Top 10 Children's Books

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

You voted in your thousands to tell us your favourite books on our list of the top 100 best children's books from the last century.

This is your top 10 of the best children's books from the past 100 years.

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar

    The Very Hungry Caterpillar

    Author: Eric Carle
    Publisher: Puffin
    Interest age: 2-5

    Little fingers will love to follow the very hungry caterpillar as he munches his way through the pages of this classic, colourful, interactive picture book.

  • Northern Lights

    Northern Lights

    Author: Philip Pullman
    Publisher: Scholastic
    Interest age: 9-14
    Reading age: 10+

    This extraordinary fantasy is the first book in Philip Pullman's multi-award-winning His Dark Materials trilogy

  • The Hunger Games

    The Hunger Games

    Author: Suzanne Colins
    Publisher: Scholastic
    Interest age: 13+
    Reading age: 13+

    Welcome to Panem: its Capitol repressively rules twelve satellite Districts, enslaving the populations as workers and controlling them through hunger.

  • The BFG

    The BFG

    Author: Roald Dahl Illustrator: Quentin Blake
    Publisher: Jonathan Cape
    Interest age: 6-10
    Reading age: 7+

    The BFG stands for Big Friendly Giant, who unexpectedly spirits a little girl named Sophie out of bed, and into the land of the child-eating giants.

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Author: J K Rowling
    Publisher: Bloomsbury
    Interest age: 9-14
    Reading age: 9+

    After the misery of life with his ghastly aunt and uncle, Harry Potter is delighted to have the chance to embark on an exciting new life at the Hogwart's School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.

  • The Cat in the Hat

    The Cat in the Hat

    Author: Dr Seuss
    Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
    Interest age: 3-6

    When Sally and her brother are left alone on a rainy day, they think they are in for a dull time - but then the Cat in the Hat appears.

  • Winnie-the-Pooh

    Winnie-the-Pooh

    Author: A A Milne Illustrator: E H Shepard
    Publisher: Methuen
    Interest age: 4+
    Reading age: 7+

    No child's library could be complete without A A Milne's stories about Pooh, Christopher Robin and their friends in the Hundred Acre Wood.

  • Charlotte's Web

    Charlotte's Web

    Author: E B White Illustrator: Garth Williams
    Publisher: HarperCollins
    Interest age: 6+
    Reading age: 7+

    This is the tale of how a little girl named Fern - with the help of a friendly talking spider called Charlotte - saved her pig, Wilbur, from the usual fate of nice fat little pigs.

  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

    The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

    Author: C S Lewis
    Publisher: HarperCollins
    Interest age: 9+
    Reading age: 9+

    When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy - step through a wardrobe door in the strange country house where they are staying, they find themselves in the land of Narnia.

  • The Fellowship of The Ring

    The Fellowship of The Ring

    Author: JRR Tolkein
    Publisher: HarperCollins
    Interest age: 11+
    Reading age: 12+

    The first part of J R R Tolkien's epic masterpiece The Lord of the Rings, this is the story of young hobbit Frodo Baggins, who finds himself faced with an immense and terrible duty.