Top 25 Must Have Books by Age Category

Top Titles for Ages 2 to 5

Three Little Pigs
Tale of Peter Rabbit (by Potter, Beatrix)
The House That Jack Built (by Caldecott, Randolph)
The Little Red Hen
Mother Goose's nursery rhymes : a collec... (by Crane, Walter)
The Three Bears
Baby's Own Aesop (by Crane, Walter)
The Little Engine That Could (by Lenski, Lois L.)
Story of the Three Little Pigs, The (by Brooke, L. Leslie)
Golden Goose Book, The (by Brooke, L. Leslie)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (by Potter, Beatrix)
Little Mary; Or, The Picture-Book
The Golden Goose Book, Being the Stories... (by Leonard Leslie Brooke)
The Pied Piper of Hamelin .. (by Greenaway, Kate, 1846-1901, Ill)
Adventures of Goody Two Shoes (by Goldsmith, Oliver)

Top Titles for Age 6

The Wise Gray Cat (by Caroline Hofman, Rachael Robinson Elmer)
Johnny Crow's Garden; A Picture Book (by Brooke, Leonard Leslie)
Fairy Tales/By Hans Christian Andersen; ... (by Andersen, Hans Christian)
The Wise Gray Cat (by Caroline Hofman, Rachael Robinson Elmer)
Twas the Night Before Christmas (A Visit... (by Moore, Clement Clarke)
Purple Cow, The (by Burgess, Gelett)
The Tiny Picture Book
The Story of Chicken Little: Rhymed and ... (by Kenneth Graham Duffield)
Raggedy Ann's Alphabet Book (by Gruelle, Johnny)
Adventures of Maya the Bee, The (by Bonsels, Waldemar)
Cinderella; Or, The Little Glass Slipper...
Johnny Crow's Garden; A Picture Book (by Brooke, Leonard Leslie)
The Tale of Ferdinand Frog (by Bailey, Arthur Scott)
The Purple Cow! (by Burgess, Galett)
The Story of Chicken Little: Rhymed and ... (by Kenneth Graham Duffield)

Top Titles for Age 7

The First Days of Man, As Narrated Quite... (by Frederic Arnold Kummer)
The Children's Book of Stars (by Geraldine Edith Mitton)
Mrs. Peter Rabbit (by Burgess, Thornton Waldo)
The Story of Little Jane and Me (by Blatchford, Mary E)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Carroll, Lewis)
The Green Fairy Book (by Lang, Andrew, Ed)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Abridg... (by Carroll, Lewis)
Old King Cole (by Martin, John)
Green Fairy Book, The (by Lang, Andrew)
Raggedy Ann Stories (version 2) (by Gruelle, Johnny)
Pollyanna (by Porter, Eleanor H.)
Old Roly Bear (by Lowe, Samual E.)
Beauty and the Beast (by Brett, Jan, 1949-)
Raggedy Andy Stories : Introducing the L... (by Johnny Gruelle)
The Adventures of Pinocchio (by Collodi, C.)

Top Titles for Age 8

Rainbows for Children (by Caroline Sturgis Tappan, Lydia Maria Francis Child...)
Jungle Book, The (by Kipling, Rudyard)
Understood Betsy (by Fisher, Dorothy Canfield)
Anne of Green Gables Illustrated By Anon... (by Montgomery, L.M.)
The Phantom Rickshaw (by Rudyard Kipling)
The Happy Prince and Other Tales and a H... (by Wilde, Oscar)
Zanzibar tales told by natives of the ea... (by Bateman, George W)
Puss in Boots
Heroes Every Child Should Know (by Mabie, Hamilton Wright)
Zanzibar tales told by natives of the ea... (by Bateman, George W)
Little Lord Fauntleroy (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)
Heidi (by Spyri, Johanna)
Understood Betsy (by Dorothy Canfield Fisher)
What shall we do now? Over five hundred ... (by Fisher, Dorothy Canfield)
Cottage Verses for Young Readers (by Lake, Catharine)

Top Titles for Age 9

The Adventures of Columbus : Early Ameri... (by Humphrey, Frances A., Mrs.)
The Hunting of the Snark (by Carroll, Lewis)
What Katy Did at School (by Coolidge, Susan)
Precious things: or, Winning words for y... (by William Wileman)
The Story of David Copperfield for Child... (by Gleason, Ray)
Tanglewood Tales (by Hawthorne, Nathaniel)
The Wind in the Willows (by Grahame, Kenneth)
The Wonder Clock (by Pyle, Howard)
King Solomon's Mines (by Haggard, Henry Rider)
David Copperfield (by Dickens, Charles)
Hunting of the Snark, The (by Carroll, Lewis)
The Complete Book of Nonsense (by Lear, Edward)
Adventures of Paddy Beaver, The (by Burgess, Thornton W.)
Read it LOUD!, Little Red Riding Hood (by Read it LOUD!)
Peter and Wendy (by Barrie, James Matthew)

Top Titles for Age 10

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (by Doyle, Conan)
The Thousand and One Nights, A New Tr. B... (by Arabian Nights)
The Raven (by Poe, Edgar Allan)
Winnetou, The Apache Knight (by May, Karl)
The Four Million (by O. Henry)
The Peterkin Papers (by Lucretia Peabody Hale)
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (by Barrie, James Matthew)
Children of Odin, The (by Colum, Padraic)
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (by James Matthew Barrie)
Ben Comee; A Tale of Rogers's Rangers 17... (by Canavan, Michael Joseph)
The Light Princess (by Macdonald, George)
The Fairchild Family (by Sherwood, Mary Martha)
The Prince and the Page (by Yonge, Charlotte Mary)
Winnetou, The Apache Knight (by May, Karl)
Hans Brinker (by Mary Elizabeth Dodge)

Top Titles for Age 11

Pride and Prejudice (by Austen, Jane)
Eyebright : A Story (by Coolidge, Susan)
The Three Musketeers (by Dumas, Alexandre)
The Water-Babies (by Kingsley, Charles)
Wide, Wide World, The (by Warner, Susan)
The Island of Dr. Moreau (by Wells, Herbert George)
Journey to the Interior of the Earth, A (by Verne, Jules)
The Wide, Wide World (by Warner, Susan)
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (by Pyle, Howard)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The (by Twain, Mark)
The Thousand and One Nights: The Arabian... (by Arabian Nights, Jonathan Scott)
King of the Golden River, The (by Ruskin, John)
Pride and Prejudice (by Austen, Jane)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The (by Twain, Mark)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom ... (by Twain, Mark)

Top Titles for Age 12

Broken Vase and Other Stories, The (by Anonymous)
A Room with a View (by Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan), 1879-1970)
Room with a View, A (by Forster, E. M.)
Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Th... (by Irving, Washington)
More magic pictures of the long ago; sto... (by Chandler, Anna Curtis)
The Count of Monte Cristo (by Dumas, Alexandre)
Lost World, The (by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir)
Kidnapped (by Stevenson, Robert Louis)
The Making of the Great West, 1512-1883 (by Drake, Samuel Adams)
Tarzan of the Apes (by Burroughs, Edgar Rice)
Tarzan of the Apes (by Burroughs, Edgar Rice)
The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent (by Irving, Washington)
Captains Courageous (by Kipling, Rudyard)
Secret Garden, The (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)
The Secret Garden (by Burnett, Frances Hodgson)

Top Titles for Age 13

A Capture the Castle (by Dodie Smith)
The Mark of Zorro (by Mcculley, Johnston)
Famous Voyages of the Great Discoverers (by Wood, Eric)
Ragged Dick (by Alger, Horatio, Jr.)
Countess Julie (by Strindberg, August)
Rootabaga Stories (by Sandburg, Carl)
My Antonia (by Willa Cather)
Nicholas Nickleby (by Dickens, Charles)
Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, T... (by Defoe, Daniel)
The story of Jack Ballister's fortunes (by Pyle, Howard)
Three Good Giants Whose Famous Deeds Are... (by Rabelais, Fr Ca)
Great Stories of All Nations (by Maxim Lieber)
Rootabaga Stories (by Sandburg, Carl)
Ragged Dick : Or, Street Life in New Yor... (by Alger, Horatio, Jr.)
White Fang (by London, Jack)

Top Titles for Age 14

Sister Carrie (by Dreiser, Theodore)
Up from Slavery (by Washington, Booker T.)
The Canterbury Tales (by Geoffrey Chaucer)
Captain Blood (by Sabatini, Rafael)
Princess and the Goblin, The (by Macdonald, George)
Tom Brown's School Days : By Thomas Hugh... (by Hughes, Thomas)
The Princess and the Goblin (by Macdonald, George)
Macbeth (by Shakespeare, William)
Washington Square (by James, Henry)
The Mayor of Casterbridge (by Hardy, Thomas)
Sense and Sensibility (by Austen, Jane)
The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe (by Edgar Allan Poe)
The Oregon Trail (by Parkman, Francis)
Sister Carrie (by Dreiser, Theodore)
The Phantom of the Opera (by Leroux, Gaston)

Top Titles for Age 15

Les Miserables (by Hugo, Victor)
The Coral Island (by Robert Michael Ballantyne)
Devil's Pool, The (by Sand, George)
My Man Jeeves (by Wodehouse, Pelham Grenville)
Romeo and Juliet (by Shakespeare, William)
The Sign of the Four and Other Stories (by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir)
Poems by Emily Dickinson (by Dickinson, Emily)
Golden Bough, The (by Frazer, James)
The Red Badge of Courage (by Crane, Stephen)
The sign of the four and other stories (by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir)
Mansfield Park (by Jane Austen)
Mansfield Park (by Jane Austen)
Rome Express, The (by Griffiths, Arthur)
The Road Not Taken : An Introduction to ... (by Frost, Robert.)
The Writings of Mark Twain : Volume 1 (by Mark Twain)

Top Titles for Age 16

Hamlet (by Shakespeare, William)
Catch 22 a Novel (by Joseph Heller)
Heart of Darkness (by Conrad, Joseph)
Letters from the Earth (by Twain, Mark)
Lorna Doone (by Schaeffer, Mead)
Quo vadis (by Sienkiewicz, Henryk)
The Adventures of Captain Horn (by Stockton, Frank Richard)
Heart of Darkness (version 2) (by Conrad, Joseph)
Quo Vadis
The Promised Land, By Mary Antin; (by Antin, Mary)
Round the World on a Wheel : Being the N... (by Fraser, John Foster, Sir)
The Professor and Poems (by Brontë, Charlotte)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (by Chesterton, Gilbert Keith)
King Lear (by Shakespeare, William)
1984 (by Orwell, George)

Top Titles for Age 17

Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous M... (by Defoe, Daniel)
Origin of Species by Means of Natural Se... (by Darwin, Charles)
The Thirty-Nine Steps (by Buchan, John)
Ben-Hur (by Lewis Wallace)
Lost Continent, The (Beyond Thirty) (by Burroughs, Edgar Rice)
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (by Lawrence, T. E.)
The Odyssey (by Homer)
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience Versio... (by Thoreau, Henry David)
The Grapes of Wrath (by Steinbeck, John)
Odyssey, The (by Homer)
The Trial (by Kafka, Franz)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. H... (by Stevenson, Robert Louis)
The Trial (by Kafka, Franz)
The Lost Continent (by Burroughs, Edgar Rice)
Scarlet Pimpernel, The (by Orczy, Emmuska, Baroness)

Top Titles for Age 18

Iliad, The (by Homer)
Looking Backward from 2000 to 1887 (by Bellamy, Edward)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (by Franklin, Benjamin)
The Brothers Karamazov (by Dostoevsky, Fyodor)
Looking Backward from 2000 to 1887 (by Bellamy, Edward, Mrs.)
Utopia (by More, Thomas, Sir)
Where Angels Fear to Tread (by Forster, E. M.)
A Narrative of the Mutiny on Board His M... (by William Bligh)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (by Wilde, Oscar)
Where Angels Fear to Tread (by Forster, Edward Morgan)
The Age of Innocence (by Wharton, Edith)
Utopia (by More, Thomas, Sir)
Walden; Or, Life in the Woods : Volume 2 (by Henry David Thoreau)
Where Angels Fear to Tread (by Edward Morgan Forster)
Silas Marner (by Eliot, George)

Top Titles for Ages 18+

Babbitt (by Lewis, Sinclair)
New Atlantis, The (by Bacon, Francis)
Tender Buttons (by Stein, Gertrude)
The Last of the Mohicans : a Tragedy, in... (by Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851. Last of the Moh...)
Vanity Fair (by Thackeray, William Makepeace)
The Art of War (by Tzu, Sun)
The New Atlantis (by Bacon, Francis)
Moonfleet (by Falkner, J. Meade)
The genius (by Dreiser, Theodore)
Gulliver's Travels (by Swift, Jonathan)
Tender Buttons (by Stein, Gertrude)
Bleak House (by Charles Dickens)
Bleak House (by Charles Dickens)
Last of the Mohicans, The (by Cooper, James Fenimore)
Beyond Good and Evil (by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm)