Brazenmom

One of my favourite past times is perusing the millions (only a slight exaggeration) of charity shops that populate the lovely city of London in search of bargain books. Especially children’s books. My daughter is 11 months old and she already has quite a library. I feel that it is so important that she has access to books and I hope that her little library will inspire in her a love for literature and an appreciation for the beautiful illustrations that play their part in telling stories. Amelia’s library does not only consist of books that are age appropriate, in fact most of the books on her shelf are not suitable for a baby. “Little Women”, “Charlotte’s Web”, “The Jungle Book”, “Alice In Wonderland”, the Narnia stories and the Roald Dahl collection are but some of the books that sit patiently on Amelia’s shelf, waiting until she is old enough, and willing enough, to allow them into her imagination.

In celebration of its 70th birthday, Puffin has released a list of its top 70 children’s books, some of which are my favourite childhood stories. Read the list, remember and be inspired.

The Puffin Top 70:

The Best Mischief and Mayhem

• The Twits by Roald Dahl
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong
• The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend

The Best Weepies

• Watership Down by Richard Adams
• The Truth about Leo by David Yelland
• Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Best to Cuddle-Up With

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• The Bog Baby by Jeanne Willis & Gwen Millward
• Peepo! by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd

The Best Blood and Guts

• The Enemy by Charlie Higson
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Being by Kevin Brooks
• The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Best Swashbucklers and Derring-Do

• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs by Giles Andreae & Russell Ayto
• Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior by Chris Bradford
• Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green

The Best Heroes

• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• Young Bond: SilverFin by Charlie Higson
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Best Characters

• Charlie and Lola: Excuse Me But That is My Book by Lauren Child
• Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll & Jan Pienkowski
• Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird & Helen Craig
• Fungus the Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs

The Best Sugar and Spice

• Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories by Joyce Lankester Brisley
• The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
• The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
• The Princess and the Pea by Lauren Child & Polly Borland

The Best Animals

• Spy Dog by Andrew Cope
• The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith
• My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
• Lionboy by Zizou Corder

The Best Friends and Family

• Dizzy by Cathy Cassidy
• The Borrowers by Mary Norton
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett
• Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

The Best Phizzwhizzers

• The BFG by Roald Dahl
• Matilda by Roald Dahl
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl

The Best War and Conflict

• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Once by Morris Gleitzman
• Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian
• Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden

The Best BEST BEST BEST!

• Stig of the Dump by Clive King
• Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
• Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson
• How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
• Junk by Melvin Burgess

The Best Fantasy and Adventure

• TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow
• Dot Robot by Jason Bradbury
• Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
• A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

The Best Weird and Wonderful

• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Five Children and It by E Nesbitt
• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

The Best Rhymes and Verse

• Please Mrs Butler by Allan Ahlberg
• Michael Rosen’s A-Z The best children’s poetry from Agard to Zephaniah
• Talking Turkeys by Benjamin Zephaniah
• Bad Bad Cats by Roger McGough

The Best Alternatives to Twilight

• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
• The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
• Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen