What are the quintessentially British children's books? That's a little bit of a challenge given how prevalent British literature is around the world as well as how open Britain has been to influences from overseas. Captured below is a list that attempts to capture the most traditional British childhood stories, those that most children are likely to have read or with which they are familiar.
Please use the comments section to suggest additional candidates.
Picture Books
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Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain by Edward Ardizzone |
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Thomas the Tank Engine by Reverend W. Awdry |
Ant and Bee by Angela Banner
Noddy by Enid Blyton
Little Golliwog by Enid Blyton
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Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John Burningham |
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The Minpins by Roald Dahl |
Orlando the Marmelade Cat by Kathleen Hale
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The Mog Collection by Judith Kerr |
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Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling and illustrated by Lambert Davis |
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The Light Princess by George MacDonald and illustrated by Maurice Sendak |
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The Canterbury Tales by Geraldine McCaughrean |
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Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne and illlustrated by Ernest H. Shepard |
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Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne and illlustrated by Ernest H. Shepard |
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When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne and illlustrated by Ernest H. Shepard |
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The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne and illlustrated by Ernest H. Shepard |
Captain Slaughterboard by Mervyn Peake
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The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter |
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The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter |
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The World of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter |
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A Child's Garden of Verses by R.L. Stevenson and illustrated by Tasha Tudor |
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The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Alan Lee |
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Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Alan Lee |
The Squirrel, the Hare, and the Little Grey Rabbit by Allison Uttley
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The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams and illustrated by William Nicholson |
Independent Reader
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Watership Down by Richard Adams |
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The Wolves of Willoughy Chase by Joan Aiken |
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Go Saddle the Sea by Joan Aiken |
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The Coral Island by R.M. Ballantyne |
The Ingoldsby Legends by Richard Barham
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Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie |
Malory Towers by Enid Blyton
The Famous Five by Enid Blyton
The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton
St. Clare's by Enid Blyton
The Naughtiest Girl by Enid Blyton
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
The Adventure series by Enid Blyton
The Wishing Chair by Enid Blyton
The Buttercup Farm Family by Enid Blyton
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A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond |
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Nurse Matilda by Christianna Brand and illustrated by Edward Ardizzone |
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Greenmantle by John Buchan |
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The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan |
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The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan |
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by John Tenniel |
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Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by John Tenniel |
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The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer |
What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
Just William by RIchmal Crompton
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The BFG by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake |
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake |
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Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake |
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James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake |
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Matilda by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake |
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Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and illustrated by W.J. Linton |
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A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and illustrated by P.J. Lynch |
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Great Expectations by Charles Dickens |
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Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens |
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Little Dorit by Charles Dickens |
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The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle |
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The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle |
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Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle |
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Sherlock Homes by Arthur Conan Doyle and illustrated by Sidney Paget |
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The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas |
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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas |
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The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and illustrated by Eduouard Zier |
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The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon and illustrated by Edward Ardizzone |
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Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester |
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Elidor by Alan Garner |
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The Owl Service by Alan Garner |
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding and illustrated by Ben Gibson |
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The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard |
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Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and illustrated by Arthur Rackham |
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King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard |
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Allan Quartermain by H. Rider Haggard |
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She by H. Rider Haggard and illustrated by Maurice Greiffenhagen |
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A Knight of the White Cross by G.A. Henty and illustrated by Ralph Peacock |
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Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes |
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The Peculiar Triumph of Professor Branestawm by Norman Hunter |
Biggles by Captain W.E. Johns
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The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley |
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Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling and illustrated by Robert Ingpen |
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Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling |
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Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling |
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Kim by Rudyard Kipling |
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The Man Who Would be King by Rudyard Kipling |
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The Complete Stalky & Co by Rudyard Kipling |
Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling
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Fairy Books by Andrew Lang |
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The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and illustrated by Pauline Baynes |
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The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay |
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The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting and illustrated by Michael Hague |
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The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting and illustrated by Michael Hague |
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At the Back of the Northwind by George MacDonald and illustrated by Arthur Hughes |
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The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald and illustrated by Jessie WIlcox Smith |
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Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery and illustrated by Jody Lee |
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Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo and illustrated by Michael Foreman |
Wet Magic by E. Nesbit
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Five Children and It by E. Nesbit |
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The Railway Children by E. Nesbit and illustrated by C.E. Brock |
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The Children's Shakespeare by E. Nesbit and illustrated by Rolf Klep |
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The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky |
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The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit and illustrated by H.R. Millar |
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The Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit and illustrated by Gordon Browne |
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The Wouldbegoods by E. Nesbit |
Clever Bill by William Nicholson
The Pirate Twins by William Nicholson
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The Borrowers by Mary Norton and illustrated by Diana Stanley |
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Bed-Knob and Broomsticks by Mary Norton and illustrated by Erik Blegvad |
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The Golden Treasury by Francis Turner Palgrave |
Minnow on the Say by Philippa Pearce
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Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce |
Peter Duck by Arthur Ransome
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
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Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott and illustrated by John Rush |
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Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott |
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Beowulf the Warrior by Ian Serraillier and illustrated by Severin Serraillier |
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Black Beauty by Anna Sewell |
Everything by William Shakespeare
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I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith |
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Heidi by Johanna Spyri and illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith |
The Midnight Folk by R.L. Stevenson
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Treasure Island by R.L. Stevenson and illustrated by N.C. Wyeth |
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Kidnapped by R.L. Stevenson and illustrated by Rowland Hilder |
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by R.L. Stevenson |
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The Black Arrow by R.L. Stevenson |
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Dracula by Bram Stoker |
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Outcast by Rosemary Sutcliff |
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The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff |
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The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff |
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The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and illustrated by Alan Lee |
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Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers |
Little Grey Rabbit by Alison Uttley
A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley
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War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells and illustrated by Tom Kidd |
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The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells |
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The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells |
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The Time Machine by H.G. Wells |
Elephant Bill by J.H. Williams
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The Grey Men by BB (Denys Watkins-Pitchford) |
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Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Edward Shepherd Creasey |
Young Adult
Colonel Jack by Daniel Defoe
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Bleak House by Charles Dickens and illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne |
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A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens |
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David Copperfield by Charles Dickens |
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The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens |
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The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens |
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Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier |
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Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier |
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The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier |
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The African Queen by C.S. Forester |
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Beowulf by Seamus Heaney |
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The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis |
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Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Malory |
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Animal Farm by George Orwell |
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Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell |
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Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell |
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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley |
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Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift |
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The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and illustrated by Alan Lee |
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Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh |
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Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh |
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Scoop by Evelyn Waugh |
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Mistress Masham's Repose by T.H. White and illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg |
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The Once and Future King by T.H. White |
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Carry On Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse |
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Heavy Weather by P.G. Wodehouse |
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Something Fresh by P.G. Wodehouse |
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