They are the books you can’t put down, the stories that help you to explore a life yet to be lived. Last week, TESS conducted a poll of great children’s fiction, asking teachers which 100 books all children should read before leaving primary school. Naturally, Twitter had plenty of ideas about what should (and shouldn’t) have made the list.

@bails05 said it was “Good to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the top 100” - in fact, the book took the top spot. @Beardietam, too, was thrilled: “Great list! That’s the summer holiday sorted!”

Some were less pleased. @JElmes_THE expressed regret that his beloved The Machine Gunners hadn’t made the cut. “I read it so many times my copy fell apart,” he said.

Some felt that the selection was fairly advanced for young children - many of the choices had dark themes, such as the domestic abuse in Goodnight Mister Tom and the bullying in Matilda. But as our feature on the survey described, books such as these help children to explore difficult themes safely.

Perhaps the greatest shock was the omission of the Harry Potter series. But @TES had an answer for the naysayers - a magical one. “For those claiming Harry Potter didn’t make our fiction list,” they tweeted, “it’s at 9_; and if you can’t see it, you’re a MUGGLE.” Will Martin

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