In 1919 Frederic G. Melcher recognized the importance of books in children’s lives.

To promote his beliefs he co-founded Children’s Book Week, one week set aside every November dedicated to bringing together parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers and publishers “to talk about books and reading and, out of our knowledge and love of books, to put the cause of children’s reading squarely before the whole community and, community by community, across the whole nation.

“For a great nation is a reading nation,” Melcher said.

Next week, Nov. 14-20, America celebrates its 86th annual Children’s Book Week.

This year’s theme is “Imagine.” Building upon that theme, organizers urge adults to introduce new readers, young readers and teen readers to new authors and new ideas through the reading of books.

In the eight decades plus that have passed since Children’s Book Week was first founded, numerous studies have found that reading is critical in children’s lives. Kids who read and are read to do better in school, tend to stay out of trouble, make good choices, and often have more success in the workforce as adults.

“Reading is a tremendous tool,” say Children’s Book Week organizers. “But reading can, and should, also be an enjoyable, moving and exciting experience. Everyone who’s ever cried with ‘Wilbur the Pig,’ laughed with Charlie and Willie Wonka, run with Tom and Huck, or just spent an afternoon with Harry Potter, knows how a book can change lives in ways both great and small.”

The Children’s Book Council’s 2005 list of suggested books that encourage and inspire children’s imaginations was put together by Ellen Mager, owner of Booktenders’ Secret Garden Children’s Bookstore and Gallery in Doylestown, Pa.

Here are her reading recommendations:

* Kindergarten through third-grade: “Actual Size” by Steven Jenkins; “I  Wanna Iguana” by Karen Kaufman Orloff; “Skippyjon Jones” by Judy Schachner; “Wild About Books” by Judy Sierra; “Catwings” (Book #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin; “Dinosaurs Before Dark” (Magic Tree House Book #1) by Mary Pope Osbourne; “Henry and Mudge, The First Book” by Cynthia Rylant; “Judy Moody” (Book #1) by Megan McDonald; “The Littles (Book #1)” by John Peterson; “Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye” (Geronimo Stilton Book #1) by Geronimo Stilton; “Postcards from Buster: Buster on the Town” (level 1 reader) by Marc Brown; and “It Came from Beneath the Bed!” (Tales from the House of Bunnicula Book #1) by James Howe

* Grades 4-6: “Becoming Naomi Leon” by Pam Munoz Ryan; “Chasing Vermeer” by Blue Balliet; “The Akhenaten Adventure” (Children of the Lamp Book #1) by P. B. Kerr; “Dragon Rider” by Cornelia Funke; “The Capture” (Guardians of Ga’hoole Book #1) by Kathryn Lasky; “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (Book #1) by J.K. Rowling; “Inkheart” by Cornelia Funke; “Into the Wild” (Warriors Book #1) by Erin Hunter; “Lionboy” by Zizou Corder; “Midnight” (Warrior: The  New Prophecy Book #1) by Erin Hunter; “Midnight for Charlie Bone” (The Children of the Red King Book #1) by Jenny Nimmo; “Music of Dolphins” by Karen Hesse; “Pictures of Hollis Woods” by Patricia Reilly Giff; “The Report Card” by Andrew Clements; “Stormbreaker” (An Alex Rider Adventure) by Anthony Horowitz; “The Thief Lord” by Cornelia Funke

* Grades 7 and up: “Artemis Fowl” (Book #1) by Eoin Colfer; “A Corner of the Universe” by Ann M. Martin; “Eragon” (Inheritance Book #1) by Christopher Paolini;  “Hoot” by Carl Hiaasen; “Hope Was Here” by Joan Bauer; “The House of the Scorpion” by Nancy Farmer; “A Northern Light” by Jennifer Donnelly; “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes; “The River Between Us”by Richard Peck; “Stargirl” by Jerry Spinelli; and “The Teacher’s Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts” by Richard Peck