A plethora of new children’s story books are written and published every year. Like any books that are published, some are brilliant, others are mediocre and still others are dismal. Parents often ask us what books children should read to help develop their English spelling, writing, reading and comprehension skills. Although there are a number of great modern children’s books now available, we still recommend that parents expose their children to the classic books for children that have been written over the past few centuries.
I have developed a comprehensive list of classic books that I recommend to parents for their children. Below is part of that list and would be a good starting point:
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
• Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
• The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
• Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
• Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
• Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Rudolf Wyss
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
The greatness of these books lies in their ‘survivability’. They have ‘stood the test of time’ and helped to inspire the creative imagination of countless children. As great as some of the contemporary books are, we believe it is really important to encourage your child to read some of the classic books so they will continue to inspire future generations.
