Winnie-the-Pooh (1925)

First published in 1926, it gives each chapter its own small adventure in the Hundred Acre Wood, carried by short, funny exchanges between Christopher Robin and his toys. Milne's gentle irony works on adults, and Pooh's muddled logic is a pleasure to untangle in any language. One caveat for beginners: Milne loves wordplay and odd Capital Letters, so the English original is trickier than it looks, and a good translation can read more smoothly. Even the Latin version, Winnie ille Pu, made The New York Times Best Seller list. The hummed poems are the hardest part; skip them on a first read without losing the story.