Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Top 100 Children's Books

The Top 100 Children's Books list from the School Library Journal poll. I tried linking, but my HTML was not accepted.

I've bolded (hee, is that a real verb now?) the ones I have read. I've only read half of them! There may be a couple more that I missed. I may have read Pippi Longstocking as a child, but have forgotten. I thought I'd read all the Roald Dahl children's books, but the plot to Matilda escapes me. Some of these I'm interested in reading and some I have absolutely no interest in (like the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories). In any event, what I great job I have that I can sit around and read fun books with impunity! Wheeee! Take that, Wall Street!

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) may have read ... got the idea anyway.
94. Swallows and Amazons - Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn - Brink (1935) Planning on reading at some point.
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) I've read 2 or 3 Cleary books. They all slur together.
88. The High King - Alexander (1968) Read The Book of Three and Lost Interest.
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) Bleagh, no thanks.
84. The Little White Horse - Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief - Turner (1997)
82. The Book of Three - Alexander (1964) Ho hum. Don't need to read any more of them.
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Lin (2009)
80. The Graveyard Book - Gaiman (2008) Literally broke down and cried when I heard this won the Newbery. Not sure why. I hadn't even read it. Just happy for Gaiman, I guess.
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family - Taylor (1951)
78. Johnny Tremain - Forbes (1943) I keep looking at this thinking I should read it.
77. The City of Ember - DuPrau (2003)
76. Out of the Dust - Hesse (1997) A novel in verse? I thought this was going to be ghastly, so I started 1/3 of the way in (the way I handle books I think I won't like - get the exposition out of the way. I can always go back and start over) and immediately realized I would have to ... go back and start over.
75. Love That Dog - Creech (2001) Hmm, may read.
74. The Borrowers - Norton (1953) Will put on To Read list.
73. My Side of the Mountain - George (1959)
72. My Father's Dragon - Gannett (1948) Grew up with these books.
71. The Bad Beginning - Snicket (1999) Read a few of these, that was enough.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) Read some of his other books ... will think about it.
66. Henry Huggins - Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes - Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago - Peck (1998) Can't recommend highly enough. Wish I could grow up to be Grandma Dowdel.
63. Gone-Away Lake - Enright (1957)
62. The Secret of the Old Clock - Keene (1959) Of course!
61. Stargirl - Spinelli (2000)
60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart - Funke (2003) Mmnnnrrrr, I don't know. Read The Thief Lord and wasn't that impressed.
58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Aiken (1962) Love, love, LOVE Joan Aiken's stuff! Must read. The library didn't have it back 14 years ago when I was reading The Stolen Lake.
57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 - Cleary (1981)
56. Number the Stars - Lowry (1989) Can't read Holocaust stories - they give me nightmares.
55. The Great Gilly Hopkins - Paterson (1978) Looks harmless enough.
54. The BFG - Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows - Grahame (1908)
52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
Very imaginative and able to spark more imagination.
51. The Saturdays - Enright (1941)
50. Island of the Blue Dolphins - O'Dell (1960)
49. Frindle - Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks - Birdsall (2005)
Listened to the audiobook and nearly vomited through the whole thing.
47. Bud, Not Buddy - Curtis (1999) Nothing can hold a candle to TWGTB-1963. It was okay.
46. Where the Red Fern Grows - Rawls (1961)
45. The Golden Compass - Pullman (1995) Read the whole series. Phew!
44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Blume (1972) Might have read this.
43. Ramona the Pest - Cleary (1968) Might have read this as well.
42. Little House on the Prairie - Wilder (1935) Forget. It.
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) Should read.
36. Are You there, God? It's Me, Margaret - Blume (1970)
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire - Rowling (2000)
34. The Watson's Go to Birmingham - Curtis (1995)
After reading this I thought it was a crime that it didn't get the Newbery ... until I realized it was up against Holes. That must've been a hard, hard decision.
33. James and the Giant Peach - Dahl (1961) The first book a librarian ever recommended to me that I liked. In fact, I loved this book.
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - O'Brian (1971)31. Half Magic - Eager (1954)
30. Winnie-the-Pooh - Milne (1926)
29. The Dark Is Rising - Cooper (1973)
I had to listen to the audio of this because reading it was too intense an experience!
28. A Little Princess - Burnett (1905)
Read this every month for years and cried my little heart out. Prefer The Secret Garden now. Don't need any help crying. 27. Alice I and II - Carroll (1865/72)26. Hatchet - Paulsen (1989) Read Paulsen's accounts of his real life experiences and it made me terrified of moose attacks. Think I'll pass.
25. Little Women - Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling (2007)
Too long. Too much wandering around in the woods.
23. Little House in the Big Woods - Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux - DiCamillo (2003) Mnyeh.
21. The Lightening Thief - Riordan (2005) Update: Tried to read this. Gave up. And I was a big fan of Greek mythology. Oh well.
20. Tuck Everlasting - Babbitt (1975)
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dahl (1964)18. Matilda - Dahl (1988) Thought I'd read all of these.
17. Maniac Magee - Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy - Fitzhugh (1964)
Not sure what the point of this book is.
15. Because of Winn-Dixie - DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Rowling (1999)
My favorite of these.
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) My sister's favorite book. Also an Anne with an "E."
8. The Secret Garden - Burnett (1911)7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)
6. Holes - Sachar (1998) Excellent story. Movie didn't ruin it either (helps for the author to write the screenplay).
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - Koningsburg (1967)
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Lewis (1950)
Not much value as a story and a bit hit-you-over-the-head as allegory.
3. Harry Potter #1 - Rowling (1997)
2. A Wrinkle in Time - L'Engle (1962)
1. Charlotte's Web - White (1952)

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