Classical Children's Books

It's important to remember that no matter how many new books come out for sale every year, beautiful stories for children that were written long ago remain beautiful. They still have great meaning and great purpose in our lives. More importantly, they are lots of fun!

Here we've listed a few of our favourite titles - They are all copyright free - Which means that they are old enough that everyone owns them equally. You can click on the link, read them online or download them to your computer. You can print them off or read them on your monitor's screen. It's entirely up to you!

Some of these books will be too advanced for younger readers to handle on their own, giving you the perfect opportunity to share these adventures with your children as you read together.

All of these books are made available by Project Gutenberg, and their continuing efforts to provide a huge online library of E-books on all subjects. There are also audio recordings of most of these books available on Gutenberg. If you enjoy reading these books, consider making a donation to support their cause.

Alice in Wonderland - The amazing adventures of a girl named Alice in a twisted and mysterious land. Fully illustrated. Written by Lewis Carroll - The second most quoted author in the English language, after Shakespeare.

Through The Looking Glass (and What Alice Found There) - Alice continues her bizarre adventures in a different world. Lewis Carroll was fascinated with mathematics and is said to have woven secret codes into his works, including this one.

Treasure Island - This book is truly a milestone in adventure storytelling. Pirates, daring escapes, mutiny, treasure - It has it all! Bonus: If you happen to be reading this to a child, you get to talk like a pirate from page one! Illustrated. Written by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Wind in the Willows - This absolutely must-read book will be 101 years old this coming October. Like the best of classics, it still holds up today. Illustrated. Written by Kenneth Grahame.

Black Beauty - The touching story of a horse's life, uniquely told from his perspective. Fully illustrated. Written by Anna Sewell.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Most have seen or heard of the film version, but did you know that the author of the original story, L. Frank Baum, wrote sixteen books set in the world of Oz? There are lots of stories from this colourful land, and 'The Wizard' was only the first. You can find them all at Project Gutenberg. For a complete list of Oz books, click here.

Andersen's Fairy Tales - When you think of your favourite classic fairy tales it is likely you are thinking of ones that Hans Christian Andersen wrote over 200 years ago. This is a small sample of the stories he wrote during his lifetime. If you wish to read more, check out Stories from Hans Andersen and What the Moon Saw, and Other Tales. One reminder: These stories are very old. They are beautifully written and all have strong morals, but some can be very frank in their subject matter. We recommend reading them over before reading them to your child.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit - No childhood is complete without this book being read to you at bedtime! A Beatrix Potter classic. Fully illustrated. If you enjoy this book, we encourage you to read The Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter, which includes many more of her works.