Puffin Clothbound Classics

Updated to include the new 2023 publications.

Penguin began publishing this series in late 2019, with decorative series bindings created by Penguin designers. The books in this series have been selected by Penguin’s editorial team to include classic children’s stories to inspire a lifelong love of reading – they focus particularly on English and American novels. To date, many of the titles include reprints of novels in the earlier ‘Puffin Hardback Children’s Classics’ series in a more deluxe binding.

The series features the full unabridged texts of each book as originally published, full cloth covers with generous gilt accents and bound-in satin ribbon bookmarks. (Unfortunately they still have glued bindings, but this does help make them more affordable.) 

Many of the books also include black and white illustrations from earlier editions, as well as thoughtful introductions from contemporary children’s authors. The cover designs are pretty (they include repeating motifs drawn from the story), and they present a delightful glittery and brightly colored rainbow of spines on the shelf, but do take care shelving them as the gilt is less robust than the cloth cover.

Because the books are produced by Penguin UK, newer titles are typically available from UK bookshops before they can be sourced from other countries.