The Best Children’s Books Ever!
Here’s our list of the best kids’ reads
Anne Hathaway loves The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Scarlett Johansson plumps for Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox while Barack Obama is a huge fan of Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are.
Me? I’m with Neil Patrick Harris, who adored Katherine Paterson’s Bridge To Terabithiaand, like him, it made me cry.
Here’s our list of the best kids’ reads.
UNDER 5
- WE’RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT – Michael Rosen
- MAGIC BEACH – Alison Lester
- PEEPO! – Allan and Janet Ahlberg
- THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR – Eric Carle
- POSSUM MAGIC – Mem Fox
- GREETINGS FROM SANDY BEACH – Bob Graham
- THE GRUFFALO – Julia Donaldson
- ANIMALIA – Graeme Base
AGE 5-7
- THE TWITS – Roald Dahl
- WINNIE-THE-POOH – A. A. Milne
- HORRID HENRY – Francesca Simon
- ZAC POWER – H. I. Larry
- THE FARAWAY TREE SERIES – Enid Blyton
AGE 8-11
- HARRY POTTER – J. K. Rowling
- THE 13-STOREY TREEHOUSE – Andy Griffths
- CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – Roald Dahl
- ONCE – Morris Gleitzman
- GANGSTA GRANNY – David Walliams
AGE 12+
- THE FAULT IN OUR STARS – John Green
- THE BOOK THIEF – Markus Zusak
- WAR HORSE – Michael Morpurgo
- TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN – John Marsden
- THE HUNGER GAMES – Suzanne Collins
This article originally appeared on New Idea.
I grew up in New Zealand, moved to London in my early 20s to work on British newspapers then moved to Australia when I was pregnant with my first child. I write a newspaper column, celebrity interviews and a parenting page. I also do TV and radio commentary, podcasting and host corporate events. I’ve also published a book on parenting, The Smallest Things. However, my greatest role – and the one I’m most proud of – is parenting my daughters, Eliza and Lilibelle, who are 17 and 14.
