Children's Classics

If you are looking for a great book to share with your child, grandchild, class, or library group don’t forget the classics – these stories have withstood the test of time and as adults we still remember them fondly. Many famous authors have written some wonderful classics for children.

Great children’s stories are powerful, imaginative, and memorable; they resonate with readers of all ages and have a lasting and profound impact.

Alice in Wonderland (1865) is usually considered the first successful children’s novel. Before the time of its writing, children were viewed as adults-in-training so few works were written specifically for them. Children’s authors for the next hundred years believed that it was their duty to protect the young. Few writers exposed readers to the harsh facts of life.

Since the 1970s, the trend has been towards the depiction of a grittier realism. Children’s writers have introduced topics such as violence, death, divorce, and abandonment into their stories.

While books by Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling are extremely enjoyable and a lot of fun to read, a good classic also makes you think about life, its challenges, and the courage and determination of its characters tell you how to tackle difficult situations.

Give any of these a try:

The Oz Stories – L. Frank Baum
The Anne of Green Gables series – L.M. Montgomery
Black Beauty – Anna Sewell
King Solomon’s Mines – H. Rider Haggard
The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
Heidi – Johanna Spyri
Around the World in 80 Days – Jules Verne
The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling

And anything by Edgar Allan Poe or Arthur Conan Doyle

If the thought of reading an unabridged classic is too daunting, there are many shorter and simpler versions available. So there is no reason not to get to know those timeless heroes and heroines who live within the pages of great books.

Happy Reading – Let us help you discover a new world, in the pages of a book.