This list of Top 100 Children’s Books from the School Library Journal offers plenty of inspiration for summer reading. Bolded are the ones I’ve already read:
100. The Egypt Game – Snyder (1967)
99. The Indian in the Cupboard – Banks (1980)
98. Children of Green Knowe – Boston (1954)
97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – DiCamillo (2006)
96. The Witches – Dahl (1983)
95. Pippi Longstocking – Lindgren (1950)
94. Swallows and Amazons – Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn – Brink (1935)
92. Ella Enchanted – Levine (1997)
91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Sachar (1978)
90. Sarah, Plain and Tall – MacLachlan (1985)
89. Ramona and Her Father – Cleary (1977)
88. The High King – Alexander (1968)
87. The View from Saturday – Konigsburg (1996)
86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Rowling (1999)
85. On the Banks of Plum Creek – Wilder (1937)
84. The Little White Horse – Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief – Turner (1997)
82. The Book of Three – Alexander (1964)
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Lin (2009)
80. The Graveyard Book – Gaiman (2008)
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family – Taylor (1951)
78. Johnny Tremain – Forbes (1943)
77. The City of Ember – DuPrau (2003)
76. Out of the Dust – Hesse (1997)
75. Love That Dog – Creech (2001)
74. The Borrowers – Norton (1953) [Coincidentally, I have this out of the library right now…]
73. My Side of the Mountain – George (1959)
72. My Father’s Dragon – Gannett (1948)
71. The Bad Beginning – Snicket (1999)
70. Betsy-Tacy – Lovelae (1940)
69. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Stewart ( 2007)
68. Walk Two Moons – Creech (1994)
67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher – Coville (1991)
66. Henry Huggins – Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes – Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago – Peck (1998)
63. Gone-Away Lake – Enright (1957)
62. The Secret of the Old Clock – Keene (1959)
61. Stargirl – Spinelli (2000)
60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart – Funke (2003)
58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Aiken (1962)
57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 – Cleary (1981)
56. Number the Stars – Lowry (1989)
55. The Great Gilly Hopkins – Paterson (1978) [I don’t think I’ve read this, but I won’t know for sure until I start it.]
54. The BFG – Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows – Grahame (1908)
52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
51. The Saturdays – Enright (1941)
50. Island of the Blue Dolphins – O’Dell (1960)
49. Frindle – Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks – Birdsall (2005)
47. Bud, Not Buddy – Curtis (1999)
46. Where the Red Fern Grows – Rawls (1961)
45. The Golden Compass – Pullman (1995)
44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Blume (1972)
43. Ramona the Pest – Cleary (1968)
42. Little House on the Prairie – Wilder (1935)
41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Speare (1958)
40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Baum (1900)
39. When You Reach Me – Stead (2009)
38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix – Rowling (2003)
37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Taylor (1976) [This is another one I’m not sure about…]
36. Are You there, God? It’s Me, Margaret – Blume (1970)
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire – Rowling (2000)
34. The Watsons Go to Birmingham – Curtis (1995)
33. James and the Giant Peach – Dahl (1961)
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – O’Brian (1971)
31. Half Magic – Eager (1954)
30. Winnie-the-Pooh – Milne (1926) [I think I’ve read this, but I’ll re-read it just to be sure. Can’t have too much Piglet, can you?]
29. The Dark Is Rising – Cooper (1973)
28. A Little Princess – Burnett (1905)
27. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass – Carroll (1865/72)
26. Hatchet – Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women – Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows – Rowling (2007)
23. Little House in the Big Woods – Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux – DiCamillo (2003)
21. The Lightning Thief – Riordan (2005)
20. Tuck Everlasting – Babbitt (1975) [I started it but put it down.]
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Dahl (1964)
18. Matilda – Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee – Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy – Fitzhugh (1964)
15. Because of Winn-Dixie – DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Rowling (1999)
13. Bridge to Terabithia – Paterson (1977)
12. The Hobbit – Tolkien (1938)
11. The Westing Game – Raskin (1978)
10. The Phantom Tollbooth – Juster (1961)
9. Anne of Green Gables – Montgomery (1908)
8. The Secret Garden – Burnett (1911)
7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)
6. Holes – Sachar (1998)
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – Koningsburg (1967)
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – Lewis (1950)
3. Harry Potter #1 – Rowling (1997)
2. A Wrinkle in Time – L’Engle (1962)
1. Charlotte’s Web – White (1952)
I was greatly relieved to find I’d read (and, for the most part, liked) the top ten. It would be a shame to have missed some of the great novels.
Anyone else want to read through the list with me?
Hat tip to A Chair, a Fireplace, & a Tea Cozy.)
Neat! Wow, I’ve been slacking – the only ones I haven’t read are all post-2000. I’ve been neglecting children’s books in favor of YA, I guess – now is the time to catch up!
(though I read a FANTASTIC children’s one last night that you would love – it’s called _The Incorrigible Children of Aston Place_, and it’s the first in a proposed series, and it’s just so cute and funny and well-done! Read t!!)
Comment by Jenn 04.18.10 @ 7:49 amI have read more than half and all but 1 of the top 10 (“The Giver”). Some of them I read so long ago that I barely remember them, one I revisited just a few weeks ago (“The Secret Garden”), and another just a few days ago (“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”). I think it might take me a long time to get through the list because I’d feel compelled to reread the ones I didn’t remember and also the ones I loved.
Comment by Karen 04.18.10 @ 9:38 am@ Jenn: Thanks for the recommendation. Post-millennium only accounts for 1/7 of what I’m missing, which is probably equaled by the number of Roald Dahl books I need to read to finish the list. But I’d love the company if you want to work on finishing the list with me.
Comment by soe 04.19.10 @ 2:09 am@Karen: The Giver is a really dark, depressing book, the sort that gets stuck in your head and that will live there forever.
And it’s a fair point: We shouldn’t neglect old friends for the new ones. I’ll definitely have to build in some time to spend with some of the favorites from the list, too.
Comment by soe 04.19.10 @ 2:14 amI’m so with you on this! I’ve read most of the classics, but I have definitely missed a lot of the mid-90s books forward… I’ll blog my to-reads soon!
Comment by Mikaiya 04.22.10 @ 9:15 am@Mikaiya: Yay! Can’t wait to see what you read!
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