Why is it important for children to read a wide range of books?

 One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'
This is Jane Austen's most perennially popular novel. The love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, who misjudge, then challenge and change each other, is also a novel about the search for happiness and in a world of strict social rules. Hard to read and slow at times but enjoyable once you get into Austens descriptive writing style.

 Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again... With these words a reader is swept up into a world of secrets and lies; one of the most passionate, psychologically twisting, and complex stories of all time. I like this book and found it dark and suspenseful- especially good if you don't know the general storyline or spoilers!

 The Darling children's lives take an extraordinary turn when Peter Pan loses his shadow in their nursery. Soaring over a sleepy London and through twinkling stars, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell lead Wendy, Michael, and John Darling on a brilliant adventure to Neverland, where pirates, mermaids, and the Lost Boys play! With magic in the air, it all seems too good to be true until the Darling children meet Captain Hook and his terrible crew and their tick tick ticking crocodile.

Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home; then one day the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves arrive unexpectedly and enlist his services – as a burglar – on a dangerous expedition to raid the treasure-hoard of Smaug the dragon. Bilbo’s life is never to be the same again.

 All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.' Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes something unexpected emerges...

Cruella de Vil is enough to frighten the spots off a Dalmatian puppy. So when she steals a whole family of them, the puppies’ parents, Pongo and Missus, lose no time in mounting a daring rescue mission. 

I read this book over 20 years ago and I have never forgotten it. Beautifully poignant.  Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, is a floor sweeper and the gentle butt of everyone's jokes - until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius... Themes: disability, love, relationships, bias, intelligence, technology. genetics.

 The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff.
Where had he come from? Nobody knows.
How was he made? Nobody knows.

Mankind must put a stop to the dreadful destruction by the Iron Man and set a trap for him, but he cannot be kept down. Then, when a terrible monster from outer space threatens to lay waste to the planet, it is the Iron Man who finds a way to save the world. Trigger: Sophia found this a bit scary esp. when the Iron Man keeps appearing from no where and out of the sea.

Over a year, Cassie must learn about standing up for what's right and picking your battles whilst she and her family navigate racism in its various forms; from the 'night riders' that terrorise her community, to the everyday prejudice that permeates life in 1930s Mississippi. A powerful story of family, self-respec,t and strength, set against the turbulent backdrop of the Jim Crow South. Theme: Very upsetting scenes of racism and segregation.

This is the story of a little girl named Fern, who loves a little pig named Wilbur - and of Wilbur's dear friend, Charlotte, a beautiful large grey spider. When Fern's uncle decrees that Wilbur must become bacon, Fern, Charlotte, Templeton the rat and all Wilbur's farmyard friends come up with an ingenious plan to fool the humans, and save their very special pig.Joyful, funny, and deeply moving, Charlotte's Web is a story about the power of friendship, and celebrating what makes everyone special

A snapshot of multicultural London across three generations; different ethnicities and class positions, with distinct cultural backgrounds and relationships to their British identities. Themes: identity, culture, generational divides, relationships.

Great story, easy to read. Told in reverse chronology and wonderfully redolent of the austerity and listlessness of the 1940s and the war’s immediate aftermath, Waters’ masterful drama examines the effects of the Second World War in shaping the inner and exterior lives of those who lived through it.  Themes: sexuality, love, heroism, war.