The titles on offer include Jane Eyre, Gulliver’s Travels, Anna Karenina, The Thirty-Nine Steps, and Twelve Years a Slave.
A total of 100 titles are being offered by Penguin Classics, with secondary schools able to by sets of 30 copies of each of the titles for £3,000 – £1 each. All the titles are by authors who died before 1946 and are therefore out of copyright.
Mr Gibb wants schools to use the books as part of whole-class reading sessions, especially in the first years of secondary school.
He said: “It is important that all pupils in secondary school are taught to read and enjoy challenging books from among the world’s greatest literature.
“The first few years of secondary education is an opportunity for pupils to be introduced to such literature free from the constraints and analysis of public exams. I want this to be a springboard for discussion on the impact a great story can have on us all.”
Other responses to Mr Gibb’s call to action have seen Scholastic launch its Scholastic Classics, giving schools and students access to classics in class sets and packs.
The Penguin Classics offer runs until the end of June so that the books can be delivered in time for September.
For more details, visit http://edu.penguinclassics.co.uk/