Book Club
“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away!
And in its place you can install,
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.”
Roald Dahl
Book List – Age 8+
These books should be available in any good bookshop or online. Some of these are timeless classics for any age. The age wise categories are only suggested – some children read higher than their years.
I have deliberately left out some titles and authors that may currently be the rage especially with Bombay kids – it’s important we put other stuff on their plates for them to taste and try.
Also impossible to list ALL books – for sure many gems have been left out. This is just a sampling. Your suggestions are welcome. We will be adding to and updating this list frequently .
Good Websites to browse for Children’s book titles:
Also parents going abroad to the US – Any Newbery Medal books you can pick up would be great! These are special award winning books for children highly prized in the US.
Myths Legends and Epics – Indian and also World myths – Greek and Roman specially – these are a MUST for all children, to sensitise them culturally and to develop their imagination – any good edition. Roger Lancelyn Green rewrote some. RK Narayan’s Ramayan and Mahabharata, Tenali Raman and Akbar and Birbal stories, and Mulla Nasruddin tales – all these – in story – not comic form make delightful reading.
Mums and Dads – snuggle up with the kids and read aloud some of these!!
Ruskin Bond ;
- The Blue Umbrella
- The Kashmiri Story Teller
- Escape from Java and Other Tales of Danger
- Getting Granny’s Glasses
- Mr Oliver’s Diary
Rudyard Kipling
- The Jungle Book
Kate Di Camillo
- The Magician’s Elephant
Joan Aiken
- Mortimer and Arabella stories
Anjali Raghbeer
- Barefoot Husain
C.S. Lewis
- The Chronicles of Narnia – Set of 6 – Read in order
E. Nesbit
- The Railway Children
- The 5 Children and It
John Steinbeck
- The Red Pony
Zai Whitaker:
- Kali and the Rat Snake
- The Boastful Centipede and Other Creatures
- Cobra in My Kitchen
Suniti Namjoshi
- Aditi and Her Friends series
Ken Spillman
- Advaita the Writer
Jamila Gavin
- Danger by Moonlight
Sudha Murthy
- Grandma’s Bag of Stories
Michael Morpurgo
- Cock a Doodle Do! (and others)
Astrid Lindgren
- Pippi Longstocking
Vikram Seth
- Beastly Tales from Here and There
Natasha Sharma
- Bonkers!
- Icky, Yucky, Mucky!
Oxford University Press Series :
- The Children’s Premchand
- The Children’s Tagore
Premchand
- Kazaki and Other Marvellous Tales
Norton Juster
- The Phantom Tollbooth
Geeta Dharmarajan
- Days with Thathu
Devdutt Pattanaik
- Many in a series – his retelling of Indian myths and stories is v readable for today’s kids
Anushka Ravishankar
- Moin and the Monster series
N. Masud
- The Mynah from Peacock Garden
Scharada Dubey
- Monkeys in My Backyard
Will be adding more in the next few days!
Read at least 4 titles from this list, and fill in attached Book Report Form for each book you read.
Keep in touch and Happy Holidays!
“Acquire knowledge, acquire skills. They weigh nothing, and you can carry them with you, all your life.”
Ruskin Bond.