readers are made.
13Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
The boy wizard, the school, the start of everything. Still the most reliable reading-hook of the past thirty years. The illustrated editions are worth the extra.
14Northern Lights
Lyra, her daemon and armoured bears in a world beside our own. The best fantasy of its generation - for confident readers ready for something bigger. For readers of ten and up who are ready for a trilogy with real weight behind it.
15The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Through the wardrobe to always-winter Narnia. The classic gateway to fantasy - still the right first door. Read in publication order, not chronological.
16Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Greek gods in modern America and jokes on every page. The most reliable reluctant-reader converter we know. Five books, then two more series.
17Goodnight Mister Tom
An evacuee and a gruff widower mend each other in a wartime village. The middle-grade book most likely to make the grown-up cry. Nine and up, tissues required.
18Wonder
Auggie, born with a facial difference, starts school for the first time. Funny and profoundly kind - the book teachers and kids love equally. Ideal for ages eight to twelve, and one of the few books that genuinely rewards reading aloud as a family.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best book for a child who won't read?
Diary of a Wimpy Kid at 6-9, Percy Jackson at 9-12. Momentum beats worthiness every time - see our 10-year-old guide for the full strategy.
Are the age bands strict?
Not remotely - they're where most children meet each book, not rules. A confident seven-year-old will romp through Middle Grade; plenty of adults still read Narnia.
What's the safest gift if I don't know the child?
Under six, The Gruffalo. Six to nine, Matilda. Nine to twelve, Harry Potter - and if they have it, Nevermoor from our 10-year-old guide.
Hardback or paperback for a child?
Hardback for a book that will be read aloud repeatedly to a young child, because it survives the handling and it feels like an occasion. Paperback for older children choosing their own reading, where the point is to get through a lot of books rather than to keep them pristine.
Shelf 01Fiction
Literary novels, contemporary storytelling and the books everyone's talking about.
Browse →
Shelf 02Crime & Mystery
Cosy crime, gritty thrillers and a good whodunnit for a wet afternoon.
Browse →
Shelf 03Nature & Countryside
Nature writing, walking, farming and the wild places - our house speciality.
Browse →
Shelf 04History
Popular history, biography and the stories behind the stories.
Browse →