Which books/ series would you want your children to read as they start growing up?

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
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The theme of Nostalgia for WriteTribe's #WriteBravely blogging challenge got me thinking of the books I read growing up. Today's children have at their disposal a mobile well before they hit their teens and thus access to literally all sorts of reading material should they choose it. That makes the need to get them to read the right kind of literature really important. 

The list below is purely what got me addicted to literature as I grew up and I am sure there will be more valuable additions from your side. For me, the series' which got me started off on the joys of reading were:

  1. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, the Three Investigators - soft detective stories, simple language, fun mysteries with no real darkness to scare them.
  2. P.G. Wodehouse - I wish every child grew up reading this. British humour - possibly all-round literary humour - at its best. Whether it be the iconic butler Jeeves or the insanely hilarious antics of Lord Emsworth and his prize pig, the Empress, this is such a joy to read and would be perfect for a child who needs laughter growing up.
  3. Sherlock Holmes - Again, perfect reading material to also help develop the analytical mind at that important age, I feel.
  4. Amar Chitra Katha comics - What a wonderful way to invite the young child into the world of our history, mythology and even other cultures. From the old Mahabharata and Ramayana series to present day icons like singer MS Subbulakshmi and Verghese 'Amul' Kurien, what better way to let your child see the world than through these well-illustrated comics.
  5. Asterix - For me, the sense of humour and the play on words in the Asterix comics far outweigh the adventures of Tintin.
Which books/ series would you want your children to read as they start growing up?


Yes, shortly thereafter, the reading would evolve for me to the likes of Jeffrey Archer, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Sidney Sheldon, John Connolly, Jeffrey Deaver et al. But I honestly don't think it would have been that way had I not had a good, interesting series of books to start off my journey.   

So here is my question to you: Which books/ series would you as a parent want your children to read to help develop 
a) a love for reading and 
b) a view of the world around them?

Alice in Wonderland? The Jungle Book? Have your say... I will add the best ones to the list.

(Update)

You Chose -
(Authors)
Geronimo Stilton
Ruskin Bond
Sudha Murthy
Enid Blyton
Roald Dahl
Agatha Christie
Trixie Belden

(Series)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Harry Potter
Devadutt Pattanaik
Tintin
Arabian Nights
Archies
Winnie the Pooh
The Little Prince

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50Comments

Let me know what you think.

  1. I would add Ruskin Bond, Geronimo Stilton, Diary of Wimpy Kid or even our very own Chacha Choudhary to the inclusive list. The choices are too many and I mostly take him to a book store and let him take his pick. :-)

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    1. That Geronimo Stilton name has come up a lot in the comments and I have to be honest - I haven't read a single one!

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    2. You haven't missed much Roshan. I could never take to them - the fonts and colours of the words keep changing. I really don't know how children like them. But they do, which means this generation is a quite different.

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  2. What worries me is that I see very few children reading these days.
    I love your list and would add Sudha Murthy to the list.

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    1. Would be an excellent way to inspire them to be good at a young age

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  3. As my son is growing up to be an avid reader, he now suggests me the books to read and for his younger sister too!
    However, I would suggest agood dose of Enid Blyton, News Paper in Education for my little one and Devadutt Pattanaik, John Gresham, Pu La Deshpande (Marathi), Premchand (Hindi) for my elder one.
    - Anagha from Team MocktailMommies

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    1. Enid Blyton is a must have, I agree... Devadutt would be an inspired choice in some ways.

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  4. I think Enid Blyton would be a good author to start a book series. Her Malory Towers, Secret Seven and Famous Five are amazing. Right now, I am hoarding books for kids so that some of my enthusiasm rubs off on my 5 years old daughter :)

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    1. haha.. always a good idea. Start her off easy and then build up from there... thats where the Amar Chitra Katha series was so brilliant

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  5. Enid Blyton, Ruskin Bond, R.K. Narayan to start with! Famous Five would be a must read for me! :)

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  6. All the above books hold so much nostalgia for me. You can add Tintin to the list too :)

    And all books of Roald Dahl. And Agatha Christie.

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    1. hehe... this list would not have been complete without Poirot in it :)

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  7. Nancy Drew was my ultimate favorite... I was such a big fan of her and the Hardy Boys :D
    I was introduced to Wodehouse quite late, but Jeeves made a special place in my shelf :D

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    1. I've been re-reading it recently and the magic of that PG WODEHOUSE prose was just sublime...

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  8. Totally loved this post :)
    I loved Nancy Drew's so much..best mystery books:)
    But, after this I switched to Sweey Valley LOL

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    1. I had to google Sweet Valley to find out what that was :)

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  9. I grew up reading Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, Amar Chitra Katha/ Tinkle/ Archies/ Phantom/ Tintin comics and many more of those, and slowly graduated to Mills and Boon, Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon and classics like Arabian nights during my adolescence. I never got a hang of P.G. Wodehouse, for some strange reason.
    My son on the other hand started his reading journey with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and has graduated to reading Stephen King, P.G. Wodehouse, Salman Rushdie and many more authors. He is a true-blue bibliophile. When I recently tried to parcel a few boxes of sweets to him in Canada for Diwali he insisted that I send him some books instead of sweets! While there are not many things that I would have wanted him to read since he already reads quite a lot, at times I do wish that he reads more books by Indian authors. When he was a kid I tried to make him read Tinkle comics but alas, he found it way too kiddish for his taste!

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    1. That is an awesome list and even the graduation from Archies to Archer is the right way. iNDIAN authors - well, we have to pick and choose, i guess. Popularity isn't everything

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  10. I grew up reading Secret seven, Famous five, Nancy drew, hardy boys, winnie the pooh.. The Little Prince is an all time favourite.

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    1. Winnie the Pooh and the Little Prince are again excellent choices

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  11. I agree with the list completely but HOW can you forget Harry Potter?

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    1. Haha... I can't add it because my list focused on my childhood and HP appeared way after that. But glad that someone mentioned it. Now it goes on the secondary list :)

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  12. I grew up with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys-also Trixie Belden. My son? some Hardy Boys, but mostly Harry Potter. And, his day care provider introduced him to TinTin.

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    1. ok. Trixie Belden is new to me. Have to check this out

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  13. I absolutely concur with your opinion of what today's children are exposed to; book reading has become a bit of a lame thing now for them. Not their fault as they have smart phones and tabs which offer much more to them!
    I grew up on a steady diet of book reading - started with comics like AmarcHitraKatha, Phantom, Mandrake.... moved on to Noddy, Enid Blyton and then classics to Famous five to Nancy drew/hardy boys and finally the mills and boon. Then moved a lot to the modern American literature like Sidney Sheldon, Jeffrey Archer and a lot of courtroom drama novels. I couldnt get enough of books and I feel to get the kids started the Classics like om Sawyer, Huck Berry finn are great to get them involved into reading with a naughty character that they can identify with.

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    1. Classics would honestly be a wonderful way to start things - I read Count of Monte Cristo and the likes by the time I was in 5th or 6th standard and I remember the impact such tales had on me.

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  14. I was in love with Famous Five at one time. I have some of them still with me. Hopefully Bluey will be reading them some day.

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  15. Enid Blyton, Amar Chitra Katha, Jataka Tales, Hitopadesha etc would be some books I'd love my child to read :)

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  16. Enid Blyton would be a must as I grew up on her books. And of course, Harry Potter. I also loved the Babysitters Club as a teenager.

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    1. I dont know the babysitters club... will have to check it out

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  17. Loved your list and even the added ones! I remember reading Amar Chitra Katha, Enid blyton, Nancy drew while growing up. Ruskin Bond and Sudha Murthy I have introduced to my child and she loved them.

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  18. The books that you listed were my favourites all through my growing up years and I dreamt of sharing them with my children. However, I have learnt that kids of this new generation have their own likes and dislikes. They never took to Enid Blyton which almost broke my heart. Now I have learnt to accept that their choices will be different. We only concur on Harry Potter.

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    1. Haha... thats surprising. Enid Blyton tends to be an easy choice usually

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  19. If there ever was a nostalgic post, this is it. I grew up reading Secret Seven, Famous Five, Three Investigators, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. Also a lot of Tinkle, Chacha Chowdry and Archie comics. A little later went on to Sherlock Holmes, Calvin and Hobbes and Hercule Poirot. Cant Imagine what life wouldve been without these books.

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    1. seriously, in our times these were heaven.. we did not have the luxury of social media to see the world as easily as today's kids

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  20. You have not missed much in the list. I would add Enid Blyton too. :)

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    1. yes, i missed Enid but everyone else has ensured he makes the list :)

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  21. Oops, I had missed Enid Blyton in your list. Its already there. The list is complete for me :)

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  22. Your list takes me down the memory lane. Now I am on search of my books :)

    Cheers
    MeenalSonal from AuraOfThoughts

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    1. haha.. it will be fun revisiting these. trust me

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  23. I will have to admit here that I was introduced to books super late in my life. But, I would like my kid to start reading Tintin, Archies and then probably graduate to Sherlock Homes and so on.

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  24. My son reads Geronimo Stilton, Ruskin Bond, Enid Blyton and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson etc. I would want him to read a lot more and diverse genres and authors. But sadly he isnt as big a reading buff as me!

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    1. i've never read Geronimo or Percy Jackson but everyone here seems to like it. have to check it out

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  25. Some of these are very close of heart and few are even new to me. Currently she's more inclined to books with graphics seeing her age - 5, but would love to get few RUskin Bond & Amar Chitra Katha for her..
    Lovely list here - nostalgic for sure.

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    1. definitely Amar Chitra KATHA is a wonderful option at this age

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  26. I am a bit late to his party - okay confession - This is my first visit here and I just had to click on this post - books <3 Need I say more? Plus, this is a topic really close to my heart - books for children growing up! So, to answer your question - and I can see that between your post and the Update, you have covered most of the current favourites as well as classics - but, my little one loves the Hardy Boys and the 39 Clues series in addition to Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton and Ruskin Bond. Also, he has adored Wonder by R.J Palacio (that's one book, I think all young (and young-at-heart) children do need to read) Did I miss anything? Oh, Malgudi School Days!!

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    1. some wonderful choices here... I need to look up the 39 clues series you are talking of. same with Wonder.

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