Marcia Williams I have been putting this choice off for weeks. I think because every year another favourite is published and I find it impossible to leave the old friend behind. So, finally, instead of giving the project up, I have decided to choose the five which I loved as a young child and which…
Mick Manning For Younger Children Flea Bag, Helen Stephens Noggin and the Ice Dragon, Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My, Tove Jansson Dolphin Baby, Nicola Davies and Brita Granström (non-fiction) Peepo, Janet and Allan Ahlberg For Older Children The Kin, Peter Dickinson Watching Wildlife, David Stephen (non-fiction, out…
Alexis Deacon Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig This story is pretty much the gold standard as far as I am concerned. All of William Steig’s work is fantastic but this is particularly great. I don’t want to spoil it by analysing what makes it so good. Suffice to say it is the only time…
Tom Palmer Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Jonny by Jonny Wilkinson Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff Keeper by Mal Peet
Marcus Sedgwick Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson I think this is one of those books that people underestimate, either because they’ve forgotten they’ve read it, or never have. Maybe there’s too much Disney in people’s memories of it. The original book is powerful, dark, compelling and sinister and I love it. In the Night Kitchen by…
Chris Bradford Here are my top 5 action reads. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone The classic action-adventure where YOU are the hero. This series formed the lifeblood of my reading as a youth. Tarzan – The Greystoke Legacy by Andy Briggs A reboot of the iconic jungle hero, befriended by a…
Tim Bowler Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain by Edward Ardizzone
Gill Lewis The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it was None of His Business by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Di Camillo Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico
Paul Dowswell Here are my top five books. A very difficult list to compile! Like a top five list of music it probably changes every week. All these books have the magical quality of ‘taking you there’, creating a world you inhabit while you’re reading. 1984 by George Orwell One of the recurring themes of my historical…