Each of these books features someone who shrinks, or who was teeny to begin with.
Picture Book
Each Peach Pear Plum – Janet & Allan Ahlberg
I spy Tom Thumb! A tremendous book, featuring everyone’s favourite nursery rhyme characters, including Bo Peep, Mother Hubbard and the Three Bears. Each page features a rhyme that encourages readers to look closely at the pictures, to see if they can spy the characters!
Really lovely illustrations and a novel concept make this classic book a great all-round choice.
Early Readers
Ruby the Red Fairy & Amber the Orange Fairy – Daisy Meadows
These unashamedly girly novels each tell the story of a different fairy. Each tiny fairy must be freed to save Fairyland from the frozen clutches of Jack Frost.
This astonishingly popular series features magic and adventure, and is ideal bedtime reading from four years old, or for slightly older children to read to themselves.
Developing Readers
Mrs. Pepperpot Stories – Alf Prøysen
Mrs. Pepperpot can’t control when she shrinks, so she gets in all sorts of trouble, but somehow she always manages to end up on top! Whether it’s simple things like doing laundry or buying pasta, or more surprising adventures like being a fortune teller or uncovering hidden treasure, Mrs. Pepperpot succeeds at almost everything, even when it seems like she can’t!
These fantastic stories (41 in total!) are full of fun and the illustrations add to the sense of wonder.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
Mike Teevee being shrunk like a bar of chocolate is one of my all-time favourite moments in literature. There’s something so satisfying about such an awful child getting his comeuppance!
This novel has plenty more to recommend it beyond that though – from the depiction of Charlie’s house where his grandparents all share a bed, to the wonders of Willy Wonka’s factory itself, Dahl’s flights of fantasy are a joy to read, whatever your age.
Confident Readers
The Borrowers – Mary Norton
Pod, Homily and Arietty live underneath the clock in a large house. Everything they own has been borrowed from the “Human Beans”. Their persistent pilfering goes mostly unnoticed (except… has anyone seen my kirby grip?) until a human boy spots them!
This ingenious book will make you wonder if maybe you don’t have Borrowers living in your home!
The Indian in the Cupboard – Lynne Reid Banks
Omri is thoroughly unimpressed by the plastic Indian he’s given for his birthday, but when he puts it in his old cupboard and turns the key, it comes to life!
I can’t praise this book highly enough – it’s full of terrific moments (not least when Omri realises Little Bull is alive), and careful observations. A genuine classic.
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