' classic' children's books

whitewing

Book people have great classic box sets

TeamLowe

Loved The Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttley, beautifully illustrated

onlyroz

Anything by Julia Donaldson. My favourite is "Tyrannosaurus Drip".

I'd say that proper novels will be beyond the attention span of a 3-year-old because they won't be able to remember the story from one session to the next. But for an older child there are plenty of "classics", like:

Anything by Roald Dahl
Harry Potter
Charlotte's Web
The Sheep Pig
The Secret Garden
Spiderwick Chronicles
Series of Unfortunate Events

My son loves the Beast Quest books. I had an interesting discussion with an educational psychologist about how to target the right books to read your child. He said that boys are often put off reading because their (mainly) female teachers always try and read them the sort of books that they liked as a child. However, boys respond better to stories about dragons and knights and monsters and aliens and space-ships, whereas girls respond better to stories involving social situations, fairies, princesses etc.

maman

• Giraffes can't Dance by Giles Andrae,
• I'd agree anything by Julia Donaldson. I like Monkey Puzzle and Room on the Broom
• Eat your Peas by Kes Gray
• It's the Bear by Jez Alborough

All of these are written in rhyme and perfect for adults who are a bit shy about reading aloud.


And being seasonal, if you're religious a good copy of a nativity story or an illustrated version of 'The Night before Christmas'. Then I think all children should have the 'pantomime' stories/famous tales like Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and Three bears, Three Little Pigs ......


How exciting, wish mine were young again.:)

fireyfirenze

apologies if these have been mentioned already

the hungry caterpillar
Jill Murphy books - ie peace at last
jolly postman / Christmas postman

those are more aimed at a 3 year old, although for slightly older I agree with the secret garden/Enid blyton/Roald Dahl suggestions, they were my favourite when I was little.

MrsDrink

Keep an eye on the Grabbits board - every now and then the eagle eyes of MSE spot a bargain Julia Donaldson book.
The Snail & The Whale is still only £1.75.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4784162

joannasmum

Don't think these have been mentioned yet

Guess how much I love you? And the Mog series are big favourites in our house.

fashionlover10

I loved Peace At Last, Guess How Much I Love You, and Not Now Bernard as a kid.

peachyprice

We bought our daughter the entire Noddy collection and also the majority of Dr Seuss when she was that age. They weren't all new books, we got some new, some used, some from America that you can't get here and some original editions. It's interesting to see how the Noddy stories in particular have changed over the years. She used to be so excited to see which book had arrived in the post.

Other favourites were Going on Bear Hunt, Gruffalo and Gruffalo's Child, Peace at Last, Jolly Postman, Felicity Wishes, Where the Wild things Are, Mr Men.

They're all up in the loft for the next generation

ciderwithrosie_2

'The Church Mice' stories - my boys loved these when they were little and the 'Old Bear' ones

Maybe for when she's older - The Little House on the Prairie series(Laura Ingalls Wilder), interesting account of what life was like for pioneers.

The best book I had when I was little was a compilation of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson.