In celebration of Children’s Day, this month’s book recommendations list focuses on titles for kids. Here are ten picks from the CRR UK team which cover a vast range of styles and can appeal to children of all ages.
Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery
Recommended by Nairy McMahon
As soon as Anne Shirley arrives at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she is sure she wants to stay forever… but will the Cuthberts send her back to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected—a skinny girl with fiery red hair and a temper to match. If only she can convince them to let her stay, she’ll try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes and blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind. Anne is not like anyone else, the Cuthberts agree; she is special—a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreams of the day when she can call herself Anne of Green Gables.
Oi Frog!
by Kes Gray and Jim Field
Recommended by Claire Chatterton
Jam-packed with the silliest of animals, this best-selling rhyming story will have the youngest of listeners in fits of laughter. Cats sit on mats, hares sit on chairs, mules sit on stools and gophers sit on sofas, but Frog does not want to sit on a log! From the award-winning Kes Gray and winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize Jim Field comes a hilarious rhyming tale about a frog who discovers that all animals have their special places to sit!
The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Recommended by Cristina Passalacqua
A pilot stranded in the desert awakes one morning to see, standing before him, the most extraordinary little fellow. “Please,” asks the stranger, “draw me a sheep.” And the pilot realizes that when life’s events are too difficult to understand, there is no choice but to succumb to their mysteries. He pulls out pencil and paper… And thus begins this wise and enchanting fable that, in teaching the secret of what is really important in life, has changed forever the world for its readers.
Mommy, Mama, and Me
by Lesléa Newman
Recommended by Laura Wilks
Rhythmic text and illustrations with universal appeal show a toddler spending the day with its mommies. From hide-and-seek to dress-up, then bath time and a kiss goodnight, there’s no limit to what a loving family can do together.
Share the loving bond between same-sex parents and their children in this heart-warming story of family.
Amintiri din Copilărie
(Recollections from Childhood)
by Ion Creangă
Recommended by Radu Cocis
The story of a boy who did not want to become a priest; the masterpiece of Romania’s greatest storyteller. Recollections from Childhood is a highly entertaining recount of the author’s idyllic childhood, disrupted by his parents’ ambitions to have him enter priesthood.
One of the main literary contributions of Romanian author Ion Creangă. The larger of his two works in the memoir genre, it includes some of the most recognizable samples of first-person narratives in Romanian literature, and is considered by critics to be Creangă’s masterpiece.
War Horse
by Michael Morpurgo
Recommended by Nairy McMahon
It is 1914, and Joey, a farm horse, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of World War I on the Western Front. When Joey is dragged away, his heart aches for Albert, the farmer’s son he is forced to leave behind. In the army the beautiful red-bay horse is trained to charge the enemy, drag heavy artillery, and carry wounded soldiers not much older than Albert off the battlefields. Amongst the clamouring of guns, and while plodding through the cold mud, Joey wonders if the war will ever end. And if it does, will he ever find Albert again?
Tom’s Midnight Garden
by Philippa Pearce
Recommended by Claire Chatterton
When Tom’s brother gets sick, he’s shipped off to spend what he’s sure will be a boring summer with his aunt and uncle in the country. But then Tom hears the old grandfather clock in the hall chime thirteen times, and he’s transported back to an old garden where he meets a young, lonely girl named Hatty.
Tom returns to the garden every night to have adventures with Hatty, who mysteriously grows a little older with each visit. As the summer comes to an end, Tom realizes he wants to stay in the garden with Hatty forever.
Historia de una gaviota y del gato que le enseñó a volar
(The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly)
by Luis Sepulveda
Recommended by Cristina Passalacqua
It’s migration time and as a mother gull dives into the water to catch a herring she’s caught in an oil slick! Thinking of the egg she is about to lay she manages to extract herself and fly to the nearest port. Exhausted, she lands on a balcony where Zorba the cat is sunning himself. Zorba wants to get help, but the gull knows it’s too late and she extracts three promises from him: 1) That he won’t eat the egg, 2) that he’ll take care of the chick until it hatches, and 3) that he’ll teach it to fly.
Well the first two are hard enough, but the third one is surely impossible. Isn’t it?
I Love You, Stinky Face
by Lisa McCourt and Cyd Moore
Recommended by Laura Wilks
A vividly illustrated bedtime story that shows how the unconditional love of a mother can be tested through the relentless questions of her little boy.
“But Mama, but Mama, what if I were a super smelly skunk, and I smelled so bad that my name was Stinky Face?” Mothers love their children and this unconditional love is truly tested in I Love You, Stinky Face. Lisa McCourt and Cyd Moore beautifully weave a reassuring tale of the love and affection of a parent. The imaginative son turns himself into a meat-eating dinosaur, a swamp creature and much, much more before being satisfied with the fact that no matter how stinky he is or how slimy of a creature he could possibly be, he is loved and nothing will change that.
Goosebumps Series
by R. L. Stine
Recommended by Radu Cocis
Discover the original bone-chilling adventures that made Goosebumps one of the bestselling children’s book series of all time! Have you got Goosebumps yet? If not, you soon will! This creep collection will thrill you, frighten you, and keep you on the edge of your seat. Inside you’ll find tales of slimy monsters, horrifying mummies, malicious lawn gnomes, and of course, Slappy – the scariest ventriloquist dummy you will ever meet!
