Children's Books Authors And Book Experts List 50 Books Every Child Should Read

The Independent:

Education Secretary Michael Gove says that children aged 11 should be reading 50 books a year to improve literacy standards.

We asked three of Britain's leading children's authors and two of our in-house book experts to each pick 10 books, suitable for Year 7 students.

Read the whole story: The Independent

Comments

[Joshua Da Costa]

01:34 PM on 05/18/2011

Did I just see naruto in that list ...
ROFL
it's a good read though....
I'm a teenager and i think that stuff like agatha christie's great.... (Hercule poirot FTW)
:P

[Mary Daugherty]

11:01 PM on 04/12/2011

There are so many young adult books and YA writers that it is hard to choose the "greatest" books for children. Every opinion is different but the attachment to your fav children's book is the same for everyone....the story you couldn't forget. For me, The book was Desiree, by Annemarie Selinko and to this day I still love historic novels.

[hairydodger]

12:56 PM on 03/28/2011

This is not a commercial posting. This enhanced ebook is free. Here is a look at the future of books if you have an iPad. "Box Head Man" is in the iTunes ebook store. It's a wonderful story with great videos with each chapter. There are so many quirky, wonderful characters it's hard to choose a favorite. It's a story about a kid and his singing Dalmation that is dognapped and his subsequent rescue. My kids love this book and so do I. From your iPad go to http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/box-head-man-enhanced-version/id399459860?mt=11

[Nolana]

11:17 AM on 03/28/2011

The Wind in the Willows. Mom read this to me several times when I was a kid, and I have always loved it. Most people will say it's just a goofy story about Mr. Toad, but there are some chapters that are not at all funny, but quite spiritual. "Wayfarers All", when the Water Rat struggles with a kind of depression and develops a longing to travel, to see different things, and how it conflicts with his strong sense of home; "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", in which the animals come face to face with their God; and "Dulce Domum", in which Mole must find his old home, and re-learns the value of his own origins, while knowing that he will always have a yearning to explore the wider world and all of its wonders.

The original illustrations my Ernest H. Sheperd - the exquisite pen-and-ink drawings and the watercolors - can't be surpassed. This is a beautiful book.

[carester]

12:06 PM on 03/25/2011

I'm the mother of two kids (12 and 8). Parents have to encourage kids to read by letting them explore, pick and choose what they want to read. For example, when my son (12 now) was around 7/8 years old the big thing for him was pokemon, naruto, and manga series. My husband hated them, considered them a waste of money, garbage. My position was that as long as he was interested in reading I was ok with it. Well, time passed by, and the kid is now 12, a voracious reader! He, of course, doesn't read naruto or any of those guys anymore. His taste and subject of interest have evolved. A great hit not too long ago was Percy Jackson (a kid half human and half greek god), Alex Rider (a kind of teenage James Bond), Artemis Fowl, the Hunger Games. The other day, while placing an order online for his sister (Geronimo Stilton fan), he asked for "1984." I personally believe is too advanced for him, but he got interested on it after reading the sypnosis (his currently taking a Civics class at school). I ordered, in addition to the Farm. Today (payday), he'll be buying Colbert's "I'm an American so can you" and John Stewart's "A visitors guide to the human race." Every time we go to the bookstore and picks these two books and sits at a corner to read them.

[sabelmouse]

01:09 PM on 03/25/2011

tastes ans interests change over time. forcing children to read a certain kind of book is more of a turn off than anything else.

[carester]

01:23 PM on 03/25/2011

Agree! I've tried to get him to read The Giver, with no success so far. Every time we go to the library, I drop it in the bag (hoping that he will read it). Nothing, nada, zero. He devours every single book but The Giver. I don't know if it's the picture of the old man or whatever. I've told him that its about Jonas, a 12 year old, just like him to see if he cares, but he doesn't. I guess he'll pick it up when his ready :-)

[cinemaven]

10:03 AM on 03/26/2011

I so agree and as the mom of an 18 and 24 year old, I know this approach works.
My boys started out with nintendo magazine and video game walk through guides. One persons trash is another persons treasure, especially when it comes to books.

Today, they are both voracious readers and they've moved on from "trash" to the classics. My oldest is in a book club and he's worked his way through Dostoyevsky, Shakespeare and Hugo and, as a standup comedian, words are actually his business. My youngest is a history major and a songwriter and Stewart and Colbert's books have pride of place in his room.

If your son hasn't read them, I'd highly recommend the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. They're beautifully written.

I think the best way to raise readers is to be a reader. My husband and I always have a pile of books next to us and our home is book cluttered. Another great way is to take them to the library weekly.

[Erewhon7]

05:14 PM on 03/24/2011

Jules Verne!
While I vehemently oppose abridged editions, but Jules Verne works best if abridged and with an up- to- date translation.

[c-tom]

04:44 PM on 03/24/2011

First some of these seem a bit advanced for most but not all 7th graders: 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Alice in Wonderland'. And we've missed the gorilla in the room: 'Harry Potter'.

[Bill Dodds]

03:33 PM on 03/24/2011

Perhaps I'm a poster child for the children who choose not to read for fun. Year after year, my four siblings received certificates from the library for reading ten books over the summer. I didn't read any. (And I have no favorite childhood book.) I only wanted to play. And now . . .

I'm the author. My latest middle-grade novel is "My Great-grandfather Turns 12 Today." And for adults, "Pope Bob."

www.BillDodds.com

[sabelmouse]

01:57 PM on 03/24/2011

how nice to find one german book included. and one by a german jew about fleeing the nazis.
when they say every child do they mean every child on earth and does that mean every child on earth should mainly read english and american books ?

[keep it solid]

02:17 PM on 03/24/2011

Yes The diary of Anne Frank is missing

[sabelmouse]

11:58 AM on 03/25/2011

thats not all thats missing. most countries have witers and publishing. in europe we certainly read a lot of english and american books. but not the other way around. why ?

[-swift]

01:52 PM on 03/24/2011

While I'm a huge fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. I would recommend his books that are specifically designed for younger readers, starting with The Wee Free Men. Ironically, the Wee Free Men is mainly about a young girl. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is also good.

http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/books/youngadult.html

[db08]

01:27 PM on 03/24/2011

An excellent idea even if they only read 25 books a year. As a college educator who has taught composition and literature, I can easily tell non-readers. They usually are not strong critical thinkers. Equally important, they will face a great deal of reading in college and in life. It is life skill.
Having said that, I would love to see poetry added to the list.
How can parents make this happen? Make going to the local library and book stores a family ritual along with turning off the tv (and iPods) for reading time for everyone. Discuss with your children what they are reading at school.

[Erewhon7]

01:57 PM on 03/24/2011

Agreed. Parents modeling behavior is vital.
But there are many parents who don't read themselves. What is the solution for those teeming millions :-)

[db08]

02:45 PM on 03/24/2011

When I visit libraries and book store, I actually see more people, children and adults, than the media would have us believe. Nonetheless, we as citizens need to keep supporting our libraries, give books to agencies, read publicly. Parents are not the only models.

[MJinCanada]

01:10 PM on 03/24/2011

Rather slanted to the "experts" own preferences. There are thousands of excellent books for kids and young adults. There's the Magic Treehouse series, for example. Gordon Korman has a fantastic batch of adventure books, with a rather neat idea. He's produced several trilogies (the Dive, Everest and Island series) so that each book is an easy kid-sized chapter book but the trilogy itself adds up to a good-sized novel.

I was glad to see a Terry Pratchett book on the list -- but those are great for any age, and one can read them as a kid, as a teen and again as an adult and find new perspectives and humour. My kids loved Pratchett's The Hogfather, Soul Music, The Wee Free Men (which is somewhat for kids), Maurice and his Amazing Rodents and Going Postal.

[Erewhon7]

01:58 PM on 03/24/2011

"Rather slanted to the "experts" own preference­s."

Um...... that was the whole point!

[52tucker]

01:08 PM on 03/24/2011

I always enjoy the challenge of finding that special book that will open up the world of reading for pleasure to a kid who tells me they hate to read. For teenage boys especially, this can be a challenge, but it is so rewarding to have them return the book asking for another when the connection is made. I've found Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," though certainly not a children's book per se, has something special to it that fascinates occasional readers like few others. I've passed it along to kids whose whole world is skateboarding, video games and music and had great responses. As someone who tutors this age group, these lists will surely help me next time I'm tasked with finding the right book for a frustrated kid.

[52tucker]

01:00 PM on 03/24/2011

Phillip Pullman's list is wonderful. Pullman's His Dark Materials series is a great read for all ages as well.

[AngelaQuattrano]

11:03 AM on 03/24/2011

I think they are confusing the process with the goal. For kids to read a book a week because they want to read is the goal, not part of the process of the much more nebulous goal of developing literacy.

They seem to have made no progress in finding a way to make kids want to read. It is a big part of the problem that kids do not read unless they are forced to. Reading only because it is "good for you" is part of the problem, not the solution.

[-swift]

01:46 PM on 03/24/2011

There is a secret. Children who are read to by their parents when young, and who see their parents reading, are far more likely to be readers.

But if a child grows up in a home with no books, parents who don't read, and parents who don't take them to the library, it's almost impossible for a teacher to fix that.

[rmarie]

02:05 PM on 03/24/2011

I'm going to echo what the other response says a bit, and say that the solution is getting to kids when they're young. I have a rule: my kid never has more toys than he does books. He had a library before I brought him home from the hospital.

Once you start your kid's library, all you have to do is look through it on occasion to donate the books that are no longer age appropriate and replace them with others.