Harry Potter tops poll of books to pass on

The Harry Potter books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide

JK Rowling's Harry Potter series has topped a poll of books British people would most like to pass on to the next generation to read.

The survey, commissioned to mark World Book Day, asked which best-selling book of the past decade people would give to young people.

Books turned films led the way with The Da Vinci Code in second place and Stephanie Meyer's Twilight in fifth.

More than 1,000 people aged 16 to 64 were surveyed across Britain.

TOP 10 BOOKS TO PASS ON 1. The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling 2. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown 3. Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?: And 114 Other Questions - New Scientist 4. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson 5. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer 6. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 7. 9/11 Commission Report - National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States 8. You Are What You Eat: The Plan That Will Change Your Life - Dr Gillian McKeith 9. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins 10. Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama Send us your comments

Non-fiction works also made the top 10, including New Scientist book Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?: And 114 Other Questions and the 9/11 Commission Report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States.

The only memoir to make the list was US President Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father.

Three quarters of people surveyed said they had given a book as a gift during the last year.

Scots were the biggest givers of books to other adults - 64% said they had given one or more as a present in the last 12 months.

While people in Greater London were least likely to have given a book as a gift, with 28% saying they had not given a book in the last year.