Books about kids

Harry Potter is an ordinary boy who lives in a cupboard under the stairs at his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's house. He is bullied by them and his cousin Dudley, and lives a very unremarkable life with only the odd hiccup to cause him much to think about. That is until an owl turns up with a letter addressed to Harry and all hell breaks loose.

A sequel to the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone , here, Harry Potter is a wizard. He is in his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Little does he know that this year will be just as eventful. Harry keeps hearing strange voices, sinister and dark messages appear on the wall, and then Ron's sister Ginny disappears.

When Harry and his best friends go back for their third year at Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass-murderer on the loose and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school. Lessons, however, must go on and there are lots of new subjects in third year.

SET YOUR ALARM!

Part of the best-selling series, available in paperback.

The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and there are spells to be learnt and (unluckily) Potions and Divination lessons to be attended. But Harry can't know that the atmosphere is darkening around him.

Tells the story of Charlie Bucket and his Golden Ticket, and Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory.

When Charles Wallace Murry goes searching through a 'wrinkle in time' for his lost father, he finds himself on an evil planet where all life is enslaved by a huge pulsating brain known as 'It'.

Fern loves a little pig named Wilbur and Wilbur's dear friend, Charlotte A Cavatica, a large grey spider who lived with Wilbur in the barn. With the help of Templeton the rat, who never did anything for anybody unless there was something in it for him, and a wonderfully clever plan of her own, Charlotte saved the life of Wilbur.

Lucy has stumbled upon a land of fauns and centaurs, nymphs and talking animals, all behind a wardrobe. Narnia is ruled by the cruel White Witch, and can only be freed by Aslan, the great lion and four children.

Harry discovers what fate truly has in store for him as he inexorably makes his way to the final meeting with Voldemort.

When newly orphaned Mary Lennox arrives from India to live with her uncle, everyone at Misselthwaite Manor thinks her a most disagreeable child. Then one day she discovers a garden - a secret garden. With the help of Dickon and her spoilt, invalid cousin, Mary brings the garden back to life; and as she does, the mystery behind it is revealed.

Shel Silverstein is one of America's best loved poets, whose work is read by every child in the USA but is almost unknown in the UK. Think Spike Milligan meets Edward Lear: it's nonsense poetry that makes perfect sense.

Presents the story of Max's adventures when he sails away to the land where the wild things. This book is the winner of the Caldecott Medal for the Most Distinguished Picture Book of the Year, 1964.