My recommendations are from my male perspective on books for boys under 12: anything by Jack London, Mark Twain, Jules Verne. Also books telling Bible stories, some C. S. Lewis, Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
Well, i got 7 of ten already. :)
Let’s hear your top ten and any other Freepers can chime in.
I would place it right behind the Bible in foundational books.
It was one of the first books printed on the printing press after the Bible so at least some people used to agree with me.
Off the top of my head and subject to great changes:
Farmer Boy
Aesops Fables, well illustrated
Go Dog Go
Curious George
Paddle to the Sea
Peter Rabbit
The Great Brain
Billy and Blaze
The Ride of Paul Revere, well illustrated
Ramona the Pest
Charlotte’s Web
Aesop’s Fables
Little Women
Mr Popper’s Penguins
Heidi
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
Ralph S Mouse
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Hobbit
Nancy Drew
Hardy Boys
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
Give a Mouse a Cookie (complete series of books there)
Rush Revere books
All of a Kind Family
A Wrinkle in Time
My daughter loved Sweet Valley Twins. I did not, but I sure bought every single one of them. Son loved coffee table books about weapons, history, airplanes, etc. Only series he would read was R L Stine’s Goosebumps. I am on restriction right now as my grandchildren have run out of room for books, but I’ve got a stockpile for each of them sitting at my house.