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CHILDREN’S CLASSICS:READING ABOUT rich New York girls such as Blair Waldorf or youthful superspies such as Alex Rider is all very well when times are good, but sometimes something more down to earth is needed for those who are worried about their family’s finances or feel the recession will never end. These classic novels tell the stories of children who experience dramatic changes and economic hardship but come out smiling. And, as Oswald says in E Nesbit’s The Treasure Seekers, “real life is often something like books.”

The Story of the Treasure Seekersby E Nesbit (1899): Mr Bastable has lost all his money, so his six children decide to restore the family finances: they dig for treasure, sell wine and even become bandits. Nesbit basically invented the modern children’s novel; the well-meaning Bastables are still as real, and as funny, as they were when this book was first published, 110 years ago. And Oswald Bastable remains one of literature’s greatest narrators.