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World Book Day 2022: UAE school Principals reveal the 18 books every child should read by the time they’re 18

by Tabitha BardaMarch 3, 2022

It is World Book Day, and schools across the UAE will be teeming with mini BFGs, surprisingly convincing Harry Potters, and the least scary Gruffalos you ever did see. But, as adorable and impressive as the tome-themed costumes are, the true literary heroes that we celebrate today are books themselves.

Reading for pleasure is the single most powerful indicator of a child’s future success and happiness, regardless of their socioeconomic background. Research shows that a positive attitude towards reading is linked to greater mental wellbeing, improved performance in subjects other than English, a widened vocabulary and greater empathy skills – all attributes that are bound to set any child on the right path for a bright and promising future.

Coming in all shapes and sizes, and delighting kids and adults of all ages, books are not only our windows to the world, but the windows to our own souls. Just as colour is a reflection of light, so our own feelings and histories colour in the meaning of a book, refracting the author’s intention through the prism of our own reality. There’s a reason ‘What’s your favourite book?’ is such a common first date question: books can reveal us just as much as they reveal to us.

So, on World Books Day, what better question to ask than, of the billions of books in the world, which are the ones we should make sure our kids are reading? The teen years are when studies show that many children – especially boys – are most likely to stop reading for pleasure, so it’s even more important that the volumes we’re recommending are ones that will draw in rather than deter. This World Book Day, we got between the covers with Principals and leaders from the UAE’s top schools, asking them which tomes are most likely to ignite imagination, spark joy and inspire a child or teen’s love of books and reading. Here’s what they had to say…

World Book Day: 18 Books every child should read (or have read to them) before they’re 18

My Family and Other Animals, Gerald Durrell

My favourite book as a primary school pupil was Gerald Durrell’s “My Family And Other Animals.” I loved the combination of a slightly bonkers but very lovable family and the young Durrell’s curiosity about and kindness towards the animals. Add to these the environments he encountered in a land that was very foreign to him and the book served to fuel my interest in the outdoors, adventure, and travel from a very early age!

David Flint, Principal, South View School, Dubai

Guess How Much I Love you, Sam McBratney

The children’s classic ‘Guess How Much I Love You’ by Sam McBratney was an integral part of my daughter’s bedtime routine for a number of years. I remember it being beautifully illustrated and how we would take turns inventing similes stating how much we loved each other in addition to those in the story before closing with the famous ‘ But I love you to the moon…………and back’.

Julian Pederick, Principal, Ranches Primary School, Dubai

Le Petit Prince, Antoine de St Exupéry

My chosen childhood book is The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) by Antoine de St Exupéry. A wonderful little novella that follows a young prince as he visits other planets. On his journey, he meets several people (some less than flattering portrayals!) and encounters loneliness, friendship, love and loss – themes that are universal in the experience of being human.

In one of my favourite sections, the prince meets and befriends a fox who teaches him about friendship and how relationships are made and develop – a lesson as important for adults as it is for children. I recommend this book to readers young and old – anyone interested in stories that explore, in an endearing and touching way, what it means to be human.

Lawrence Tubb, Headmaster, Minerva’s Virtual Academy

The Machine Gunners, Robert Westall

Undoubtedly my favourite book as a child was The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall. It was about a young boy living through WW2 who, on an adventure into the woods, found a downed German plane. He, along with his friends, took the weaponry from the plane and built a fortress along with a working gun! Later they’d shoot down a plane and capture the gunner! It was a fantastical tale, but it utterly captivated me. It spoke to my sense of adventure and a belief I could do anything I wanted. I remember shortly after reading this book, I decided I wanted to build a space shuttle. I never did build it, but I still dream!

Ben Rothwell, Deputy Head, Victory Heights Primary School

The Hobbit, JRR Tolkein

I was captivated at the age of nine by the magical world of ‘Middle Earth’ and the journey of discovery of a young Bilbo Baggins. Tolkien painted such a real picture of a fantasy world which he was able to bring to life through enthralling story-telling.

Giles Pruett, Principal, Arcadia School, Dubai

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson, Selma Lagerlof

Books open worlds! This was certainly true for me. Traveling, visiting new places, and meeting new people was ingrained into me right from my childhood. A book stands out in my memory, nurturing this love for discovering new places: The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson, written by Selma Lagerlof, a Swedish author, who was actually the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. A child who travels with wild geese, who can understand the languages spoken by all creatures, and visits different places… Let the dream begin! And I was lucky to have a mother who would expand on the story and take Nils to countries further away.

Lysiane Ruf, Academic Director, Future International Nursery

The Dog that Dug, Jonathan Long

I have fond memories of reading this book to my daughter when she was young. It was her favourite book, and I’d read it to her every evening before she went to bed. It’s a lovely book, it’s got wonderful, colourful illustrations, but it’s also funny and appeals to children and adults alike.

Mark Ford, Principal, The English College, Dubai

The Enormous Crocodile, Roald Dahl

This is the first book that I ever bought at a book fair at my primary school. I love it because of the ridiculous nature and calamity that always happens in Roald Dahl’s books. I always find that his books are really entertaining, because it challenges people’s perceptions of different things.

Ian Wallace, Horizon English School, Dubai

Alfie Gets in First, Shirley Hughes

Alfie gets up to all sorts of interesting adventures, and this particular one is where he gets locked out of the house. And he has the postman to help him and the milkman to help him and the neighbour to help him, and it really is about a community coming together to help one another. The take away for me was don’t race ahead, play the long game and work in a community where everyone helps out and comes together over a cup of tea……just what we do at SBS!

Zara Harrington, Principal, Safa British School

One Lonely Lion by Gill MacLean and Sue Harris

This was a book I read to each of my three children and they never got bored of it. It reminds me of my children growing up and all the amazing bedtime discussions it led to about animals and friends.

Mark Leppard MBE, Headmaster. The British School Al Khubairat, Abu Dhabi

The Chronicles of Narnia – especially The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

As a young child growing up in a very small city, I was always fascinated to read about other lands, great adventures and magical places. From an early age, my family said I had always had a vivid imagination and a thirst to travel and explore. The books are based around key themes that became important to me; values and people.

In the book it says: “And so for a time, it looked as if all the adventures were coming to an end; but that was not meant to be.”

I take from this that we may reach points where we think there is no way forward and things will not improve. Quite often as adults we can get caught in a rut, or the monotony of routine, that leaves us wanting.

I suppose, at the end of the day, the Narnia books taught me about being brave and confident with the will move forward and the grit to make a positive of our shared adversity.

Darren Gale, Principal, Horizon International School

Little Women by Louisa M Alcott

My favourite childhood book will have to be Little Women!

Little Women is the kind of book that makes you think about the characters long after you’ve finished reading it.

Jo – I vividly remember Josephine March and the imagery her character conjured up – with her poetry writing, her fear of the dentist’s chair, her relationship with her sisters, the sharing of the gloves and the party dress that was ruined by a burn and yet had to be worn!

Mrs. March’s character too stayed with me, particularly the cold, winter’s night when they shared their dinner with a family that was starving, despite having so little themselves.

It is such books that perhaps shape your own character without you even knowing it!

Books were my absolute world when I was a child.

I just wish I had the luxury of time to read to my heart’s content now!

Nargish Khambatta, Principal, CEO and Vice President-Education, GEMS Modern Academy

The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde

Wilde’s story has so many meanings but one that resonates with me is the innate ability of children to connect to the world around them, their joy in nature and most of all, their ability to melt the hardest of hearts.

David Wilcock, Head of Primary, The English College

The Shrinking of Treehorn by Florence Parry Heide

I loved The Shrinking of Treehorn because it taught me about the importance of making time for people and it also taught me how NOT to be a school Principal.

Wayne Howden, Principal, The Aquila School

The Mr Men Books by Adam Hargreaves and Roger Hargreaves

My favourite books as a small child were the Mr Men books.

I would always smile when I was reading them as they would remind me of some of my friends. We have all had friends who were accident prone – Mr Bump. I had a friend called Stuart who was always shorter than us – Mr Small (he grew up to be 6ft 3 – Mr Tall).

There were lots more examples. I always wanted to be Mr Strong or Mr Fast but my Mum always related more to me being Mr Messy!

My eldest daughter has just had her 16th birthday and as part of her present we got her the Little Miss Trouble book. I considered Little Miss Sunshine but unfortunately the irony would have been lost on her.

Matthew Tompkins. Principal and CEO, GEMS FirstPoint School, The Villa

The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier

When I was 10 years old and still at Junior School, I read The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier. Up to that point most of my fiction reading had definitely been written for children, but this was something very different, a young person’s book with difficult themes, real dangers and genuine accounts of historical suffering. Thankfully, all turns out (reasonably) well in the end!

Reading this book opened my eyes to the sometimes harsh reality of the experience of others, it was an insight and an awakening of awareness that I can still vividly recall nearly 50 years later. It’s so true that reading allows us to live many lives, and for me The Silver Sword was the beginning.

Steve Lewis, Principal/CEO of West Yas Academy

Annapurna Southface, Sir Chris Bonnington

Whilst at secondary school, I loved Chris Bonnington’s book “Annapurna Southface” about a deliberately very challenging ascent of Annapura in 1970. The spirit of determination and ingenuity displayed by Bonnington and his team further fuelled my passion for mountaineering first ignited by my mother who was a keen mountaineer in her younger years. Ten years after reading this book, I found myself heading up Annapurna which was truly terrific! Never under estimate the power of books!

David Flint, Principal, South View School