Today my attention is shifted to the 25 books aimed at 6-8 year olds that Booktrust have included on their list of 100 books children should read before they’re 14.
Again, here’s the list in full with the books I’ve read in bold type.
– The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton
– Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton
– A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond and Peggy Fortnum
– The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley
– Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown and Scott Nash
– Clarice Bean, That’s Me by Lauren Child
– That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton
– The BFG by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake
– The Story of Babar by Jean De Brunhoff
– My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards and Shirley Hughes
– Asterix the Gaul by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
– Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch
– Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson (translated by Elizabeth Portch)
– The Queen’s Nose by Dick King-Smith
– The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith and Mike Terry
– Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
– Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (translated by Tina Nunnally)
– Winnie-the-Pooh by A A Milne and E H Shepherd
– The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
– The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
– Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
– The Arrival by Shaun Tan
– Charlotte’s Web by E B White and Garth Williams
– Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
– Mister Magnolia by Quentin Blake
This time I’ve read 15 out of the 25, and of the ones I’ve read virtually all of them were books I read myself as a child – the notable expection being Shaun Tan’s excellent The Arrival which I’ve only recently read. Of the books I have read there are a few that I read repeatedly as a child – I re-read most books by Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl a fair few times, and my mom became so fed up of my repeated borrowing of Milly-Molly-Mandy from the library that she bought me my own copy.
I’m a little surprised that there are so few books published in the last decade or so on the list. I personally haven’t read many books in that time period aimed at the 6-8 year old reader, but my Beaver Scouts all bring exciting looking books with them to sleepovers so I’m aware they exist – I think I’d better start borrowing some of them so I can judge them myself.
Are there any books you’d have expected to see on this list?
Juniper's Jungle 
Stig Of The Dump seemed to be compulsory primary school reading when I was younger. Five Children And It too… Oh, and The Borrowers, though they might fall into the older category perhaps?
Yep, just checked – Stig and Borrowers are in the next age group. Guess I read them young.
We read Stig as a set text in year 6, though I read The Borrowers younger. It’s definitely interesting seeing where different books are placed age wise.