50 Must Read Classic Books for Kids
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Looking for a great book list of classic books for kids to read? You are in the right place!Â
We are big time readers in our house. I have always loved reading and now I have passed that love onto my kids. I buy a LOT of books. I am probably what you would call a bibliphile (n. One who collects or has a great love of books).
Books make us happy and help my kids to love to learn & that is my goal. I am working hard to bring the best kinds of books into our home and create a library of high-quality classic children’s books. I think having plenty of books available for your children to love helps them develop a great love of reading. Today I am going to tell you some of our favorite must-read classic books for kids. These classic novels have stood the test of time and been loved by so many children.
Before we get to the list I need to tell you about a great resource for buying books! Buying books and building a library is not cheap. I came across a great resource for used books recently and can’t wait to tell you all about it. Have you heard of the website Thriftbooks? They sell used books online at great prices. It is a wonderful resource for any book lover! Check it out.  If you join through my link & spend $30, you’ll get a free book (& so will I!)
We also really love our Amazon Audible subscription. That way my young readers can listen to their favorite books when I am not available to read to them!
This list is focused on classic novels for younger to middle grade readers. These classic books are full of fabulous stories. In these books you’ll find tales of mystery and intrigue, fairies, wild things, the hundred acre wood and Neverland, lions, secret gardens, goblins, favorite pets, wizards, talking animals, mermaids, trips around the world, and more! You’ll find some with beautiful illustrations. You’ll escape to a world of pure imagination. That’s what I love about reading!
50 Must-Read Classics Books for Kids:
1. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
2. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
3. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
4. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
5. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
6. Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
7. The Sword in The Stone by T.H. White
8. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
9. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
10. The Chronicles of Narnia (series start with the Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe) by C.S. Lewis
11. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
12. Little House on the Prairie (series) by Laura Ingall’s Wilder
13. Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
14. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
15. The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
16. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
17. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
18. The Story of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
19. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (We all love Wilbur the pig!)
20. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
21. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
22. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
23. The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery
24. Little Britches by Ralph Moody
25. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
26. Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White (Also the Mouse & the Motorcycle!)
27. My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
28. Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
29. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
30. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (& more of Roald Dahl’s books)
31. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
33. Beatrix Potter Complete Tales (Tale of Peter Rabbit)
34. The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
35. Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
36. Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
37. The Borrowers by Mary Norton
38. Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
39. Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
40. The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
41. The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
42. Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
43. A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
44. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
45. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
46. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
47. Milly-Molly Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley
48. Uncle Wiggly’s Story Book by Howard R. Garis
49. Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
50. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
51. Poppy series by Avi
52. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
53. Shel Silverstein Books: (Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends)
54. The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales
What is your favorite must read children’s book? Let me know if I missed some of your favorites!
Would you rather have a printable list of these classics for kids? Â You can have that, too!
What an awesome list! Thanks for sharing 🙂 My daughter just read Pippi Longstocking and LOVED it!
This is such a great list – thank you for sharing it 🙂
I am in the middle of making a series of resources for parents with book-themed recipes and several of them are on this list (which is reassuring, lol!). So far, I have Snow White, Charlotte’s Web, The Little Mermaid and Peter Pan. I think that my next one in the series will be Dr. Dolittle…because what kiddo wouldn’t want to make treats for their animals?
What a great idea!!! I will have to stop by and check it out.
I enjoyed the list. I would remove The Boxcar Children ( They are formula books) and add Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry.
What is a formula book?
Thanks for this great list. I enjoyed reading the Anne of Green Gables series & hope my daughters do, too!
I agree with Anne of Green Gables and would also add The Velveteen Rabbit
I love Summer of the Monkeys! One of my favorite books to this day and every time i have read it to kids they have loved it too 🙂
Hi! I love this post! Can you tell me where you got the blue reading chair the child is sitting in? I Love it!!!!
Thank you so much.
Yes, It’s from Ikea!
Great List! I would also add Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, The Giving Tree, The All-of-a-Kind Family, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and The Betsy-Tacy Series. Loved your entire book list as a child (am now 67) read them to or recommended to my kids and now read with grandkids and great nieces and nephews! Still have bookcases as you show with a fabulous selections of children’s books. No great gift than the love of reading!
This is a great list! It really came in handy while planning homeschooling reading for my girls. Thanks for sharing!
My mom read my brother and I Heidi. Loved it. This was in the 60’s, one of my fondest memories. My mother was an avid reader and read to us a lot. Now I am too.
My favorite book didn’t make your list. MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN by Jean George.
MY FAVORITE WAS PETER RABBIT. i ASKED FOR THAT STORY OFTEN. IT REMINDED ME OF MY FAMIKY. I WAS TERRIFIED OF HANSEL AND GRETAL FOR THE SAME REASON.
I love reading to my kiddos, but I wish teachers at school were able to read more to their students. Some of my favorite memories from elementary school were of my teachers reading to us after lunch each day- A Wrinkle in Time, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, How to eat Fried Worms, Shel Silverstein’s poetry books. One of my favorite courses in university was Children’s Literature!