Thursday March 6 is World Book Day - an especially appropriate occasion to rediscover a classic children's book. Here four bestselling children's authors remember a favourite novel that has inspired them, from the teeth-baring danger of The Call of the Wild to the galloping adventures of Black Beauty.

These are some of the introductions to Puffin Classics' revamped range of children's books, each with new illustrations and behind-the-scenes facts, published on March 8.

Each of the 12 books is available at the offer price of £5.69 inc p&p (RRP £5.99) from Books First.

Melvin Burgess on The Call of the Wild

Meg Rosoff on Black Beauty

Eoin Colfer on Treasure Island

Jonathan Stroud on Just So Stories

Competition

We have four full sets of the revamped Puffin Classics to give away. Each set contains 12 books: Black Beauty, The Call of the Wild, Little Women, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Just So Stories, A Little Princess, Oliver Twist, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Treasure Island, The Wind in the Willows and The Wizard of Oz. To enter, read all four introductions carefully and answer the following questions:

1. What is the Hispaniola?

2. What kind of trees grow by the Limpopo River?

3. In what year was Black Beauty first published?

4. Who was Buck's last master?

E-mail your answer to bookscomp@thetimes.co.uk along with your name, address and a daytime telephone number. One entry per person. Entries must be received by 10am on Monday, March 10, 2008. Winners will be notified by March 14, and prizes delivered by March 28.

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