What started out as a bit of fun, finding out favourite books of some of our favorite authors, quickly became a really amazing list of books we wanted to share with you.
If books were football players, this is the team that would win the World Cup! This section should keep your kids in fabulous books until at least the end of A-levels, featuring authors such as: Michael Morpurgo, Robert Muchamore, Marcus Sedgwick, Geraldine McCaughrean, Tim Bowler and many more.
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Children's Author Favourites
What are the great books that have influenced other authors the most? Find out in our Author Favourites section.
Featured Books
Essential Spider-Man
Stan Lee
Chosen by November 2011 Guest Editor Steve Cole, the Spider-Man comics by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway et al: "Stan Lee and the merry Marvel Bullpen of writers and illustrators dominated my childhood reading. I bought several comics each...
Featured in: 11+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 20/07/2005
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Stan Lee
Chosen by November 2011 Guest Editor Steve Cole, the Spider-Man comics by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway et al: "Stan Lee and the merry Marvel Bullpen of writers and illustrators dominated my childhood reading. I bought several comics each...
Featured in: 11+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 20/07/2005
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The Little White Horse
Elizabeth Goudge
'The Little White Horse was my favourite childhood book. I absolutely adored it' - J K Rowling. The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge is a timeless classic, a novel that has been a favourite of many a child since...
Featured in: 7+ readers | 9+ readers | Audio Books | Ebooks | Pony Mad
Format: Hardback - Released: 21/10/2011
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Elizabeth Goudge
'The Little White Horse was my favourite childhood book. I absolutely adored it' - J K Rowling. The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge is a timeless classic, a novel that has been a favourite of many a child since...
Featured in: 7+ readers | 9+ readers | Audio Books | Ebooks | Pony Mad
Format: Hardback - Released: 21/10/2011
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The Silver Brumby
Elyne Mitchell
November 2009 Guest Editor Geraldine McCaughrean on a favourite book, The Silver Brumby: "Any book with a horse on the cover was irresistible to me as a child. So I read countless pony books set in a toffy-nosed world I...
Featured in: 7+ readers | 9+ readers | Pony Mad
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/06/2009
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Elyne Mitchell
November 2009 Guest Editor Geraldine McCaughrean on a favourite book, The Silver Brumby: "Any book with a horse on the cover was irresistible to me as a child. So I read countless pony books set in a toffy-nosed world I...
Featured in: 7+ readers | 9+ readers | Pony Mad
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/06/2009
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Two Weeks with the Queen
Morris Gleitzman
A favourite of August 2011 Guest Editor Julie Hearn. To writing a moving and funny book, especially for children, about as serious a subject as cancer is a remarkable achievement. Two Weeks with the Queen is a remarkable example of...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Ebooks | Reluctant Readers
Format: Paperback (b Format) - Released: 04/03/1999
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Morris Gleitzman
A favourite of August 2011 Guest Editor Julie Hearn. To writing a moving and funny book, especially for children, about as serious a subject as cancer is a remarkable achievement. Two Weeks with the Queen is a remarkable example of...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Ebooks | Reluctant Readers
Format: Paperback (b Format) - Released: 04/03/1999
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Sherman Alexie
A favourite of Jenny Downham, January 2011 Guest Editor: "This is a book I discovered only recently. It made me jealous because the writing is so acute and the writer so talented! It delighted me for the very same reasons. This...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 14+ readers | Books for Boys
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/06/2008
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Sherman Alexie
A favourite of Jenny Downham, January 2011 Guest Editor: "This is a book I discovered only recently. It made me jealous because the writing is so acute and the writer so talented! It delighted me for the very same reasons. This...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 14+ readers | Books for Boys
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/06/2008
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Holes
Louis Sachar
October 2011 Guest Editor Roddy Doyle: "Boys in jail – a great idea. The jail has no roof and they have to dig huge holes in the baking sun all day – it’s getting even better. I read Holes in...
Featured in: 11+ readers | Audio Books | Bookshelf Essentials | Ebooks | Reluctant Readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/10/2000
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Louis Sachar
October 2011 Guest Editor Roddy Doyle: "Boys in jail – a great idea. The jail has no roof and they have to dig huge holes in the baking sun all day – it’s getting even better. I read Holes in...
Featured in: 11+ readers | Audio Books | Bookshelf Essentials | Ebooks | Reluctant Readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/10/2000
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The Elephant's Child
Rudyard Kipling
A favourite of June 2011 Guest Editor Michael Morpurgo, who remembers this as: "The story my mother used to read me most often, because I asked for it again and again. I loved the sheer fun of it, the music...
Featured in: 5+ readers | 7+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 24/09/2009
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Rudyard Kipling
A favourite of June 2011 Guest Editor Michael Morpurgo, who remembers this as: "The story my mother used to read me most often, because I asked for it again and again. I loved the sheer fun of it, the music...
Featured in: 5+ readers | 7+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 24/09/2009
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The Famous Five: Five go to Smuggler's Top
Enid Blyton
A choice of David Almond, September 2011 Guest Editor, and Ali Sparkes, November 2009 Guest Editor. David Almond: "Anyone of my age is pretty sure to have read Enid Blyton, just as they probably read the Dandy and the Beano and Superman and Rupert...
Featured in: 9+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 19/03/1997
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Enid Blyton
A choice of David Almond, September 2011 Guest Editor, and Ali Sparkes, November 2009 Guest Editor. David Almond: "Anyone of my age is pretty sure to have read Enid Blyton, just as they probably read the Dandy and the Beano and Superman and Rupert...
Featured in: 9+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 19/03/1997
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Which Witch?
Eva Ibbotson
A favourite of November 2010 Guest Editor Jonathan Stroud: "Arriman the Awful, master of black magic and great Wizard of the North, needs an heir. And that means he has to get married. Trouble is, wicked wizards have to marry...
Featured in: 7+ readers | Audio Books | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 12/10/2001
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Eva Ibbotson
A favourite of November 2010 Guest Editor Jonathan Stroud: "Arriman the Awful, master of black magic and great Wizard of the North, needs an heir. And that means he has to get married. Trouble is, wicked wizards have to marry...
Featured in: 7+ readers | Audio Books | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 12/10/2001
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Foundation
Isaac Asimov
William Nicholson – April 2010 Guest Editor remembers Foundation by Isaac Asimov: The first of the Foundation trilogy, which gripped me as a teenager. Fully thought-through, intellectually compelling science fiction - idea fiction, more like, built round the genius notion...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 14+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 28/03/1994
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Isaac Asimov
William Nicholson – April 2010 Guest Editor remembers Foundation by Isaac Asimov: The first of the Foundation trilogy, which gripped me as a teenager. Fully thought-through, intellectually compelling science fiction - idea fiction, more like, built round the genius notion...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 14+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 28/03/1994
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What Do People Do All Day?
Richard Scarry
This book is a favourite of Simon Bartram, September 2010 Guest Editor: This Richard Scarry book was etched into my memory at a very early age and I'm sure that, deep down, it has influenced my work to this day....
Featured in: 5+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/03/2010
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Richard Scarry
This book is a favourite of Simon Bartram, September 2010 Guest Editor: This Richard Scarry book was etched into my memory at a very early age and I'm sure that, deep down, it has influenced my work to this day....
Featured in: 5+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/03/2010
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Greenmantle
John Buchan
A favourite book of August 2010 Guest Editor Graham Marks, who explains his inspiration: "Erskine Childers’ Riddle of the Sands and John Buchan’s Greenmantle were two books I read when I was 11 or 12 years old and which have...
Featured in: 14+ readers | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 29/05/2008
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John Buchan
A favourite book of August 2010 Guest Editor Graham Marks, who explains his inspiration: "Erskine Childers’ Riddle of the Sands and John Buchan’s Greenmantle were two books I read when I was 11 or 12 years old and which have...
Featured in: 14+ readers | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 29/05/2008
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The Gormenghast Trilogy (3 in 1)
Mervyn Peake
July 2010 Guest Editor Marcus Sedgwick explains why this book inspires him: "When I grew up a bit, my dad bought me a second hand copy of Gormenghast, the middle book in this trilogy, and somehow knowing I was going...
Featured in: 11+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/05/1999
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Mervyn Peake
July 2010 Guest Editor Marcus Sedgwick explains why this book inspires him: "When I grew up a bit, my dad bought me a second hand copy of Gormenghast, the middle book in this trilogy, and somehow knowing I was going...
Featured in: 11+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/05/1999
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The Knife That Killed Me
Anthony McGowan
February 2010 Guest Editor Robert Muchamore on The Knife that Killed Me. I’ve always answered every fan who e-mails me. Questions about me or my books are easy enough to answer (yes we’re working on a CHERUB film,...
Featured in: 14+ readers | Book Awards | Books for Boys | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/04/2008
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Anthony McGowan
February 2010 Guest Editor Robert Muchamore on The Knife that Killed Me. I’ve always answered every fan who e-mails me. Questions about me or my books are easy enough to answer (yes we’re working on a CHERUB film,...
Featured in: 14+ readers | Book Awards | Books for Boys | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/04/2008
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The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged Thirteen and Three Quarters
Sue Townsend
This book is a favourite of September 2009 Guest Editor Joanna Nadin: Reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ (at 13 and ¾) was the first time I picked up a book and thought, “Oh My God, that is me!...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Audio Books
Format: Paperback (b Format) - Released: 31/10/2002
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Sue Townsend
This book is a favourite of September 2009 Guest Editor Joanna Nadin: Reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ (at 13 and ¾) was the first time I picked up a book and thought, “Oh My God, that is me!...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Audio Books
Format: Paperback (b Format) - Released: 31/10/2002
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Black Hearts in Battersea
Joan Aiken
A favourite book chosen by Philip Pullman: "If Ransome was Mozart, Aiken was Rossini. Unforced effervescence."
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/03/2004
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Joan Aiken
A favourite book chosen by Philip Pullman: "If Ransome was Mozart, Aiken was Rossini. Unforced effervescence."
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/03/2004
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The London Eye Mystery
Siobhan Dowd
A favourite of Michael Rosen: "A book that allows difference to be part of the plot and not a point in itself." Shortlisted for the Nasen and TES 'Special Educational Needs Children's Book Award' 2007. When Salim mysteriously disappears while on...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/06/2008
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Siobhan Dowd
A favourite of Michael Rosen: "A book that allows difference to be part of the plot and not a point in itself." Shortlisted for the Nasen and TES 'Special Educational Needs Children's Book Award' 2007. When Salim mysteriously disappears while on...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/06/2008
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Framed
Frank Cottrell Boyce
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Prize 2007 'The Book I Couldn't Put Down.' 9 - 12 years. Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. What the judges said: Cottrell Boyce’s second children’s novel is original, charming and funny. A choice of Guest Editors Philip Ardargh...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Audio Books | Book Awards | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/07/2006
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Frank Cottrell Boyce
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Prize 2007 'The Book I Couldn't Put Down.' 9 - 12 years. Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. What the judges said: Cottrell Boyce’s second children’s novel is original, charming and funny. A choice of Guest Editors Philip Ardargh...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Audio Books | Book Awards | Ebooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/07/2006
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