Jamie O'Rurke and the Pooka by Tomie Depaola

From chapters.ca:
When a magical pooka arrives unexpectedly and starts to do the dishes and sweep the house, Jamie--the laziest man in Ireland--thinks he's the luckiest as well. But will Jamie's good fortune last?

The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

The postman in fairy tale land has a busy day when a number of fairy tale characters have mail. Each of the pieces of mail are in envelopes inside the book to read and enjoy yourselves. A fun book to read and explaore.

Z is for Zamboni: A Hockey Alphabet by Matt Napier, illustrated by Melanie Rose

A truly Canadian alphabet book, Z is for Zamboni explores the alphabet through hockey terms and history and explains each term.

The Subway Mouse by Barbara Reid

From chapters.ca:
As a young mouse living in the subway, Nib loves to hear about Tunnel's End: a beautiful yet dangerous roofless world filled with incredible wonders and mouse-eating monsters. One day Nib decides to set off, away from his dirty crowded home, to find Tunnel's End. Along the way he meets Lola, a girl mouse, and together they navigate the long and dangerous tunnel. Just when they have given up hope, they hear a small chirping sound. Can it really be Tunnel's End?

Brothers in Hope by Mary Williams, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

From the School Library Journal:
During the mid-1980s, Sudan was embroiled in civil war in which over two million lives were lost. Williams bases this fictional picture book on the harrowing, real-life experiences of a band of approximately 30,000 southern Sudanese boys, between the ages of 8 and 15, who walked nearly 1000 miles searching for a safe refuge.

Mom and Mum are Getting Married by Ken Setterington, illustrated by Alice Priestley

From chapters.ca:
When Rosie comes home to find her Mom dancing alone in the living room, she knows something wonderful is about to happen. So, when one of her two mothers announces, "Your Mum and I are getting married!" they can''t wait to start planning the big day.

Grandfather Counts by Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Ange Zhang

When Helen's grandfather comes from China to live with her family she finds it difficult to adjust. While he only speaks Chinese, Helen only speaks English. Also, she has had to give up her bedroom for him. They find a common bond when Helen discovers that her grandfather likes to watch trains like she does.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski, illustrated by P.J. Lynch

A woodcutter consumed by his own sorrow finds happiness through a young boy and his mother just in time for Christmas.

Wiggle Waggle by Jonathan London, illustrated by Michael Rex

A fantastic book to read when a child is sitting in your lap so that they can feel how each animal walks. Getting children to imitate how different animals move is another way to enjoy this book.

Hans Christian Andersen: His Fairy Tale Life by Hjø rdis Varmer

From chapters.ca:
This...biography commemorates the bicentennial of Hans Christian Andersen’s birth. Written by one of Denmark’s best-known children’s authors, Hjø rdis Varmer, the book chronicles the fairy-tale like story of Andersen’s life, describing how the eccentric Andersen came from a poor family, was ridiculed by other children, and struggled for many years before finally finding world-wide fame writing fairy tales such as The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, and The Nightingale.

The Beloved Dearly by Doug Cooney

From chapters.ca:
Ernie is a twelve-year-old tycoon, always on the lookout for a fast buck. This time he stumbles onto a money-making bonanza: pet funerals. He hires Dusty to decorate the burial boxes and Tony to dig the holes, but his prize find is Swimming Pool, a tomboy who can cry on cue. Business goes through the roof -- until Ernie loses Swimming Pool over a raise and the whole venture unravels. Here is a rollicking, fun-spirited novel about friendship, loss, business -- and how we learn to express our feelings.

I didn't enjoy it much, but it isn't really my kind of book. It's been made into a play and is widely popular.

Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay

From chapters.ca:
For generations, the Erlings of Vinmark have taken their dragon-prowed ships across the seas, raiding the lands of the Cyngael and Anglcyn peoples, leaving fire and death behind. But times change, and in a tale woven with consummate artistry, people of all three cultures find the threads of their lives unexpectedly entwined.

Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce

This book is part of a new prequel series to the Tortall series.

From chapters.ca:
Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost's Guard, and she's been assigned to the Lower City. It's a tough beat that's about to get tougher, as Beka's limited ability to communicate with the dead clues her in to an underworld conspiracy. Someone close to Beka is using dark magic to profit from the Lower City's criminal enterprises--and the result is a crime wave the likes of which the Provost's Guard has never seen before.

Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman

A short story that follows the series, His Dark Materials.

Coriander the Contrary Hen by Dori Chaconas, illustrated by Marsha Gray Carrington Carolrhoda

From School Library Journal:
When Coriander is told to "go," she stays; when she is requested to "stay," she leaves. One day, she decides to relax in the middle of the road, blocking traffic as she pauses to read her magazines. The hen just won't listen to reason. As a traffic jam ensues, a young girl uses some reverse psychology to remedy the situation. Coriander retires back to the henhouse, but she continues to show attitude toward the other chickens there. Although it appears that she is rewarded for resisting positive suggestions, children will be able to relate to her and may even want to talk about their own "Coriander days." Cartoonlike paintings—in one scene, Coriander wears reading glasses-add humor to the text. Choruses of repeated rhymes—"Cluck cluck duck," "Cluck cluck truck"—will perhaps bring participation to this tale.

I'd Really Like to Eat a Child by Sylviane Donnio, illustrated by Dorothee de Monfreid

From the back of the book:
Achilles is feeling finicky. He's tired of eating bananas for breakfast every day. Today, he'd like to eat a child. But is Achilles as big and as fierce as he thinks he is? What happens when one scrawny little crocodile finds out that his eyes are bigger than his stomach...and his teeth?

Miffy by Dick Bruna

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny are very happy. They have a nice house and a nice garden, but they really want a child. Their wish is granted by angels and Miffy is born.

Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough

From the back of the book:
Duck's truck is stuck in the muck. Who will help him out?
First frog lends a hand Then sheep helps push, too. But duck's truck won't come unstuck! Can anyone help him get his truck out of the muck? Or is duck out of luck?

Time Train by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Claire Ewart

From the publisher:
Miss Pym's class is in for a comic adventure beyond their wildest dreams. They've boarded the Rocky Mountain Unlimited, a mysterious train that's winding its way into the heart of prehistoric times. Join the class-and a horrified Miss Pym-as they scramble dinosaur egg for breakfast, go stegosaurus-back riding and pterodactyl gliding, and play soccer with their giant reptilian friends.

This Little Puffin by Elizabeth M. Matterson

A collection of finger games and rhymes for young children.

Read me a Book by Barbara Reid

A colourfully illustrated poem about the pleasures of reading to children.

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis

From chapters.ca:
"I was born at the beginning of it all, on the Red side--the Communist side--of the Iron Curtain." Through annotated illustrations, journals, maps, and dreamscapes, Peter Sis shows what life was like for a child who loved to draw, proudly wore the red scarf of a Young Pioneer, stood guard at the giant statue of Stalin, and believed whatever he was told to believe. But adolescence brought questions. Cracks began to appear in the Iron Curtain, and news from the West slowly filtered into the country. Sis learned about beat poetry, rock 'n' roll, blue jeans, and Coca-Cola. He let his hair grow long, secretly read banned books, and joined a rock band. Then came the Prague Spring of 1968, and for a teenager who wanted to see the world and meet the Beatles, this was a magical time. It was short-lived, however, brought to a sudden and brutal end by the Soviet-led invasion. But this brief flowering had provided a glimpse of new possibilities--creativity could be discouraged but not easily killed.

Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle by Pija Lindenbaum

From chapters.ca:
Mini Mia loves her Uncle Tommy. They hang out in coffee bars, go for walks, swim, and do other fun stuff. But one day Fergus appears in her uncle's kitchen. Mini Mia does not want to share Tommy with his new boyfriend. She thinks Fergus should go back to where he came from in Scotland. But Fergus doesn't disappear that easily.

Swedish.

Anthony and the Girls by Ole Konnecke

From the publisher:
Anthony has a bucket, a shovel, and a really big car. But the girls playing in the sandbox don't look. They don't even look when attention-seeking Anthony does his best trick. Is there nothing he can do to turn their heads his way?

Swedish.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

From chapters.ca:
Romantic, heroic, comic and tragic, unconventional schoolmistress Jean Brodie has become an iconic figure in post-war fiction. Her glamour, freethinking ideas and manipulative charm hold dangerous sway over her girls at the Marcia Blaine Academy - the ’creme de la creme’ - who become the Brodie Set, introduced to a privileged world of adult games that they will never forget.

The Shoemaker's Boy by Joan Aiken

From School Library Journal:
Jem, the shoemaker's son, is left in charge while his father makes a pilgrimage to the Holy City of Saint James to pray for his sick wife's recovery. In his absence, an extraordinary sequence of events transpires, involving three green children, a black knight, a white knight bearing three keys on his shield, and a mysterious package. After Jem survives the challenges of one terrifying night, a miracle occurs-his mother awakens desiring exactly what the package contains.

The Story of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

From chapters.ca:
When a swallow arrives in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh with the news that the monkeys of Africa are ill and only the doctor who talks to animals can save them, Doctor Dolittle and such good friends as Jip, his loyal dog, and Dab-Dab, his housekeeper duck, face great danger and challenges as they travel to Africa to save the monkeys.

Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot

From chapters.ca:
A dramatization in verse of the murder of Thomas Becket at Canterbury.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

From chapters.ca:
Catch-22 is like no other novel. It is one of the funniest books ever written, a keystone work in American literature, and even added a new term to the dictionary.
At the heart of Catch-22 resides the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save his skin from the horrible chances of war. His efforts are perfectly understandable because as he furiously scrambles, thousands of people he hasn't even met are trying to kill him. His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the perilous missions that he is committed to flying, he is trapped by the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade, the hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule from which the book takes its title: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes the necessary formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of making the request proves that he is sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

Blythe Spirit by Noel Coward

Charles appears to be living quite happily with his wife, Ruth when they get a strange visitor. Elvira is Charles' first wife, and her visit causes a number of problems; not least among them is the fact that she is a ghost.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

A classic play based on the real people and events of a witch trial in a small American town. It is often read as a parable about McCarthyism.

My Man Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

This collection of short stories could be seen as the beginning of the Jeeves and Wooster series. Written in the 1920s about an upper class man, Wooster, who is not very bright, and his man servant, Jeeves, who is brilliant, the series has remained popular and become a TV miniseries.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes is possibly the most famous literary character ever invented. Anyone who enjoys mysteries should read at least some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler

From chapters.ca:
Growing up in the heart of Montreal’s Jewish ghetto, Duddy Kravitz is obsessed with his grandfather’s saying, “A man without land is nothing.” In his relentless pursuit of property and his drive to become a somebody, he will wheel and deal, he will swindle and forge, he will even try making movies. And in spite of the setbacks he suffers, the sacrifices he must make along the way, Duddy never loses faith that his dream is worth the price he must pay. This blistering satire traces the eventful coming-of-age of a cynical dreamer. Amoral, inventive, ruthless, and scheming, Duddy Kravitz is one of the most magnetic anti-heroes in literature, a man who learns the hard way that dreams are never exactly what they seem, even when they do come true.

Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw

One of Bernard Shaw's most famous plays, St. Joan tells the life of Joan of Arc from her fantastic beginning to her tragic end.

The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde

This is a fantastic classic farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lovers’ entanglements.

Searching for Shona by Margaret J. Anderson

"During the evacuation of children from Edinburgh in the early days of World War II, shy, wealthy Margaret on her way to relatives in Canada trades places and identities with the orphaned Shona bound for the Scottish countryside."

Across the Wall by Garth Nix

A collection of short stories by Australian author, Garth Nix. The first story is a continuation of the Abhorsen series.

Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

The zoo keeper says goodnight to all the animals and locks up the zoo to go home for the night, but the animals have other ideas.

The Weaver's Horse by Jill Creighton, illustrated by Robert Creighton

When Sir Henry comes home from the wars all he wants is to see his horse, but his brother has taken it and seized his castle. So Sir Henry becomes apprenticed to a weaver.

Whale Waddleby by Judith Fitzgerald, illustrated by Maureen Paxton

Whale Waddleby is a huge bully and he wants ice cream. When he finds that the store is closed, however, he loses control.

Towser and the Water Rats by Tony Ross

"Sometimes, at weekends in the summer, Towser liked to go to his holiday house by the water. he enjoyed everything about his holiday...." until his peace is disrupted by a gang of water rats

Sharon, Lois and Bram's Mother Goose illustrated by Maryann Kovalski

While children today probably no longer watch the Elephant Show, this book of Mother Goose songs and poems are just as fun as they were when I was a kid. I will always be a fan of "Miss Lucy had a baby, his name was Tiny Tim."

The Sorcerer's Scrapbook by Michael Berenstain

Another of my favourite books as a child. Good luck finding this one too.

Written like a diary or scrapbook, this book details a rather inept sorcerer as he tries to change lead into gold.

I Said to Sam by Gwen Molnar, illustrated by Carlor Freire

From the back of the book:
Come join Sam and all his wonderfully funny friends in this rollicking, toe-tapping, hilarious book of rhymes.

Rhymes Around the Day chosen by Pat Thomson, illustrated by Jan Ormerod

Another excellent collection of nursery rhymes.

The Rat Race: The Amazing Adventures of Anton B. Stanton by Colin McNaughton

Anton, a very small boy, finds his way into the city of rats, ruled over by King Rattus III and enters the annual rat race.

Merry Mister Meddle by Enid Blyton

From the back of the book:
Mister Meddle got his name because he can't stop meddling in things. Sometimes he tries to stop because he gets into all sorts of mischief, but he always starts again. That's why everyone calls him Mister Meddle.

Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes illustrated by Allen Atkinson

There are a large number of Nursery Rhyme books on the market, but this was one of my favourites as a child and I would still recommend it.

Little Ivan by Pavlo Tychyna

I don't know if this book is available anywhere, but if you can get your hands on it, it is worth it.

Little Ivan is a Ukrainian folk tale about a boy who is stolen by a witch.