I am a big advocate of reading children the original classics when possible. My rule of thumb is this: if it was originally published for children, you can read the original version. You miss so much with the abridged versions! I only read my kids abridged versions of stories we think of as being for kids which were actually written for adults (Robin Hood, Little Women, Around the World in Eighty Days, etc.) Therefore all books listed below are by the original authors. They have also all been given the thumbs up by my kids! (12, 9, and 8)

Winnie the Pooh and the House at Pooh Corner by AA Milne

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit

Charlotte's Web ​by EB White

And finally, our other favorite read alouds are The Chronicles of Narnia 

It's a tradition in our house that when you are in first grade, around Christmas time, Mommy reads The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to you for the first time. It's like a rite of passage!