Search This Blog

Friday, April 23, 2010

Most Important Children's Literature

Who made this list anyway?  The School Library Journal?  What school library?  Obviously not a home school! ;) Well, who cares... my friend Jeanne thought it was blog worthy and obviously so did I.  But for the record, I liked this article's list WAY better... and this one.  After a little searching I found that everybody and their brother have made their lists.  Here are the National Education Associations 1999 list and 2007 list.  And here are the kid's picks and the teacher's picks and the author's picks, even the celebrities' picks (actually very revealing I thought).  okay, okay already... just one more ;)  the top bilingual books are here.  :)  alright, enough.  Here's how many from this list we've read (in bold)...

#1 Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
#2 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle  (have it - to read list)
#3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
#4 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
#5 From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg*
#6 Holes by Louis Sachar
#7 The Giver by Lois Lowry (have it - to read list)
#8 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
#9 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
#10 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
#11 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin*
#12 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
#13 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#14 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
#15 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
#16 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
#17 Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
#18 Matilda by Roald Dahl
#19 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
#20 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
#21 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riodan*
#22 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
#23 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
#25 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
#26 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen*
#27 A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
#28 Winnie-the Pooh by A.A. Milne
#29 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland /Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
#30 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
#31 Half Magic by Edward Eager*
#32 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
#33 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#34 Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis*
#35 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling
#36 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
#37 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
#38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
#39 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead*
#40 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
#41 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
#42 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#43 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
#44 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
#45 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
#46 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
#47 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
#48 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall*
#49 Frindle by Andrew Clements*
#50 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
#51 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
#52 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick*
#53 Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
#54 The BFG by Roald Dahl
#55 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson*
#56 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
#57 Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
#58 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken*
#59 Inkheart by Cornelia Funke*
#60 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi*
#61 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
#62 The Secret of the Old Clock (The Nancy Drew mysteries) by Caroline Keene
#63 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
#64 A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck*
#65 Ballet Shoes by Noah Streatfeild
#66 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
#67 Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
#68 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech*
#69 The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
#70 Betsy Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
#71 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
#72 My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (have it - to read list)
#73 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
#74 The Borrowers by Mary Norton
#75 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech*
#76 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse*
#77 City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau*
#78 Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
#79 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
#80 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman*
#81 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin*
#82 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander*
#83 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner*
#84 Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
#85 On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#86 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
#87 The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg*
#88 The High King by Lloyd Alexander
#89 Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
#90 Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
#91 Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar*
#92 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
#93 Caddie Woodlawn by C. R. Brink
#94 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
#95 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
#96 The Witches by Roald Dahl
#97: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo*
#98 Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston*
#99 The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
#100 The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder*
The interesting thing about this list to me is that of the books I've heard of, we've read almost all.  40 books.  But there are countless books we would have recommended that didn't make the list.  Oh well.
The 27 *s signifiy all the books I've definitely never heard of... but then again, that's not saying much ;) 

Now, if you'd ask me my all-time favorite books, there'd be so many and then I'd still forget some and forever feel guilty for omitting one of our beloved friends, and the interminable editing and adding... well.  I won't trouble you.  :)

your welcome.

So what are your favorite books NOT on the list?

6 comments:

BookChook said...

I feel the same. Someone puts out a list, and I think,"Oh, but you missed XXXX, one of my favourites!" And as for making a list of my own - I would hate to miss any great ones. Sometimes people ask me to name my top ten picture books for example, and I usually sidestep quickly.

6intow said...

Always love book lists. Thank you too for the links to all the great lists. You have appealed to my book junkie side and my list addiction. ;)

Thanks!
~Erin

MarshaMarshaMarsha said...

Interesting list. We loved Wrinkle in Time and The Mixed Up Files... We try to get them unabridged on audio CD whenever we can. Might as well make use of our half hour in the car when we want to go anywhere. :)

Blossom Barden (NorthLaurel) said...

Nice that you crossed off the Harry Potter books...They wouldn't have made it to my list either!
I thought it was an interesting list anyway :)

Ginger said...

We just finished Pippi Longstocking, Because of Winn Dixie and The Secret Garden. One of our favorites so far has been the trilogy of books by Jean Craighead George My Side of the Mountain, Frightful's Mtn.and I forget the name of the third. Your boys would love them I bet. Another favorite so far has been Understood Betsy - GREAT book! :)

Thanks for the list!

amy in peru said...

@Erin, yes, yes we have much in common! :)

@Marsha, we love, LOVE audio books! definitely... but since we don't have a music player of any sort in the car, I read aloud whenever we go anywhere (I hardly ever go anywhere alone with the kids so I'm not the main driver!)

@Ginger! we have LOVED Pippi, Winn Dixie and Secret Garden... and Understood Betsy is one of our all time favorites... even the boys! I have only heard of the ones that you mentioned... the trilogy. I'll have to look for them, it sounds like we have the same taste in literature :)

amy in peru

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Blog Archive