On this page: Introduction | Review | Special Editions | List of Titles
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Introduction
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.
Review
The cover designs are very pretty (they usually include repeating motifs drawn from the story), and they present a delightful glittery and brightly colored rainbow of spines on the shelf. Many of the books also include black and white illustrations from earlier editions , as well as thoughtful introductions from contemporary children’s authors. 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.
What is the binding like?
The series features full cloth covers with generous gilt accents and a bound-in satin ribbon bookmark. (Unfortunately they still have glued bindings, but this does help make them more affordable.)
Is the text unabridged?
Yes, the Puffin Clothbound series features the full unabridged texts of each book, as originally published.
Are there any special editions?
Yes – Greyfriars Bobby (2019) and A Child’s Garden of Verses (2024) were released as exclusive editions for Waterstones Scotland. These are relatively difficult to find if you live an ocean away! There is also a special yellow-bound 8 book series released to celebrate Puffin’s 85th anniversary in 2025.
Last updated March 2025.
Titles in the Series
Jump to: 85th Anniversary Editions | 2025 series | 2024 series | 2023 series | 2022 series | 2021 series | 2020 series | 2019 series
85th Anniversary Editions (2025)
Charlotte's Web - E. B. White
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241777503, 7 Aug 2025. Illustrated by Garth Williams, foreword by Jordan Lees.
“Fern loves a little pig named Wilbur, whose best friend is Charlotte A. Cavatica, a beautiful large grey spider.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241777473, 7 Aug 2025. Foreword by Dapo Adeola.
“Things aren’t going well for Greg Heffley at his new school.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks - Katie Kirby
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241777527, 7 Aug 2025. Foreword by Nadia Shireen.
“11-year-old Lottie navigates the chaos of school, friendships, family, and the awkwardness of growing up.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Matilda - Roald Dahl
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241777466, 7 Aug 2025. Illustrated by Quentin Blake, foreword by Robin Stevens.
“Matilda is a brilliant child with a magical mind.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241777480, 7 Aug 2025. Foreword by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak.
“Half boy. Half god. All hero.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Pig-Heart Boy - Malorie Blackman
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241777459, 7 Aug 2025. Foreword by Adam Kay.
“All Cameron wants is a ‘normal’ life – friends, swimming, school, family.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Story of Tracy Beaker - Jacqueline Wilson
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241777497, 7 Aug 2025. Illustrated by Nivk Sharratt, foreword by Beth Lincoln.
“Tracy lives in a care home as she dreams of finding a loving family while coping with the challenges of her past and present.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
Wonder - R J Palacio
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241777510, 7 Aug 2025. Foreword by Tom Fletcher.
“My name is August. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
2025
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241725108, 19 Jun 2025.
“Follow Alice down the rabbit hole and into the curious world of Wonderland.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241725221, 19 Jun 2025.
“No case is too tricky for the famous detective.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Kiki's Delivery Service - Eiko Kadono
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241725146, 19 Jun 2025. Illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton, translated by Emily Balistrieri.
“Can Kiki learn to control her magic and make her own way in the world?“
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241725092, 19 Jun 2025.
“Sara Crewe holds onto her inner strength despite losing her wealth and facing hardships.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Call of the Wild -Jack London
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241725139, 19 Jun 2025. Introduction by Melvin Burgess.
“Buck, a domesticated dog, is thrust into the harsh wilderness of the Yukon where he embraces his wild nature.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241725238, 19 Jun 2025.
“Mole, Rat, Badger, and the eccentric Toad explore the challenges of the English countryside.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Tale of the Nutcracker - Alexandre Dumas
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241736487, 19 Jun 2025.
“Enter a world of magic and enchantment with Dumas’s timeless adaptation of the Nutcracker story.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
2024
A Child's Garden of Verses - Robert Louis Stevenson [Waterstones Exclusive]
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780214672143, 2024. Waterstones Exclusive Edition. Illustrated by Charles Robinson.
Internals are a facsimile of the 1896 edition, with beautiful b&w illustrations by Charles Robinson. Limited release, available only at certain Waterstones stores in the UK.
The Worst Witch - Jill Murphy
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241663578, 12 Sep 2024. 50th Anniversary Edition.
“The original magical boarding school series.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Chinese Cinderella - Adeline Yen Mah
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241688236, 20 Jun 2024. 25th Anniversary Edition.
“When her mother dies shortly after her birth, lonely Adeline is marked as ‘bad luck’ and treated as an outcast by her own family, shown kindness only by her grandfather and Aunt Baba who encourage her to follow her dreams.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241663547, 5 Mar 2024. 175th Anniversary Edition.
“As David recounts his experiences from childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist, Dickens draws openly and revealingly on his own life.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Neverending Story - Michael Ende
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241663561, 5 Mar 2024. 45th Anniversary Edition.
“Bastian is nobody’s idea of a hero, least of all his own. Through the pages of an old book he discovers a mysterious magical world – a world of dragons, monsters, witches and giants. A world that is doomed unless a human can save it.“
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
2023
Watership Down - Richard Adams
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241655702, 26 Oct 2023. Illustrated by David Parkins.
“Sandleford Warren is in danger. Hazel’s younger brother Fiver is convinced that a great evil is about to befall the land, but no one will listen. So together Hazel and Fiver and a few other brave rabbits secretly leave behind the safety and strictures of the warren and hop tentatively out into a vast and strange world.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales - retold by Naomi Lewis
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241425145, 14 Sep 2023. Illustrated by Jan Pienkowski.
“A delightful selection of stories from Hans Christian Andersen, translated by the eminent writer and critic, Naomi Lewis. All the best-known and most-loved stories are included – ‘Thumbelina’, ‘The Snow Queen’, ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ etc, as well as the less familiar – ‘The Goblin at the Grocer’s’ and ‘Dance, Dolly, Dance’.“
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Grimms' Fairy Tales - Brothers Grimm
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241621196, 14 Sep 2023. Illustrated by George Cruikshank.
“From classics such as ‘The Frog-Prince’ and ‘Hansel and Grettel’ to the delights of ‘Ashputtel’ or ‘Old Sultan’, all of these tales from the Brothers Grimm hold a timeless magic which has enthralled children for centuries.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Stig of the Dump - Clive King
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241623909, 13 Apr 2023. Illustrated by Edward Ardizzone.
“Barney meets a boy wearing a rabbit skin and speaking in grunts in a cave. He names him Stig. Nobody believes Barney when he tells his family all about Stig, but they become great friends, learning each others ways and embarking on a series of unforgettable adventures.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Dark Is Rising - Susan Cooper
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241623916, 23 Mar 2023
“It’s Midwinter’s Eve, the day before Will’s eleventh birthday. But there is an atmosphere of fear in the familiar countryside around him. This will be a birthday like no other. Will discovers that he has the power of the Old Ones, and that he must embark on a quest to vanquish the terrifyingly evil magic of the Dark.“
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
2022
Charlotte's Web - E. B. White
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241568811, 1 Sep 2022. Illustrated by Garth Williams.
“Wilbur the pig’s life has already been saved by Fern, but when he is sold to her uncle, he realises his life is in even more danger. Enter Charlotte A. Cavatica, a beautiful large grey spider. Charlotte is determined to keep Wilbur from the chopping block, and comes up with an ingenious way to do just that.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Tales of the Greek Heroes - Roger Lancelyn Green
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241425107, 1 Sep 2022
“Discover the mysterious and exciting legends of the gods and heroes in Ancient Greece, from the adventures of Perseus, the labours of Heracles, the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts, to Odysseus and the Trojan wars.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, translated by T. V. F. Cuffe
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241444313, 17 Feb 2022 (delayed from 2020). Illustrated by the author.
“The timeless, enchanting story of the little prince who lives on a tiny planet with three volcanoes and a haughty flower, which he must protect from the baobabs, the bad seeds.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Tales from Shakespeare - Charles and Mary Lamb
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241425114, 17 Feb 2022 (delayed from 2020).
“Charles and Mary Lamb retell Shakespeare’s most famous stories, including Hamlet, Othello and As You Like It.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
2020
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241425121, 3 Sep 2020
“Gifted scientist Victor Frankenstein gives life to a being of his own creation, who is rejected by mankind.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241425138, 3 Sep 2020
“Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, where he learns the tragic tale of the intense passion between foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
2019
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241411155, 3 Sep 2019
“Jonathan Harker travels to Castle Dracula to see the Transylvanian noble, only to have his beloved wife Meena and other lost souls fall under the spell of Count Dracula.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum, introduction by Cornelia Funke
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241411209, 3 Sep 2019. Illustrated by David McKee.
“Dorothy must follow the yellow brick road to Emerald City and find the wonderfully mysterious Wizard of Oz in order to get home to Kansas with her dog Toto”.
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens, introduction by Anthony Horowitz
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241411193, 3 Sep 2019. Illustrated by Mark Peppé.
“One cold Christmas Eve, three ghosts take Ebenezer Scrooge on a scary journey to show him the error of his nasty ways.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell, introduction by Meg Rosoff
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241411148, 3 Sep 2019. Illustrated by Charlotte Hough.
“Black Beauty is a handsome, sweet-tempered colt whose strong spirit is tested when he goes from a life of comfort and kindness to one of hard labour and cruelty.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Puffin Clothbound Classics, 9780241411162, 3 Sep 2019. Illustrated by Robin Lawrie.
“Orphaned Mary Lennox is sent from India to live in her uncle’s gloomy mansion on the wild English moors, where she finds a key to a secret garden.”
➤ Buy from Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells
☞ See also the loveliest editions of The Secret Garden page
Greyfriars Bobby - Eleanor Atkinson [Waterstones Exclusive]
Puffin Clothbound Classics, Waterstones exclusive edition. 9780241418871, 27 Jun 2019. Illustrated by Robin Lawrie.
“The famous true story of a devoted dog first published in 1912, loved and widely read all over the world.” Published exclusively for Waterstones Scotland.
➤ Uncommon. Buy from Waterstones | Abes | eBay