Last updated on 30 April 2021
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase with one of these links, I recieve a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read the full Affiliate Policy.
I’ve always been a reader, even when I couldn’t read I loved looking at the pictures, like most kids. And how awesome are kids books!? Even know, I love looking through the kids books that we still have from my childhood. I don’t really know what kids books are like these days (my youngest sister got all my hand-me-down books), but I remember loving the ones we had when I was a kid.
So I thought I’d continue reminiscing and recall my 10 Favourite books from when I was a kid. Maybe some of yours will be here too, or maybe you will see one and think ‘oh yeah! I remember that book!’. So, in no particular order, and in no particular age range or age group:
1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
I’m pretty sure that everyone loves these stories. I remember picking it up again a few years ago, and I flicked through it, and couldn’t for the life of me remember it being such an easy read! But I guess it’s because it is actually a kids book, and I did read it when I was very young. And I guess too, that I was a bit alarmed at the easiness of the read because of the epic movies that have come out in the past few years. Those are good movies! I used to love watching the BBC versions when I was a kid, so it was really awesome that they remade them.
2. The BFG, by Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl has always been one of my favourite children’s authors. I really enjoyed all his stories, but I especially loved The BFG (Big Friendly Giant, for those of you who don’t know). I love the concept of someone being there to take your bad dreams away – in fact, I’m still quite convinced that the BFG is real and living near my house. I never have nightmares.
Oh, I also love the words snozzcumber, frobscottle and whizzpoppers.
3.Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne
Oh, Winne-the-Pooh. For a bear of very little brain, you do say the most wonderful things. Seriously, how good is Pooh?! Thank-you A.A. Milne (who, for most of my life, I thought was a female) for creating such wondrous characters. What really amazes me about Winne-the-Pooh and A.A. Milne’s writings (like When We Were Very Young), is how popular and read still to this day! Milne’s first published book with Pooh in it was in 1924! That’s before my grandparents were born…and they are OLD! Incredible!
“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
4. The Magic Faraway Tree, by Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton. What can I say? I’m pretty sure I read the majority of her stories. I especially loved The Magic Faraway Tree and the other Faraway stories (Folk of the Faraway tree and The Enchanted Wood), and also the Wishing Chair collection.
The Faraway Tree stories were about four kids who lived on the edge of the wood and they found a huge tree one day. They climbed it, and found that people lived in the tree, and not only that, but at the top of the tree was a…a…portal I guess you could call it, that if you went through, would take you to different lands and places. I wish I had a tree like that.
5. Dear Zoo, by Rod Campbell
There’s nothing quite like a pop-up/flap book, and when it’s a pop-up book that is all about zoo animals!? It’s the best! I absolutely LOVE the zoo! I still do and I’m really looking forward to going to Bristol Zoo soon! Anyway, though it’s aimed at under 5s, I remember reading this book well into my late 10s (is that something you can say? You can say ‘my 20s’…so I guess so?), and getting excited when I got to lift the flaps. I think it’s actually still around here somewhere…
6. Where’s Spot?, by Eric Hill
Another fantastic pop-up/flap book. And what’s not to love about a spotty dog and his adventures? Though I’ve just mentioned ‘Where’s Spot?’ I also want to include the others in the Spot series (Spot Goes to School, Spot Goes on Holiday, Spot Plays Hide and Seek etc), because they were all awesome. There was a TV show too, or a movie…or something. I remember watching Spot on TV a few times.
7. The Jolly Postman, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
This is an awesome book. It’s another pop-up/flap book with pockets and bits you can pull out and put back in. It’s about the postman and the letters he takes to people like the Three Bears and Puss in Boots and other fairy tale characters. At the end of the book, they all have a picnic! Letters and picnics! My idea of heaven!
8. Oh the Places You’ll Go, by Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss is one of my favourite authors of all time. I love all his stories and the pictures are incredible. This one is one of my favourites, but I do love The Lorax (still haven’t seen the movie though!), and Horton Hears a Who. The imagination that he had is amazing, and I’m so glad that kids these days still know who Dr. Seuss is. Thank-Goodness.
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”
9. Hairy Maclary, by Lynley Dodd
I have no idea where Donaldson’s Dairy is, I just know that Hairy Maclary was always a fantastic read. I remember I really love Rumpus at the Vet and Scatter Cat. Rhyming books are always so much fun to read, I think, especially if you’re reading TO someone, and Hairy Maclary is no exception. I wonder where our Hair Maclary books went…
10. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
I hope when you saw this you thought “Yes! Definitely!” because I really think it is. Which is really weird, because it’s just about a caterpillar eating WAY too much and then bursting. But maybe it’s the way it’s done: how each page has holes in it and the pictures are so beautifully drawn, or that when he does burst at the end, he bursts into a beautiful butterfly. Or maybe it’s just because of his cute little face. I don’t really know why I loved – still love – this book so much. Do you love it? Why?
There we have it! 10 of my favourite kids’ books. We used to have all of these, but I have a feeling that they were left in New Zealand, because my little sister has grown out of them, so to speak. I really wish we hadn’t though. I would love to look through them all again.
Have you read any of these great children’s books? Which is your favourite? Do tell!
