Christmas is a time for giving presents and I think that there is no better gift that you can give a child than a book.  I read a lot as a child, and some of my favourite books I would read again and again, until the cover was battered and the pages torn.  I loved getting books as Christmas gifts, and always had at least one in my stocking and an annual and several other books with my main presents. With a book a child can be taken off into a whole new world; a land of fantasy and adventure where they can be a prince or a princess, live in another country experiencing different cultures, slay dragons, ride wild horses, play with ghosts or swim with dolphins.

And although there are many wonderful new books being written for children, I think that you can’t go wrong with a gift of one of the great children’s classics at Christmas.  The classic children’s books can be read many times over and passed down to younger members of the family when the time is right.  They are the stories that we all know and love, and you know that your parents and possibly your grandparents have also read the same stories and gone on the same flights of imagination.

So let’s have a look at some of these great publications and see why they are worthy to be called a classic children’s book and a wonderful gift for Christmas

Mary Lennox is the neglected, unloved child of wealthy parents in India in the days of the British Empire.  When she is orphaned she is sent back to England to stay at Misslethwaite Manor, a lonely old country house.  The manor is owned by her uncle, who is still mourning the death of his beautiful young wife, so is often away travelling.  Mary is befriended by one of the maids, Martha, who tells her about a mysterious garden that used to be a favourite of her uncle’s late wife, but has been locked and abandoned since her death.  Mary discovers the key and determines to make the garden bloom again.  She enlists the help of Dickon, Martha’s brother, who can communicate with animals and has an uncanny ability to make plants grow.  When Mary hears weeping in the night, she investigates and finds Colin, the sickly, bedridden son of her uncle, who has never learned to walk.  Mary starts spending time with him and eventually takes Colin to the garden in a wheelchair.  It is a story about friendship and how Mary blossoms as a child when she has the garden to care for and Colin to help and encourage.  It is also an uplifting tale of how Colin adopts a course of positive thinking and uses the power of his mind to get himself exercising and eventually walking and running with the other children.

This was one of my favourite, much-loved books as a child.  It is the story of another orphan, Maria Merryweather, who has to leave her London home with her redoubtable governess Miss Heliotrope and her aristocratic spaniel Wiggins.  She enters Moonacre Manor, the magical home of her cousin Sir Benjamin Merryweather, where she discovers her family history and of her destiny as a ‘Moon Princess’.  There she has to learn discipline and self-sacrifice to save Moonacre from the rampages of the Men from the Dark Woods and help the Parson to give Paradise Hill back to God.  She is helped in her quest by her new friend Robin, Zachariah the cat, Serena the hare, Periwinkle her pony and, of course, the mystical Little White Horse.  An enchanting tale where the power of good overcomes the dark forces and true love wins out, with both Miss Heliotrope and the Parson and Sir Benjamin and Loveday Minette being reunited and saved from their heartbreak.  The book has recently been made into a film called ‘The Secret of Moonacre’.

Black Beauty was the first book that I can remember my mother reading to me when I was a very small child.  When I was old enough to read it myself, I would read it over and over and cry every time!  It is still one of the bestselling books of all times and has sold over 50 million copies.  Black Beauty follows the life of a horse in Victorian times, and is narrated in the first person by Black Beauty himself.  He has many adventures from the happy beginning of his life on a farm, becoming a pampered carriage horse for wealthy folk, through a difficult period where he was a Cab Horse in London and badly treated and his eventual happy retirement back in the countryside he loves.  It was one of the first books that dealt with the mistreatment of animals and some of the tragic stories told by some of the horses in the book will have you reaching for the tissues.  Black Beauty is an enduring tale of courage and stoicism and has been filmed and televised many times.

Do you know anyone who has either read the book or seen the film, who did not cry when Beth dies?  Little Women is the story of the four March girls – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy – and follows them as they grow to womanhood in the austere times of the American Civil War.  They face hard times at home and worry about their father who is away at the war.  They are all completely different characters, and Meg is the sensible eldest sister, Jo is the rebellious romp and talented writer, Beth is quiet, shy and loves playing the piano and Amy is pretty, spoilt and a talented artist.  All of the girls are working on overcoming a major flaw in their character and are guided by the ‘New Testaments’ they are given as gifts on Christmas morning. Their life changes when they meet Laurie, the charming boy next door and his tutor John Brooke, and have many adventures that help them grow and move towards perfecting their character flaw.  Although Beth tragically dies after being weakened by scarlet fever, the other girls go on to eventually find love and happiness.

How many little girls have been inspired to don a tutu and ballet pumps by this book?  Ballet Shoes is the story of the three Fossil sisters - Pauline, Petrova and Posy – who are all orphans and had been found by Great Uncle Matthew on his travels and brought back to the house on Cromwell Road to be cared for by his great-niece Sylvia.  When Great Uncle Matthew fails to return from one of his journeys and money runs short, Sylvia is encouraged to enrol the sisters in a stage school, where they learn dancing and acting, with a view to them getting work in the theatre and earning some money.  Pauline proves to be a talented actress, Posy promises to develop into one the outstanding ballet dancers of the time, but poor Petrova is clumsy and awkward and prefers to work on cars with one of the lodgers, Mr Simpson.  The girls vow to put the name of ‘Fossil’ in the history books, but will they be able to battle through and make their dreams come true?  Again another children’s classic that has been filmed and televised many times.

All of these books would make great gifts for children at Christmas. They are timeless stories that have a strong moral basis, great characters, wonderful imagery to stimulate young imaginations, and the overriding sense that good will always prevail over evil and that discipline and hard work will get you through hard times. Splash out on the hardback editions and you will have a Christmas gift that can be treasured by children for generations.

Copyright 2009 CMHypno on HubPages

Please note that these books were chosen by the author and that no payment has been received for reviewing these books, nor have any free books been offered as an encouragement to review and promote them