I will start by saying: the BBC’s #LoveToRead campaign looks fantastic and I love that it “celebrates reading for pleasure”, and aims to start “a unique national conversation about books”. Nonetheless, among all the planned dramatisations, documentaries and live events, one aspect of the campaign is strangely unadventurous – its list of top 10 books recommended for children.

The list isn’t a bad one. It’s just not a new one. Created by the public, it sets out 10 books that children should read, and includes the usual suspects: The Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird and the Bible, with Harry Potter coming out on top. Yes, it’s right that we acknowledge that they are all important contributions to the history of literature; yes, it is also understandable that we want the next generation to experience the books that we have loved.

But haven’t we seen lists like this one too many times before? I was reminded of the “25 books that will stick with you and blow your mind” list that the Independent released in February. With the exception of Frankenstein, the list was made up solely of books by white men, most of whose names are already entrenched in the public consciousness. The list in question acclaimed the books for withstanding the test of time – but what about books written in our time? Why do we invest such little trust in books written today?

When do books start to be viewed as important – important enough that we want kids to read them?

We keep covering old ground when it comes to the notion of a “must-read” book. There’s nothing new, no sense of exploration or departure from what’s come before – and in the case of lists for children, they don’t always reflect what young people are actually reading for pleasure. By recommending the same stories, over and over, we’re not creating fertile ground for the idea of a modern-day masterpiece. We’re also denying the way the publishing industry has changed over the years, and the enormous part that young readers have played in producing those changes. Most of the books on the BBC’s list were written before the explosion of the Young Adult and Middle Grade genres, for example, which have opened up a whole new world of literature aimed at young people and sparked imaginations all over the globe.

It makes me wonder when a book is given permission to become “a classic”. Is it its age, or how it sells, or both, or neither? By denying that permission to such a huge number of stories, we’re losing golden opportunities to engender passion for reading in the next generation.

Diana Gerald, chief executive of the reading charity Booktrust, summed it up best: “Too often, children are given ‘timeless classics’ to read, when there are so many other, newer books that are just as brilliant but can also talk to them about the world they know, in language that resonates with them.”

Gerald makes an excellent point about language that resonates with children. After all, we seek a world we recognise when we read; we search for ourselves, for the points where stories connect to our own lives.

Of course, that doesn’t mean all young readers will, or should, stick to books written in recent years. Some will love the challenge and intrigue of older novels – and if they’re interested in them, of course they should read the traditional classics. They should read whatever they want. Not only is the past full of wonderful stories, but these books provide a window to history, allowing us to see how ideas, attitudes, and language have developed over decades and centuries.

But as well as wanting to pass on the wisdom and excitement of our favourite childhood reads to our own children, let’s also open our minds more often to modern must-reads, and listen to the wealth of fresh and diverse voices pouring out from between the pages. Perhaps it’s time we started asking the next generation what they can recommend to us.

The BBC’s top 10

Based on the question: “If you had to pick, what book do you think every child should read?”

1. Harry Potter by JK Rowling
   
2. The BFG by Roald Dahl
   
3. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
   
4. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
   
5. The Famous Five by Enid Blyton
   
6. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
   
7. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
   
8. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
   
9. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
   
10. The Bible