21 Books From Your Childhood You Should Definitely Reread As An Adult

Books like The Borrowers and Matilda are full of useful adult wisdom.

We hope you love the books we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.

1. Skellig, David Almond

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It's been almost 20 years since this haunting novel first came out. Skellig is a strange winged being who sets up home in a young boy's garage and changes his life. "“What are you?" I whispered. He shrugged again. "Something," he said. "Something like you, something like a beast, something like a bird, something like an angel." It's really moving. Buy the Kindle edition for £3.49 here, the paperback for £3.99 here, and the audiobook for £13.10 here.

2. The Worst Witch, Jill Murphy

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Before there was Harry Potter, there was Mildred Hubble, the most disastrous, accident-prone child-witch at Miss Cackle's Academy. "Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches stood at the top of a high mountain surrounded by a pine forest. It looked more like a prison than a school..." So gripping. Buy the Kindle edition for £3.99 here, the paperback for £2.99 here, and the audiobook for £8.25 here.

3. Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren

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If you need a strong, independent female role model in your life, then you need to reconnect with Pippi, who lives by herself in a house called Villakulla Cottage and who doesn't take any shit from nobody."'He’s the strongest man in the world.’ ‘Man, yes,’ said Pippi, ‘but I am the strongest girl in the world, remember that.'" Buy the Kindle edition for £4.32 here, or the paperback for £4.89 here.

4. Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne

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The wise, philosophical elements of these charming tales probably passed you by when you were a little kid, so it's a good idea to read them again an adult. After all, we all need advice like: “Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” Get the Kindle edition for £3.79 here, or the paperback for £6.99 here.

5. Watership Down, Richard Adams

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Yes, this epic, magical tale of a group of plucky rabbits can be sad at times, but it's also a hugely engrossing, detailed, and beautiful story that you need in your life.“All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you." Crying already. Buy the Kindle edition for £3.79 here, or the hardback for £8.99 here.

6. The Story of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson

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It's easy to forget how groundbreaking this 1991 book really was. Tracy is taken into care due to her mum's neglect and ends up in a home nicknamed "The Dumping Ground". It's funny, but also pretty sad. "She really liked me, little Camilla. She got fostered quick as a wink. I begged her foster mum and dad to bring her back to see me but they never did." Buy the Kindle edition for £4.99 here, the paperback for £6.94 here, or the audiobook for £15.30.

7. The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams

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This tale of a much-loved stuffed rabbit who's brought to life after being taken away from his little owner is too sad, lovely, and sweet to describe. You'll just have to read it again instead. “Real isn't how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” Buy the Kindle edition for 75p here, or the paperback for £4.99 here.

8. The Borrowers, Mary Norton

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The tiny protagonists of this classic kids book live in "the secret places" of quiet old houses. In fact, you might have Borrowers, and not even know it...unless you catch them stealing your veg, of course. "Do you realize," Homily went on gravely, laying down the half nail scissor, " that your poor father risks his life every time he borrows a potato?" Buy the Kindle edition for £4.99 here, the paperback for £5.49 here, and the audiobook for £12.24 here.

9. Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie

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If it's timeless classics you're looking for, you can't really get more timeless than this enchanting story of the hot-headed fairy boy who never grows old. “Wendy," Peter Pan continued in a voice that no woman has ever yet been able to resist, "Wendy, one girl is more use than twenty boys.” So true. Buy the Kindle edition for free here, the paperback for £3.64 here, and the audiobook for £13.82 here.

10. A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett

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When Sara is orphaned, she goes from being a pupil at a swanky boarding school to being a servant shivering in the attic, and has to draw on all her positivity to survive. "If I am a princess in rags, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.” Buy the Kindle edition for 99p here, the paperback for £4.49 here, or the audiobook for £13.80 here.

11. The Sheep-Pig, Dick King-Smith

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Babe the pig (yes, that Babe), ends up with a sheep farmer called Mr Hogget. He has no use for a pig, so Babe is destined to become sausages...until he learns a unique talent: sheep herding. It's a true "you can be anything you want to be" classic. All together now: "That'll do, pig. That'll do." Buy the Kindle edition for £3.99 here, the paperback for £5.99 here, or the audiobook for £15.30 here.

12. Tom's Midnight Garden, Philippa Pearce

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Tom is bored to tears when he's sent to stay with his aunt and uncle for the summer, until, lying in bed one night, he hears their clock strike 13. Going downstairs, he finds a mysterious garden...and a girl."Tom opened the door wide and let in the moonlight. It flooded in, as bright as daylight." The time travel element of this story makes it utterly lovely and poignant. Buy the Kindle edition for £3.79 here, or the paperback for £3.99 here.

13. The Demon Headmaster, Gillian Cross

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All '90s and '00s kids will remember the evil headmaster with the powers of hypnosis and piercing green eyes, but what actually was he? Well, no one knows, and it's never revealed in the books, which makes them even creepier. “...This time she did not feel a thing when the Headmaster stuck the pin into her arm.” Ofsted should really have got involved. Buy the Kindle edition for £4.68 here, the paperback for £5.77 here, or the audiobook for £9.18 here.

14. Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

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The classic tale of plucky orphan girl Anne Shirley recently got a gripping (and slightly dark) makeover by Netflix, making it a good time to revisit the original, loveable version, which is full of positive messages, e.g. “It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.” Buy the Kindle edition for 49p here, the paperback for £1.99 here, or the audiobook for £18.28 here.

15. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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Another children's book that's bursting with wisdom is this charming French fable about life's mysteries. It's narrated by a pilot stranded in the desert, who wakes one morning to see a little boy standing in front of him. The illustrations are worth their weight in gold alone. "He said 'please...draw me a sheep.' I jumped up, thunderstruck..." Buy the Kindle edition for 99p here, or the paperback for £8.99 here.

16. The Malory Towers books, Enid Blyton

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These gentle books are full of fun, boarding school pranks, scrapes, and antics. They're like Harry Potter but with fewer deaths, much more hockey, and positive messages like, "We can never be perfect, but we can at least make amends by trying to cancel out the wrong by doing something worthy later on.” Buy the first three books on Kindle for £5.99 here, or the paperback collection for £8.99 here.

17. Swallows and Amazons, Arthur Ransome

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This adventure-packed story, first published in 1929, has everything kids (and big kids) love: sailing, camping, fishing, friendship, exploration, burglars, piracy, and lashings of ginger beer. It's escapism at its best. "The hills had been there before Captain Flint. They would be there for ever. That, somehow was comforting.” Buy the Kindle edition for £4.93 here, or the paperback for £5.19 here.

18. Charlotte's Web, E.B. White

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This enchanting story helped us see spiders (and pigs) in a whole new light. Little Fern loves a piglet called Wilbur, so Wilbur's friend, a spider named Charlotte, helps her to save his life. “'Why did you do all this for me?' he asked. 'I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.' 'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.” SO EMOTIONAL. Buy the Kindle edition for £2.99 here, or the paperback for £3.99 here.

19. Ballet Shoes, Noel Streatfeild

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If you were a ballet-obsessed kid (or even if you weren't), you probably read this tale of three sisters, Pauline, Petrova, and Posy, who grow up to become dancers and performers, and who clash with each other at times. “It was all very well to be ambitious, but ambition should not kill the nice qualities in you.” More people should bear that in mind. Buy the Kindle edition for £4.49 here, the paperback for £5.49 here, or the audiobook for £10.50 here.

20. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

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This epic series turned the children's books world upside down with its powerful portrayal of the thwarted love between Lyra and Will, which is much harder to relate to when you're young. "She had never dreamed of what it would feel like to love someone so much...She thought the tenderness it left in her heart was like a bruise that would never go away, but she would cherish it forever.” Beautiful. Buy the Kindle edition of the first book for £4.99 here, the paperback for £5.19 here, and the audiobook for £17.25 here.

21. Matilda, Roald Dahl

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No list of wisdom-filled childhood books would be complete without Matilda, which taught us so much, not least the joys that could come from reading. “So Matilda’s young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea.” Thanks, Roald. Buy the Kindle edition for £4.99 here, the paperback for £3.49 here, and the audiobook (read by Kate Winslet!) for £15.75 here.

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