Whether you are looking for travel inspiration or want to take an adventure without leaving your home, books that inspire a trip to England are a great way to get to know another part of the world. In our Destination Education Series, we are heading to jolly ol’ England to learn all about the Literature, Science, and History of this amazing country.
In this post, we will focus on:
- famous British authors and
- classic books set in England
There is a classic book for every age range of readers that will inspire a trip to England. This is by no means an exhaustive list! There are hundreds of fantastic author’s who are from England or who write amazing books set in England, but this list is just a taste of the beautifully crafted literature that can spark a desire for your next trip.
The Littlest Learners
For younger children you might find that they pick one book and ask to have it read over and over. Children at this age love repetition and memorization. Think about the delight a child gets from reciting nursery rhymes and rhythmic stories and poems. Although we might want new books to keep ourselves engaged, young children continue to find value and learning in books that are repeated over and over.
Elementary and Tweens
For upper elementary and even tweens, its important to read aloud books together. This helps children visualize what is being read. Through reading (and children listening as books are read) we are able to imagine a world beyond our own and also empathize with characters through shared experiences. This is a great time to bond with your child or children while making meaningful connections throughout the book.
This is also the age of questioning. 8-13 year olds love to ask questions and argue (maybe debate is a nicer sounding word 😉 the ideas they are learning. Let your child ask lots of questions about the stories you are reading together. Offer questions of your own. Help them to see different points of view in a story.
Pull out a map and identify the setting of the stories. This will help children make connections with the places you will be visiting on your next trip. This is a great activity for any age.
Teens and Young Adults
Teens and older children will benefit from discussion and dialogues you have during the time they are reading through the books. You might choose to read a book at the same time and then have conversations about each chapter. If you are not able to read these great pieces of literature along with your child or student, then brush up on some of the information using resources that summarize the book or give thought provoking questions. I’ll leave some links below to help you out. Rabbit trails and piggy-backing on topics can lead to amazing discoveries, especially if your are digging into a new place or culture. Let your child lead where they want to explore.
Reading for Your Trip
Whether you are reading these wonderful British classics for pleasure, education, enrichment or inspiration, the more you learn about a topic, the more invested you will be in it. If you’re planning a trip to England, take time during the planning and preparation stages of your travel to expose your self and your children to the interesting culture of the UK. Consider your learning to be like a wonderful coat closet (or wardrobe like the one in the Chronicles of Narnia!). When you learn about a place before you visit, you are adding hangers to the knowledge closet. Then when you visit a place or have the experience, you hang coats and scarves on those hangers. If you didn’t have the hangers you’d just be throwing the coats into the closet willy-nilly! What a mess. There wouldn’t be much useful information all jumbled up in there.
During your trip, you can make meaningful connections from the books you’ve read. Encourage your child to keep a travel journal to draw or write down thoughts and insights. And after your trip, be sure to have a family debrief and solidify all the fun and learn that went on. Check out this post on ** Fun Ideas to Debrief after a Family Vacation for more ideas.
The Books that inspire a trip to England
So let’s dive into some amazing books for all ages. These books are either by British authors or the books are set somewhere in the United Kingdom. Happy Reading!
Note: This list of Classic Books that will Inspire your Trip to England has affiliate links from trusted partners and websites such as Amazon, and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).
Preschool
B is for Big Ben by Pamela Duncan Edwards
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
A Bear Called Paddington by Micheal Bond
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters by Janet and Allen Ahlberg
Madeline in London by John Bemelmans Marciano and Ludwig Bemelmans
Katie in London by James Mayhew
All Aboard the London Bus by Patricia Toht
Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem
The World of Peter Rabbit Collection Set Books 1-23 by Beatrix Potter
Elementary
The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry by Danna Smith
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith
Winnie the Pooh Collection by A.A. Milne
Roald Dahl Collection
Bedknobs and Broomsticks by Mary Norton
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Tweens
Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Crispin and the Cross of Lead by Avi
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Legends of King Arthur: Merlin, Magic, and Dragons by Tracy Mayhew
The Royal Rabbits of London by Santa Montefiore and Simon Sebag Montefiore
Teens
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
Sherlock Holmes Series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Lord of the Rings Series by JRR Tolkien
Jane Austin: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma,Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, and Love and Freindship
Charles Dickens: Great Expectations, Hard Times, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Bleak House, and A Tale of Two Cities
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
McBeth by William Shakespeare
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and other stories by Robert Louis Stevenson
Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
Adults
Of course, any of the above books would be worth a read for adults as well as children and young adults. And I’ll repeat myself again to say that there are so many wonderful authors who have written amazing works set in England and the UK. I can’t name them all here but I’ll list some classics and some of my favorites to get you started.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Howards End by E.M. Forster
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantle
The Evening and the Morning, Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, A Column of Fire
by Ken Follett
London by Edward Rutherford
Sarum by Edward Rutherford
The Forest by Edward Rutherford
Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Jane Eyre, The Professor, Shirley, Villette, Wuthering Heights by Charlotte, Emily, & Anne Bronte
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Middlemarch by George Elliot
The Last Kingdom Series by Bernard Cornwell
Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner
What are your favorite books that inspire a trip to England? How do you integrate learning and travel?
Don’t forget to check out the second part of our Destination Education: England series, where we look into the Science of England. In Let’s Learn About England: Science & Scientists we find out more about the different types of sciences and scientists that are part of the British Isles.
Sir Isaac Newton is one of England’s most famous scientists.
Leave me your thought in the comments. And don’t forget to like, share, and join the Bonnie conversation.
Kyleen Bontrager, the Bonnie Traveler
Kyleen is a wife, homeschool mama, lover of teatime, and passionate traveler. Having lived on 3 continents and visited +32 countries, she helps others enjoy memory-making experiences for multigenerational travel. Ready for a bonnie adventure? Let’s go!
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