We are often asked to recommend books that are popular with children and have a good literary content. Here are some suggestions but we would welcome your views and any others that you think should be added to the list.
Allan Ahlberg | The Better Brown Stories |
Joan Aiken | * A Handful of Gold |
Vivien Alcock | The Face at the Window |
Philip Ardagh | The Eddie Dickens Trilogy |
Phyllis Arkle | Magic at Midnight |
Nina Bawden | * Granny the Pag |
Floella Benjamin | Coming To England |
Malorie Blackman | Pig Heart Boy |
Quentin Blake | The Green Ship |
Judy Blume | * Superfudge |
Tony Bradman | Football Fever Ed |
Theresa Breslin | Kezzie |
Betsy Byars | The Eighteenth Emergency |
Aidan Chambers | Seal Secret |
Simon Cheshire | Jeremy Brown of the Secret Service |
Babette Cole | * Drop Dead |
Dutch Cooper | Josie, illustrated by Jan Jutte, translated by Patricia Crampton |
William Corlett | * The Bridge in the Clouds |
Bruce Coville | The Magic Shop Series |
Sharon Creech | Ruby Holler |
Helen Cresswell | * Lizzie Dripping |
Gillian Cross | * Rent-A-Genius |
Chris d’Lacey | The Salt Pirates of Skegness |
Roald Dahl | * James and the Giant Peach |
Lucy Daniels | Animal Ark Series |
Colin Dann | The Farthing Wood Series |
Andrew Davies | Conrad’s War |
Cecil Day Lewis | The Otterbury Incident |
Terrance Dicks | The Pyramid Incident |
Berlie Doherty | * Berlie, Willa and Old Miss Anna |
Steve Donald | Orson Cart Saves Time |
Edward Eager | Half Magic Series |
Stephen Elboz | A Handful of Magic |
Elizabeth Enright | The Saturdays |
Anne Fine | * The Angel of Nitshill Road |
Catherine Fisher | The Snow-Walker’s Son |
Louise Fitzhugh | Harriet the Spy |
Michael Foreman | War Game |
Jane Gardam | Kit Stories |
Leon Garfield | The Apprentices |
Adèle Geras | * The Fabulous Fantova Files |
Morris Gleitzman | Blabbermouth |
Rumer Godden | * The Diddakoi |
Willis Hall | * The Last Vampire |
Julia Harman | Ghost Writer |
Libby Hathorn | Way Home |
Diana Hendry | Harvey Angell |
Nigel Hinton | * Beaver Towers |
Dorothy Horgan | Charlie’s Eye |
Anthony Horowitz | Groosham Grange |
Shirley Hughes | * Chips and Jessie |
Ted Hughes | * Tales of the Early World |
Brian Jacques | Redware Series |
Julia Jarman | The Time-Travelling Cat |
Pete Johnson | How to Train your Parents |
Terry Jones | * Fairy Tales |
Erich Kastner | Emil and the Detectives |
Gene Kemp | * The Clock Tower Ghost |
Judith Kerr | When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit |
Clive King | Stig of the Dump |
Dick King-Smith | * Chewing the Cud |
Tessa Krailing | * Miranda and Friends |
Caroline Lawrence | The Thieves of Ostia |
Robert Leeson | Tom’s Private War |
Eric Linklater | The Wind on the Moon |
Penelope Lively | The Ghost of Thomas Kempe |
Sam Llewellyn | Pig in the middle |
Arnold Lobel | Frog and Toad are Friends |
Hugh Lofting | Doctor Dolittle |
Jonathan Long | The Dog That Dug (with Paul Korky) |
John Loveday | Goodbye Buffalo Sky |
Margaret Mahy | * The Chewing Gum Rescue |
Jan Mark | The Dead Letter Box |
Simon Mason | The Quigleys |
Virginia Mayo | Remembering, The Story of a Soldier |
Amanda McCardie | The Frog Ballet |
Geraldine McCaughrean | The Wooden Horse |
Roger McGough | The Magic Fountain |
Livi Michael | Frank and the Black Hamster of Narkiz |
Barbara Mitchell | Eric and the Striped Horror |
Ursula Moray Williams | Gubbolino the Witch’s Cat |
Michael Morpurgo | * Kensuke’s Kingdom |
Beverley Naidoo | No Turning Back |
Jenny Nimmo | Seth and the Strangers |
Andrew Norriss | Aquila |
Philippa Pearce | Mrs Cockle’s Cat |
Jack Perry | I Jack |
Ann Pilling | Mother’s Daily Scream |
François Place | The Last Giants |
Philip Pullman | * Clockwork, illustrated by Peter Bailey |
Lynne Reid Banks | * Angela and Diabola, illustrated by Klaas Verplancke |
Philip Ridley | * Kasper in the Glitter |
Mary Rodgers | Freaky Friday |
J.K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone |
S F Said | Varjak Paw |
Posy Simmonds | Fred |
Francesca Simon | Horrid Henry |
Lemony Snicket | A Series of Unfortunate Events |
Johanna Spyri | Heidi |
R L Stine | Goosebumps Series |
Jeremy Strong | * Fatbag the Demon Vacuum Cleaner |
Robert Swindells | Ice Palace |
Ruth Symes | The Mum Trap |
Dylan Thomas | A Child’s Christmas In Wales |
Ruth Thomas | Hideaway |
Colin Thompson | * How to Live Forever |
Theresa Tomlinson | Little Stowaway (with Jane Browne) |
P L Travers | Mary Poppins Series |
Ann Turnbull | Pigeon Summer |
Kaye Umansky | Pongwiffy |
Ellen Weiss | The Animal Rescue Squad (with Mel Friedman) |
Robert Wetsall | The Creature in the Dark |
Marcia Williams | Mr William Shakespeare’s Plays |
Margery Williams | The Velveteen Rabbit |
Jacqueline Wilson | * Double Act |