My favorite picture of me from when I was a kid is me sitting on the bed, sucking my thumb, with a book open on my lap. I must have only been about two or three and yet that picture encapsulates the entirety of my life from that moment forward. I have never stopped loving books. As I got older, there were some books that were so meaningful that I truly couldn’t wait to share them with my own kids. Here are 60 Favorite Books From Your Childhood That Your Kids Should Read Now. Not because there aren’t any amazing new books, but because reading these books with your kids will give you something amazing bond over. Like you’re giving them a piece of your past and maybe someday, they’ll do the same with their kids. Enjoy!
60 Favorite Books From Your Childhood That Your Kids Should Read Now
Did your favorite childhood books make the list? If not, tell us about them and why you loved them in the comments below!
Underground to Canada, by Barbara Smucker.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Mouse and the Motorcycle.
I’ve read some of these, and I was sobbing at the end of Where the Red Fern Grows.
Alligator Baby, The Hobbit, The Narnia Chronicles, and Runaway Bunny are all on my list.
and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!
Charlotte’s Web (which my daughter is just reading now) and The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. What a lovely list. Thank you for the idea.
My childhood happened long before most of these were published, though I read most as an adult. I was mostly into horse stories, Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley were my faves. Before libraries used plastic covers, I’d take home brand-new books with horses on the jackets, return them a week later, jacket-less. And somehow I never got in trouble for this.
I’m looking for a book, wondering if you can help me find the name of it. It has a horse and flowers on a blanket on a bed and the blanket, horse and flowers on the blanket come alive. Please let me know if you find it or how I should look for it. I was born and had it in the 70’s but I don’t know how old it is. Thank you.
A great place to look would be on a book club-ish website, like goodreads.com, or even Quora could help. It sounds like a good read, and a good plot for a child’s book!
The Shoes books by Noel Streatfeild, Little House on the Prairie, Judy Blume
Summer of the Monkeys, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Hannah’s Garden, Courduroy, The Train to Timbucktoo, The Hetmit Thrush Sings, The Boxcar Children, The Crown\Court Duel set, Dragonriders of, Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Jackaroo, The Hero and Crown, Wild Magic , Maniac Magee. I could go on.
I still have my well-thumbed copy of Where The Wild Things Are and have read it to all of my kids.
Could I also be as cheeky to venture one of my own personal faves from my youth – The Demon Bike Rider by Robert Leeson. A great book for late primary school kids. It still stands out against all the others even now as I am at the ripe old age of 35 haha
Thanks for this great list.
Winnie the Pooh, Babar, Brambley Hedge, The Reluctant Dragon, Paddington, My Naughty Little Sister, Narnia, Half Magic, Bambi, National Velvet, Beatrix Potter, Secret Garden, Little Prince, Emily of New Moon, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, Freddy the Detective, Anatole, Higgelty Pigglety Pop, The Hobbit, Mary Poppins, The Golden Key, the Light Princess, Alice in Wonderland, Black Beauty, Peter Pan, Wind in the Willows, Paperbag Princess.
🙂
And the doorbell rang. Math and family and friends and sharing. The pictures are another story on the side.
I wish that this was in a printer friendly format. It just printed 27 pages and used all my ink. The books listed were only on 3 pages.
With that being said….I am super excited to be able to challenge my two daughters ages 8 and 9 to reading them for the summer. Some are easy which I like and some will be more difficult. I will be reading the books along with them so we can do our own little book club. 🙂
My favourite child hood books were ‘The Choosing Day’ and ‘The Magic Fish’ not to be confused with the rainbow fish.
I love them because they were about appreciating what you have. I also loved all Dr. Suess books 🙂
I now read all of these tl my neices and i love them now because they were so special to me as a child.
‘ve read 30 of the 60 better get reading lol
Bumblebee Bear books. My 33 year old son was reading these books at the age of 3 by himself. He had actually memorized the books word for word. He was so proud of himself.
I don’t recall reading Harry Potter as a kid. 🙂
Reading to my kids is what keeps me going through most days, this is a great list. Thank you!
Can I know where can I buy all these recommended books?
Absolutely, Liz! If you click on any of those book pictures they’ll take you straight to the Amazon page for that book. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to pick these up. 🙂 Otherwise, you can always check at your local Half Price Books or other used book store. These books have all been out for a long time, so you’ve got a really good shot at finding them used. Good luck! Come back and let me know what you think of them!
Any way to get this printed to challenge my fifth graders?
Dr Seuss ABC book or Green Eggs and Ham (excellent first reader), did I see Miss Piggle Wiggle? And was it called….the Magic Pot??
Ohh!!! Those are all good! I think we might be doing more of these book posts, so maybe if I do an Early Reader books post, I’ll put those in there! Wonderful suggestions!!
Surprised to not see “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator” on the list. My oldest has read most of these, which means I’m doing pretty well! Youngest has read most of the picture books, and just staring her on Ramona books.
Hahah! They should have been. To be honest, as a child Charlie and the Chocolate Factory scared me. The only reason I didn’t put it on the list was in defense of childhood me. LOL! Just kidding. It’s a great book and maybe it’ll make my next list! Do you have any books you’d recommend for the teenage years? I’m thinking of doing a list for those next!
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Little House on the Prairie
My favorites were Call of the Wild, Black Beauty, Beautiful Joe and The Abandoned. Only read 3 of these choices