I’ve just come across this list which I first posted five years ago. I exclaimed aloud a lot and spent literally 20 minutes Oooh!-ing, Yes!-ing, Oh-D’you-Remember?-ing, and long pauses whilst I drooled over the list. And now fully intend to work my way right through it. Some I’ve loved, some I’ve never even heard of, let alone read.
This is a very clipped part of the article, reproduced with kind permission from Richard Davies of AbeBooks – you can see the original article here.
“Reading should be an essential part of any childhood. Teachers and schools can teach you many useful things (although I’ve not used calculus in my adult life) but a steady diet of literature can ensure a young person’s education never ends.
Below are 50 books that I and a few other colleagues recommend for a typical 11-year-old – some can be read at a much younger age while others are verging on the young adult genre. Some of these books I have revisited as an adult while reading to my eldest. Some are ageless classics and others are hyper modern. Some are sets or series so you are actually receiving more than 50 recommendations.
…let’s just get young people reading.”
I’m also very tired of my children’s sad penchant for dismissing books in old used covers, wanting shiny new reprints even of old classics – my family know that I LOVE to get an old battered copy of a book I wish to read (seriously, what is better than that ‘old book’ smell?). There’s a loveliness ot a shiny new copy that is all yours, of course there is. But please teach your children not to dismiss the old books just because their covers are a bit weird. Looking at this list, I know that no matter how much a modern 11yr old might dismiss the cover, one chapter in and they’ll be utterly hooked. Just like I was 30 years ago.
50 Books Every Child Should Read
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