The Best Childhood Books You Almost Forgot About

Now over a hundred years old, The Wind in the Willows remains an endearing children's favorite, thanks to its memorable animal characters and their mad capers. Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and Toad live on the banks of the River Thames, where life is meant to be peaceful but there is always something unexpected going on to disrupt their calm. 

Bobbie, Peter, and Phyllis are shocked to find themselves without their father after he is falsely accused of being a spy. With their fortunes greatly reduced, the children go with their mother to live in a simple country cottage near a railway station. 

There, they befriend the porter and station master, with whom they have adventures and challenges. Perhaps through their new friendships, they can uncover the truth about their father and be reunited with him.

Strega Nona, also known as Grandma Witch, is the local source for potions, spells, and comfort for the locals of her small Calabrian hometown. With her magical pasta pot, she can do almost anything. 

Big Anthony is fascinated by its magic and is determined to show the townspeople how it works. On the day he is supposed to tend to Nona's garden, he recites the magic verse over the pasta pot, and things soon go terribly wrong.

Sara Crewe is a student Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, where she is popular among her classmates and eager to learn. But when her beloved father dies, she is left penniless and banished to the school's attic where she will work as an indentured servant to pay her debts. But Sara is resourceful and optimistic, and she won't allow the cruel Miss Minchin or her new lot in life to define her.

The book that inspired the classic live action Disney movie of the same name, The Swiss Family Robinson follows William, Elizabeth, and their quartet of sons—Fritz, Ernest, Jack, and Franz. The family is travelling on a ship to Australia when a great storm leaves them stranded on a tropical desert island. 

They're alone, and with no immediate hope of rescue, they must band together and find ways to survive. It's tough but on an island as beautiful as this one, full of incredible creatures and tropical fauna, the Robinsons adapt to a new way of life they may never want to leave.

First published in 1903, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm continues to delight readers of all ages. Rebecca Rowena Randall, young and poor and mourning her father, goes to live with her spinster aunts in the town of Riverboro when she is ten years old to ease the burden on her widowed mother. 

While Rebecca often clashes with her stern Aunt Miranda, she finds love and acceptance with her Aunt Jane. Over the seven years she lives at Sunnybrook Farm, Rebecca grows into a bright and intelligent young woman who never sacrifices her imagination for the perils of adult life.

Anne of Green Gables is widely considered to be one of the greatest children's novels ever written. The story of the gregarious orphan Anne Shirley who is sent to live on Prince Edward Island has enraptured generations of readers. 

In the first sequel, Anne of Avonlea, she’s five years older and close to being a grown-up. Anne's ready to begin her first term as a teacher at the Avonlea School. Her beautiful hometown has many surprises in store, like a new neighbor with a foul-mouthed parrot, new students from America, and her friendship with her childhood enemy Gilbert Blythe growing into something more.

A stuffed rabbit sewn from velveteen is given as a Christmas present to a small boy, but the child quickly tosses them aside in favor of more modern playthings. The wisest and oldest toy in the nursery tells the rabbit that toys become Real through love. 

To become real, our hopeful little rabbit has much to do, but the magic of the nursery and of a children's love are so very strange and beautiful, and nobody can predict how they will emerge.

Best known for the sprawling and hilarious Discworld series, the late great Terry Pratchett’s children’s books are also must-reads. "In the beginning, there was nothing but endless flatness. Then came the Carpet." That’s the old story that every tiny citizen of the empire found in the Carpet knows. But things are changing. 

There's a growing power struggle between the many tribes of the Carpet, and two Munrung brothers must set out on an adventure to its very edges to find a new home when their village is mysteriously flattened. But us humans know what happens when a carpet gets dirty, and it could spell the end of the world for its tiny residents.

There are few mice as famous to readers as Stuart Little, the small mouse who went on a very big adventure. He's no ordinary mouse. Born to a family of humans, he lives in New York City with his parents, his older brother George, and Snowbell the cat. 

When his best friend, a little bird named Margalo, disappears from her nest, Stuart is determined to track her down. So begins the adventure of a lifetime as he leaves his home for the very first time.