7 Must Read English Stories for Kids Under 10

Written by Kaushiki Gangully | November 23, 2025

Introduction

A quiet magic that settles over a room when a parent begins reading a story out loud. For a child, a storybook is not just ink and paper and ink. It becomes a passport, a secret key, even a time machine. It’s their roller coaster ride exploring the vast, complicated, and unexplored terrains beyond their own four walls of imagination. In the age of fleeting digital distractions, the consistently immersive journey of a good story has never been more vital.

The best stories for kids under ten do more than just entertain. They are masterfully crafted to be empathy engines, vocabulary builders, and creativity rocket ships in disguise. Such stories ask big questions in small, digestible ways for children. And most importantly, they teach kids how to fall in love with the act of reading itself.

Here are 7 essential English stories that every child under ten should read or hear at least once. These tales are not simply classics; they are whole, formative experiences. Each offers a unique lesson gift-wrapped in memorable characters and enchanting narration.

7 Essential Stories For Children Aged 10 And Under

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

This book is often a young child’s first literary love, and for good reason. It is a vibrant, multi-sensory masterpiece for kids. The iconic, collage-style illustrations are a feast for youthful eyes, while the clever, hole-punched pages invite tiny fingers to physically trace the caterpillar's path. On the surface, the book is a simple story of a caterpillar eating its way to becoming a butterfly. But the subtext is a brilliant, almost invisible narrative on basic, valuable life lessons, such as days of the week, counting, nutrition, and the life cycle of a butterfly.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

The Gruffalo is akin to literary lightning in a bottle for kids. It is a clever, rhythmic tale of brains over brawn. The story is about a quick-witted mouse who invents a terrifying monster to scare off predators. However, things turn around when it comes face-to-face with his own deceitful creation. The children’s story is perfectly paced, with rhyming couplets so infectious yet predictable that children quickly begin to recite the story along with you.

This showcases how storytelling is a powerful tool for building auditory memory and pre-reading skills, as supported by a 2020 survey by the Journal of Critical Reviews. The core lesson of the story: that cleverness and courage are more powerful than size and strength, is an empowering message that resonates deeply with small children navigating a big, scary world.

The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss

The vibe of this story is pure anarchic glee meets a rhythmic wonderland. The Cat In The Hat begins on a gloomy, rainy day, when a chaotic cat in a striped hat arrives to turn a boring afternoon upside down. Dr. Seuss’s genius lies in his ability to write books that are both suitable for amateur readers as well as wildly entertaining. Using a limited vocabulary of simple, phonetic words, he creates a tornado of action and suspense. For a child just learning to decode letters, finishing a page of this story may feel like a monumental yet engrossing victory. It teaches them that reading is the farthest thing from a chore. Instead, it is a thrilling, slightly dangerous adventure.

The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

Ruskin Bond’s stories are commonly a picturesque window into the quiet, simple beauty of life in the Indian hills. The Blue Umbrella remains among his most poignant works for kids. It tells the tale of Binya, a young girl who trades her lucky leopard’s claw necklace for a beautiful blue umbrella. The beautiful thing quickly becomes her most prized possession. Despite being a children’s story, it delicately explores the themes of materialism, envy, and ultimately, kindness. When Binya finally chooses to give her most beloved possession away, she learns a profound lesson about the joy of letting go. This beautifully written, atmospheric tale introduces children to nuanced emotional landscapes and the notion that true happiness does not come from what you own.

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

This book is often the first one that makes a child cry, and that is a good thing. The story of the friendship between a pig named Wilbur and a spider named Charlotte is one of the most beautiful novel premises ever written. It does not shy away from asking life’s big, scary questions. It tackles mortality, loyalty, and the ache of loss with a gentle, profound grace.

Charlotte's quiet determination to save her friend using the only skill she has, that is, writing, is a powerful lesson. It is not just a heartbreakingly touching rite of passage about life, death, and friendship. The book also teaches children about empathy on a level few others can, preparing them for the complexities of future real-life relationships.

The Twits by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl is the master of wicked humor and disgusting yet accurate satirical depictions of society. The Twits is perhaps his most concentrated dose of it. In the story, Mr. and Mrs. Twit are a horrible, smelly, and nasty couple who play increasingly vile tricks on one another. This book is the perfect antidote to overly sweet stories. It teaches children that reading can be subversive, mischievous, and outrageously fun as well. Also, hidden beneath all the wormy spaghetti and bird pie is a surprisingly profound message. If a person has ugly thoughts, it eventually begins to show on their face.

Grandma’s Bag of Stories by Sudha Murty

In an era of fractured, nuclear families, Sudha Murty’s work is a beautiful homage to the ancient Indian tradition of oral storytelling. The book is a collection of tales told by "Ajji" or a grandmother, to her grandchildren during a summer holiday in her village. The book is filled with fun yet moral stories of kings, misers, monkeys, gods, and more. Each tale contains a simple yet powerful moral about honesty, kindness, and common sense. This book entertains; it connects children to their cultural roots while reminding them of the timeless wisdom already present within their families.

Conclusion

Getting kids into reading is not that hard. The real magic happens when you open the book, settle in, and let the story do its job of entertaining and educating. Remember, you are not just reading words on a page; you are actively building a reader, a thinker, and, most importantly, an empathetic human being, one chapter at a time.

References

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361186563_Storytelling_among_Children_A_Survey