Both classical novels and contemporary literature have a lot to offer young readers. But, as we all know, children sometimes need a little nudge to pick up a book. So, we thought we’d put together a list of brilliant books that children of all ages can enjoy!
Some of the 100 titles towards the end of this list may not be suitable for less confident readers to pick up independently, but are still great to read to younger children. Why not challenge your child to see how many they can read by the end of primary school?
100 children’s books for ages 2 to 11
- The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson
- Green Eggs and Ham – Dr Seuss
- Giraffes Can’t Dance – Giles Andreae
- Dinosaurs Love Underpants – Claire Freedman & Ben Cort
- Dear Zoo – Rod Campbell
- Not Now, Bernard – David McKee
- Handa’s Surprise – Eileen Browne
- The Rainbow Fish – Marcus Pfister
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
- Owl Babies – Martin Waddell and Patrick Henson
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle
- And Tango Makes Three – Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
- Spyder – Matt Carr
- Juniper Jupiter – Lizzy Stewart
- Peace at Last – Jill Murphy
- Oi Frog! – Kes Gray
- Mrs Mole, I’m Home – Jarvis
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Judith Kerr
- Charlie and Lola – Lauren Child
- The Day the Crayons Quit – Drew Daywalt
- My Friend Bear – Jez Alborough
- A Bear Called Paddington – Michael Bond
- F unnybones – Allan Ahlberg
- Katie Morag – Mairi Hedderwick
- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs – Jon Scieszka
- The Adventures of Captain Underpants – Dav Pilkey
- Flat Stanley – Jeff Brown
- Rosie Revere, Engineer – Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
- George’s Marvellous Medicine/The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me/The Twits etc – Roald Dahl
- The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark – Jill Tomlinson
- Pirate School: Just a Bit of Wind – Jeremy Strong
- The Diary of a Killer Cat – Anne Fine
- Daisy and the Trouble with Life – Kes Gray
- Dogger – Shirley Hughes
- Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat – Ursula Williams
- The Tear Thief – Carol Ann Duffy
- Horrid Henry – Francesca Simon
- Fluff the Farting Fish – Michael Rosen
- Mr Majeika – Humphrey Carpenter
- Nim’s Island – Wendy Orr
- How to Train Your Dragon – Cressida Cowell
- You’re a Bad Man Mr Gum – Andy Stanton
- Shadow – Michael Morpurgo
- The 13-Storey Treehouse – Andy Griffiths
- Beast Quest – Adam Blade
- Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
- The Midnight Fox – Betsy Byars
- Animal Ark series – Lucy Daniels
- Pippi Longstocking – Astrid Lindgren
- The Time Travelling Cat – Julia Jarman
- The Worst Witch – Jill Murphy
- Doctor Dolittle – Hugh Lofting
- The Legend of Captain Crow’s Teeth – Eoin Colfer
- The Watchers – Helen Cresswell
- The 52-Storey Treehouse – Andy Griffiths
- Desirable – Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Street Child – Berlie Doherty
- The Iron Man – Ted Hughes
- How to Train Your Parents – Pete Johnson
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Jeff Kinney
- Carrie’s War – Nina Bawden
- The Spiderwick Chronicles – Tony Diterlizzi
- Tom’s Midnight Garden – Phillipa Pearce
- Cliffhanger/Lottie/Lola Rose etc – Jacqueline Wilson
- The Famous Five/Malory Towers/The Naughtiest Girl in the School etc – Enid Blyton
- Artemis Fowl – Eoin Colfer
- Horrible Histories – Terry Deary
- Gangsta Granny – David Walliams
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – JK Rowling
- Stormbreaker – Anthony Horowitz
- Wonder – RJ Palacio
- The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
- The Brilliant World of Tom Gates – Liz Pichon
- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne
- Goodnight Mr Tom – Michelle Magorian
- Dragons at Crumbling Castle – Terry Pratchett
- What Katy Did – Susan Coolidge
- Who Let the Gods Out? – Maz Evans
- Murder MostUnladylike – Robin Stevens
- The Girl of Ink and Stars
- Skulduggery Pleasant – Derek Landy
- Noughts and Crosses/Thief – Malorie Blackman
- The Firework-Maker’s Daughter – Philip Pullman
- A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
- Holes – Louis Sachar
- The Boy at the Back of the Class – Onjali Q. Rauf
- The Fastest Boy in the World – Elizabeth Laird
- My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece – Annabel Pitcher
- Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie
- The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling
- The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
- The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Anne of Green Gables – L. Montgomery
- Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
- The Borrowers – Mary Norton
- Black Beauty – Anna Sewell
- Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
- The Diary of Anne Frank – Anne Frank
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