Does the scale go from age 3 to late teens? If so:
No Flying in the House - Betty Brock
Adorable heroine is a secretly a fairy princess! Guaranteed to have small girls attempting to lick their elbow (don’t ask).
Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild
Paulina, Petrova and Posey are three orphans who find success! Paulina becomes a film star, Petrova becomes a pilot and Posey becomes a ballerina, one of my favorite books growing up.
A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Sarah goes from pampered schoolgirl to having to work for mean spirited Miss Michin, but never loses her imagination.
Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
Loved Anne, can’t say enough good things about this series.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E. L. Konigsburg
Wouldn’t it be cool to run away and live in a museum and sleep in the fancy beds? Claudia does!
Dragonsinger - Anne McCaffrey
Menolly just wants to be a harper. She ends up living in a cave and adopting a flock of fire lizards!
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L’Engle
Meg and her brothers fight to save their dad.
Of Nightingales That Weep - Katherine Paterson
Takiko lives through the The Genji Wars, Yoritomo and the sea battles for dominance of Japan while living in the court of the Emperor.
The Sea Fairies - L. Frank Baum
My favorite of all his books, I love Trot and her adventures with the mermaids.
The Witch Family - Eleanor Estes
Loved this book when I was a kid, the author is great. I would also recommend 100 Dresses for younger kids, it’s a great story about how kids pick on other kids.
Starring Sally J. Friedman As Herself - Judy Blume
My favorite of all the Blume books, Sally has a wonderful imagination.
I love reading, I don’t have any kids of my own so I asked my boss if I could be the “book worm” for his 9 year old daughter. Like my aunt who started the practice when I was a little girl, once a month I choose a book that I loved as a child and give it to my boss to hide for his daughter, along with a pretty bookmark and a note signed “The Bookworm.” His daughter is an avid reader and is delighted to have a secret friend. I’ve met her several times at various office functions, but I know she would have NO idea it’s me. The above books were all books I gave to her over the past year, all books I loved as a kid.