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Harry Potter is still the nation's favourite book

JK Rowling's first Potter novel deemed THE book children should read before the age of 14, beating stiff competition from classics

A generation of children have grown up with Quidditch, the sorting hat and believing there really is a platform thirteen-and-a-half at King's Cross. And their obsession with all things wizarding has seen JK Rowling bag the top spot in a favourite children's books poll.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first in the decade-defining series of books by the British author, was voted the top book read by children before the age of 14 in poll by reading charity Booktrust.

The book was chosen by British children out of a longlist of 100 titles, followed by The Hunger Games and Roald Dahl's BFG.

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Claire Shanahan, Booktrust's head of arts, said: "As the biggest ever grossing literary franchise, kids and adults alike clearly can't get enough of Harry Potter.
 
"It's a worldwide phenomena - it has captured the imaginations of a generation of readers who have grown up in love with Harry or Hermione, want to be friends with Ron, and are truly terrified by Voldemort.

"Even when up against heavyweights such as Dahl and Tolkien, Rowling 's creation remains the nation's firm favourite."

For the under fives, The Very Hungry Catterpiller came top. Other titles in the top 10 were classic books such as AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh, Charlotte's Webb and the first installment of the Lord of the Rings. Fantasy books seemed high on children's reading lists with Philip Pullman's Northern Lights scoring highly too.

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