There are plenty of authors that now specialise in making childrens books, which has resulted in plenty of variety for children of different ages. But of course there are plenty of different requirements from children themselves when it comes to books- for example a 4 year old will read very different books to a 10 year old.

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The term “childrens books” tends to encompass books designed for children between four and twelve years old. Any older and you are starting to enter the genre of young adult fiction, and much younger and you are starting to go into baby books.

Depending on the age they are aimed at, childrens books tend to have simplified language so that they are suitable for still developing readers. Also they tend to have plenty of illustrations which helps give younger readers a good visual image of the scenes that are being described. This is actually pretty logical- adult books can use a greater range of vocabulary to more accurately describe a scene or someone’s appearance, so it makes sense than childrens books use illustrations to help achieve the same objective.

Instead of me going through a whole ream of different books for different ages within the genre of childrens books, I will describe a souple of series of books for different ages of children that I personally really enjoyed.

The Hardy Boys

The Hardy Boys is a series of books about two young men, Frank and Joe Hardy, who regularly solve different crimes and mysteries. The two boys are the sons of a well known private investigator, Fenton Hardy and they manage to investigate a huge variety of different mysteries. The books have been written by several ghost writers over the years, but the characters were originally created by Edward Sratemeyer in 1927. The series is still incredibly popular, and I enjoyed reading them very much, best for children aged 8-12.

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

The jungle book is a collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling, the most famous of which is the story of Mowgli, a young boy raised by cubs in the jungle, made even more famous by the later Disney film. However other stories are also included, such as “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”, the story of a brave mongoose. Best for children aged 8-10 years.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the chocolate is a classic children’s book. The story is about a poor boy named Charlie Bucket, who finds a golden ticket inside a bar of chocolate which allows him to visit the famous Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Suggested age range is 9-12 years.

Horton Hears a Who! by Dr Seuss

The book tells the story of Horton the elephant, who hears a speck of dust talking to him. The speck of dust is actually a planet called Whoville, and the mayor of Whoville asks Horton to protect them. Horton does so, but ends up being victimised by the other animals because they cannot see or hear the Whos. However, Horton triumphs in the end when the other animals eventually hear that the Whos exist.