100 best children's books

This is our list of the 100 best books for children from the last 100 years: a suggestion of titles to read before you're 14.

In 2021, a team of experts put together this list: broken down into four age groups, with 25 books in each.

How many have you read? Take our quiz

Why not take a look at Books We Love for our reviews of current brilliant books?

The nation's favourites

We also asked the nation to vote for their favourite top 10 from these 100 best books, and here is the definitive ranking:

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. The BFG by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
5. Winnie-the-Pooh by A A Milne, illustrated by E H Shepherd
6. The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J R R Tolkien
8. Charlotte's Web by E B White
9. Northern Lights [from His Dark Materials trilogy] by Philip Pullman
10. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis