I’ve been an Anglophile ever since I was a child, when many of my favorite reads were written by British authors: C.S. Lewis, Philippa Pearce, E. Nesbit, JRR Tolkien, Kenneth Grahame, and A.A. Milne.
I also read some lovely award-winning and classic British children’s books last year: The Little Grey Men by BB, Minnow on the Say by Philippa Pearce, The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett, and of course, four of the Swallows and Amazons books by Arthur Ransome.
This year I’d like to read:
Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome (and any others of the Swallows and Amazons books that I can get my hands on).
Ameliaranne and the Green Umbrella by Constance Heward. Classic story from 1920. Ameliaranne, “whose family is very poor, goes to a party and tries to bring back all of her food-cakes, tangerines, sweets-hidden in her umbrella to feed her ailing brothers and sisters.” I may not be able to find an affordable copy of this one, and it may not be available from the library. I guess I could read it online, but I don’t particularly enjoy reading books that way.
Autumn Term by Antonia Forest. Classic boarding school fiction. “Twins Nicola and Lawrie arrive at their new school determined to do even better than their distinguished elder sisters, but things don’t turn out quite as planned.”
Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers by John Burningham.
The Camels Are Coming (Biggles) by W.E. Johns. I’ve been meaning to read one of the books in this series about a WWI flying ace for a long time. 2018 is the year.
The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden. I have a copy of this book about a Romany (gypsy) girl.
The Little Duke by Charlotte Yonge. Recommended at Ambleside Online.
(something, to be decided) by Enid Blyton. Suggestions?
Our Island Story by H.E. Marshall. Also a part of the Ambleside Online curriculum.
The Peppermint Pig by Nina Bawden.
Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian.
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit. I had planned to read this particular Nesbit title in 2017 along with an online reading group that I follow, but I didn’t. So this year for sure.
Are there any other British children’s classics that you would recommend?
Just so you know, I’m loving these lists you’ve been posting recently! 🙂 My TBR is exploding!
I’ve read the Magic, Far-Away Tree by Blyton and enjoyed it.
Enid Blyton wrote so much. I don’t particularly like her adventure books as the villains tend to be stereotyped. Her retelling of Robin Hood and King Arthur is a book that I have enjoyed. It is called “Tales of Brave Adventure.”
I loved Malcolm Saville’s Lone Pine series as a child and the Dimsie books by Dorita Fairlie Bruce but haven’t reread them as an adult so it is difficult to make an objective assessment! My tastes might have changed.
Enid Blyton is, at this time, very stereotyped and needs to be read through the lens of when/where she wrote her books. Having said that, I love her school stories (St. Clares, Mallory Towers and Naughtiest Girl)!