Alice in Wonderland & Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
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Lewis Carroll’s masterpieces. Among the first books ever published to entertain rather than instruct children, they’re a brilliant child’s-eye view of the nonsensical adult world. And as for the language… Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe…
Winnie the Pooh & the House at Pooh Corner (NOT the Disney travesties!) by A.A. Milne
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Where archetypes play. My favourite read-aloud, hysterical laughter guaranteed.
His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman
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Children’s books for grown-ups. About the need to resist corrupt authority, a message for everyone now.
The Great White Man-Eating Shark by Margaret Mahy
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We all feel a little sharkish sometimes.
Dogger by Shirley Hughes
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Real family, real children, real feelings
A Baby Sister for Frances by Russell Hoban
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More feelings. A baby sister? No thanks.
Orlando Buys a Farm by Katherine Hale
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Katherine Hale was some kind of genius.
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
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Glorious ode to the Wild Rumpus.
The Mixed up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler by Claudia Kincaid
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Claudia Kincaid shows us how to run away properly.
The Tiger Rising by Kate di Camillo
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An extraordinary, minimalist story about grief.
The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky
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Three sisters respond to turbulent undercurrents in their family that they are only partly aware of.
Too Many Elephants by Ursula Dubosarsky
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I must have read this to my grandson two hundred times, but I’ll happily read it again.
Rona by Chris Szekely
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A hilarious New Zealand story.