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We're giving away more than a THOUSAND pounds worth of children's books!

(515 Posts)
CariGransnet (GNHQ) Mon 01-Dec-14 10:58:24

One of our very favourite features is our annual round up of the best children's books of the year

This year we've featured you over 30 fantastic books for children of all ages, from babies and preschoolers - to young adults and teens. Great ideas for Christmas shopping. AND three lucky gransnetters get to win the lot...each set is worth over £350 and is sure to keep the family (and the wider family and the neighbours' kids...) happy for a very long time.

Full details on the page

To enter the draw - which will be made at midday on Tuesday 16 December - all you have to do is answer one simple question.

What's your favourite children's book of all time?

Maybe it's one that you loved as a child. One that you read to your own children. Or one that you read with your grandchildren. Old, new, classic or little-known...we look forward to compiling a list of gransnetters all-time favourites.

cikada Fri 05-Dec-14 08:06:58

It just has to be the "Roundabout Horse". My children never tired of having it read to them, in fact they would correct me each time I did not read it correctly. It had something magical about it, and the illustrations were beautiful.

scrapgran Fri 05-Dec-14 08:09:45

Has to be the Magc Faraway tree- lo9ved the saucepan man as a kid and my grandchildren like it too.

nurseblossom Fri 05-Dec-14 08:10:49

Ann of green gables

scrapgran Fri 05-Dec-14 08:12:16

Has to be the Magic Faraway Tree - loved the saucepan man and now my grandchildren like it too

rocketstop Fri 05-Dec-14 08:35:23

'Smith' by Leon Garfield . It terrified me, amused me, and enlightened me in equal measure. My elder sister read it too, and then it was made into a TV series, we were so impressed, we used to walk around ,speaking like vagabonds from Georgian London, our accents slightly dodgy, considering we are Yorkshire lasses! Oh what fun as we acted out line after line of the plot and how we would threaten each other with 'Newgate prison' if we had been mean to the other ! Gone was the cosy world of Enid Blyton, here was the dark and the cold and the underbelly of life, where the Goblins were real !!..Oops have I got a little carried away ?!!!

jillp Fri 05-Dec-14 08:38:05

So hard to choose, but I've always loved reading The Jabberwocky to my children and my grandchildren. The edition we had (its now in the household of one of my daughters) was a little paperback with lovely illustrations (I wish I could remember who did them) and it is now in a very well-loved condition indeed, still rediscovered from time to time and waiting for the next addition to the family to come along and be introduced to the joy of it.

CharliesAunt Fri 05-Dec-14 08:49:57

My favourite children's book now and from my childhood is Black Beauty.
I have always loved horses and can remember reading this with tears streaming down my face when I was about eleven. It shows how strong, noble, brave, loving, forgiving these wonderful animals are and how people can use and abuse such creatures. It stands the test of time and I shall be buying a copy for my granddaughter for Christmas as she also loves horses as much as I do.

ferrary60 Fri 05-Dec-14 08:55:56

The best book from my childhood has to be Pollyana

AllTheLs Fri 05-Dec-14 08:59:49

The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat by Enid Blyton. In fact, I blame the Mystery series books for my long-lasting love of crime fiction.

Wen Fri 05-Dec-14 09:24:01

My children loved 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Now all four of my grandsons have equally enjoyed it. It helps with counting too!

bioniknan Fri 05-Dec-14 09:35:50

The enchanted wood by Enid Blyton

elfies Fri 05-Dec-14 09:41:54

The Magic faraway tree ,which I have always loved.
My daughter loved it too, along with all the other Enid Blyton Books ,and we were scandilized in the mid 1970s when her teacher told us to stop allowing her access to Enid Blyton books as they were influencing her reading and writing. She was FIVE ,and could read and write fluently .

She still has these books and they will now be passed to her own child when he's a little older.

SuzC Fri 05-Dec-14 09:45:46

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - I loved the magic and escapism of it all.

missdeke Fri 05-Dec-14 09:47:22

My aunt gave me a copy of Heidi when I was about 7, inscribed in the front was the line, 'God give her grace in it to learn, not only learn but understand, when health and wealth and money's spent, learning is most excellent.' This book always held a special place in my heart.

valleysusan Fri 05-Dec-14 09:48:23

For me it has always been The Railway Children and also The Secret Garden. I love a good ending.

Leah50 Fri 05-Dec-14 09:48:26

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the first book I bought my grandchildren, their Mum loved it so much.

ChrissyPurple Fri 05-Dec-14 09:52:00

I love Owl Babies! I've just started sharing it with my granddaughter, and she loves it too!!

whitehouse Fri 05-Dec-14 09:54:47

Little grandson loves The Hungry Caterpillar, but older boy loves Mr. Tickle, or Mr. Greedy [as he has a big tummy like Gramps].

adrisco Fri 05-Dec-14 10:20:57

I loved the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories ... now my grand daughters love them.

sgam Fri 05-Dec-14 10:56:59

Definitely ' Heidi' by Johanna Spyri, I read it over and over joining her in my imagination in the mountains.
Followed closely by any magical Moomin book by Tove Jansson

Omi55 Fri 05-Dec-14 10:57:18

Winnie The Pooh - so much laughter with my two children and now I can look forward to reading it to my grandson!

Yvon Fri 05-Dec-14 11:10:59

My favourite book from my childhood is Now We Are Six by AA Milne. It tells stories about imaginary games, unusual people and foreign lands all in rhymes which are easy to learn. My grandchildren love them too.

dancingnana1 Fri 05-Dec-14 11:21:01

I was a Famous Five devotee. My favourite book was Five go down to the sea.

GeminiJen Fri 05-Dec-14 11:21:03

I discovered the Supergran books when my own children were small, in the 1980s. Before then, I don´t know that there was anything that portrayed such a fun, active, dynamic, truly adventurous picture of an older woman. I certainly hadn´t come across any. I remember how delighted my own Mum was to read the stories to her grandchildren, and how much fun I now have sharing them with my own.

Brusselsgran Fri 05-Dec-14 11:26:10

Make Way For the Ducklings, an American picture book from the nineteen-forties, about a family of ducks for whom an Irish policeman holds up traffic so they can cross the road to the park; this was an award-winner