75 Classic Children’s Books for Independent Readers
How many of these timeless stories has your child enjoyed?
At Guinea Pig Education, we have always loved reading classic children’s books — stories that have stood the test of time and captured imaginations for generations. With gripping plots and unforgettable characters, these books can spark a lifelong love of reading and become stories your children treasure for years to come.
There are so many benefits to reading children’s classics. Written in different time periods and cultures, they introduce young readers to new ideas and new ways of thinking about the world. Classics also help build a more advanced vocabulary, strengthen comprehension skills, improve writing style, and prepare children for the longer literary texts they’ll encounter as they grow older. Many of these books also explore meaningful moral themes like empathy, compassion, forgiveness, friendship, generosity, and gratitude. Children’s classics truly have something special to offer. Sharing the stories you loved as a child with your own children can be a wonderfully rewarding experience - one that connects generations through the power of storytelling.
Below, we’ve put together a list of 75 of our favourite children’s classics for kids age 6-12, grouped by reading age: 6+, 8+, and 10+ (based on when children can typically enjoy them independently rather than as books read aloud). Each title on the list was published before the 1990s, offering a rich mix of beloved favourites and forgotten gems from an earlier era of storytelling.
“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”
Age 6+
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond (1958)
Bill’s New Frock by Anne Fine (1989)
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (1952)
Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl (1970)
Milly Molly Mandy Stories by Joyce Lancaster Brisley (1928)
Mrs Pepperpot Stories by Alf Prøysen (1956)
My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards (1952)
Stuart Little by E.B. White (1945)
The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton (1939)
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton (1943)
The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith (1983)
The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy (1974)
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne (1926)
Age 8+
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (1908)
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1905)
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (1936)
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (1877)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (1964)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming (1964)
Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit (1902)
Five on Treasure Island by Enid Blyton (1942)
Heidi by Johanna Spyri (1880)
Just William by Richmal Crompton (1922)
Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr (1958)
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers (1934)
Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988)
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (1911)
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (1945)
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter (1913)
Stig of the Dump by Clive King (1963)
Swallows and Amazon by Arthur Ransome (1930)
The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (1883)
The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann (1979)
The BFG by Roald Dahl (1982)
The Borrowers by Mary Norton (1952)
The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston (1954)
The Demon Headmaster by Gillian Cross (1982)
The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett (1937)
The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (1956)
The Iron Man by Ted Hughes (1968)
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (1894)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950)
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (1946)
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit (1905)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911)
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)
The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum (1900)
Age 10+
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (1872)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843)
Blitzcat by Robert Westall (1989)
Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden (1973)
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian (1981)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)
Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner (1898)
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1838)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin (1903)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (1976)
Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson (1927)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (1876)
The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)
The Machine-Gunners by Robert Westall (1975)
The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier (1956)
The Story of the Treasure-Seekers by E. Nesbit (1899)
The Swiss Family Robinson by J.D. Wyss (1812)
The Tale of Troy by Roger Lancelyn Green (1958)
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (1962)
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (1958)
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883)
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (1982)
Watership Down by Richard Adams (1972)
What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge (1872)
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr (1971)
Ready to start your child’s reading adventure?
Download our free checklist of 75 classic children’s books and begin tracking their journey through the world of timeless stories!
After enjoying one of these classics, why not jot down your thoughts with this free book review worksheet?
“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.”