With World Book Day taking place this week on March 2, there's no better time to pick up a book and lose yourself in an imaginary world.
The global event encourages children to read for pleasure, giving every youngster the opportunity to have a book of their own by handing out free World Book Day tokens for the occasion. But if you're stuck for ideas when it comes to which book to pick out for your child, don't worry - organisers have put together a huge list of over 100 classics for all ages that are a must-read.
Here are the top book recommendations from World Book Day for each age category including under-twos, five to eight-year-olds, nine to 12-year-olds and teens, as well as the top 25 picture books. Follow the links to read more about each one or buy them on the World Book Day bookshop.org store.
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Top picture books
- Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
- Rupert Bear: A Celebration of Favourite Stories, illustrated by Alfred E. Bestall
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
- I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato by Lauren Child
- Luna Loves Library Day by Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers
- So Much by Trish Cooke, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
- Grandad's Island by Benji Davies
- The Day The Crayons Quit by Oliver Jeffers
- Beegu by Alexis Deacon
- The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
- Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
- The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas by Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter
- The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean
- You Choose by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart
- Oi Frog by Kes Gray and Jim Field
- Doughnuts for a Dragon by Adam and Charlotte Gullain, illustrated by Lee Wildish
- The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr
- This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
- Not Now, Bernard by David McKee
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
- What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
- The BumbleBear by Madia Shireen
- Mr Big by Ed Vere
- Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson
Top stories for under-twos
- Where's Mr Lion? by Ingela Arrhenius
- B is for Baby by Atinuke, illustrated by Angela Brooksbank
- Baby's Very First Black and White Book of Babies, illustrated by Stella Baggott
- Kiss Goodnight by Jane Cabrera
- Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
- Getting Ready, illustrated by Cocoretto
- How to Brush Your Teeth with Snappy Croc by Jane Clarke and Georgie Birkett
- Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins
- Sometimes... by Emma Dodd
- Fox's Socks by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
- It's a Little Baby by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb
- Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
- Who? A Celebration of Babies by Robie H Harris, illustrated by Natascha Rosenberg
- Jump About With Ted by Sophy Henn
- Where's Spot? by Eric Hill
- Five Little Ducks, illustrated by Yu-Hsuan Huang
- So Cosy by Lerryn Korda
- Busy Baby from Ladybird
- Roar by Jonathan Litton, illustrated by Fhiona Galloway
- Tiger, Tiger, Time to Take a Bath! by Jo Lodge
- Nuts! by Lou Peacock, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail
- Dinosaur Roar! by Paul Stickland and Henrietta Stickland
- Yawn by Nick Sharratt and Sally Symes
- This Bear, That Bear by Sian Wheatcroft
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Burn, illustrated by Clement Hurd
Top stories for five to eight-year-olds
- A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig and Chris Mould
- Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts
- Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch
- Charlotte's Web by E B White, illustrated by Garth Williams
- Claude in the City by Alex T Smith
- Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson
- Sad Book by Michael Rosen and Quentin Blake
- My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons
- Ottoline and the Yellow Cat by Chris Riddell
- Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake
The Twits by Roald Dahl
- The Book With No Pictures by B J Novak
- The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine
- The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong
- The Magic Faraway Tree collection by Enid Blyton
- The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson, illustrated by Paul Howard
- The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
- The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
- Where's Wally? by Martin Handford
- Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne
- Grimms' Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm
- Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Top stories for nine to 12-year-olds
- Bad Girls by Jacqueline Wilson
- Cogheart by Peter Bunzl
- Coraline by Neil Gaiman
- Darkmouth by Shane Hegarty
- Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling
- Holes by Louis Sachar
- Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
- Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren and Tony Ross
- Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
- Stig of the Dump by Clive King and Edward Ardizzone
- The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams
- The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher
- The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
- The Hobbit by J R R Tolkein
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis
- Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
- Varjak Paw by SF Said and Dave McKean
- War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
- When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
- Wonder by R J Palacio
- Matilda by Roald Dahl
- A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snickett
- Guinness World Records 2022
Top stories for teens
- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
- Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
- I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
- Moondust by Gemma Fowler
- Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- One by Sarah Crossan
- Orangeboy by Patrice Lawrence
- Salt to the Sea by Rulta Sepetys
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
- Summoner: The Novice by Taran Matharu
- The Arrival by Shaun Tan
- The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
- The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
- The Curious Tale of the Lady Caraboo by Catherine Johnson
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
- The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
-
The Outsiders by S E Hinton
- To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
Which books would you recommend? Let us know in the comments below.
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