Sixteen Books.

   
 
 
 A few weeks ago, a reader/friend sent me a link to the  School Library Journal's, Top 100 Children's Books of All Time. And since Top-Anything posts always seem to rub me the wrong way, I was surprised by how how much I agreed with (most) of their choices. They were, in fact, pretty awesome. And then I remembered that the School Library Journal is awesome, so, you know. It figures. I spent a lot of time geeking out over each entry, namely, the changing cover-art of each book throughout the years. If you are children's book devotee or an illustrator, or just a curious reader, I highly recommend checking it out, if you haven't already. When I saw that a few of my favorite books blogs had created a game out of it, I knew I was going to play along. I have no self control. I am hoping this will motivate me to read some of the more classic books that I tend to overlook, and others that I may have started, but never finished. Ahem. 

I do solemnly swear to have read every book on this list, by this time next year. (Completed titles are bold.)

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)

73. My Side of the Mountain – George (1959)

72. My Father’s Dragon – Gannett (1948)

71. The Bad Beginning – Snicket (1999)

70. Betsy-Tacy – Lovelace (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)

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)

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)

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)

29. The Dark Is Rising – Cooper (1973)

28. A Little Princess – Burnett (1905)

27. Alice I and II – 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 Lightening Thief – Riordan (2005)

20. Tuck Everlasting – Babbitt (1975)

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 did better than I thought I would. Obviously, I was more successful with the top forty books and floundered with the lower numbers. I know many amazing booksellers/library associates out there who can bold this entire list. Clearly, I have some work to do. Sixteen books worth of work to do. (I think my husband just let out an audible sigh.)  Feel free to play along, and link to your list in the comments! 

  

Comments

[victoria]

Is the Westing Game not bolded? You should start with that one. One of my all-time favorites (keep in mind this is a memory of an elementary-school read).

[Louise]

Ditto on The Westing Game. I just re-read that one, and it was almost as good as I remembered it (which is saying quite a lot-- the Harriet the Spy novels didn't hold up as well...)

[Erin]

Oh yes- the Westing Game. That one, as my sixth grade memories inform me, was very clever. Out of the Dust was very beautifully written, too. Now I'm going to have to go make my own personal list of books I need to start reading.

[Erin]

Update: I'm missing 36- yikes!

[Angelique]

For some reason I had never heard about The Children of Green Knowe. I stumbled across it the other day and am wondering why I didn't read it when I was a kid! It sounds like just the kind of book I would love.

Of the books you haven't read, I really loved The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. It's been many years now since I've read it though!

[Lia]

I so love children's books, especially children's novels. I can't believe my number of yet-to-be-read books on this list is so high- 68! I have a new list to work through. This is pretty exciting! Thanks!

[Deidre]

Haven't read the Westing Game -- clearly something I need to do -- but am very excited for you -- in that I would LOVE to be in the position to find the Lloyd Alexander books(I loved them and have loved reading them to my eldest child). Also loved the less well known Joan Aiken books (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is just one) Swallows and Amazons - loved the whole series but am interested to read them again as an adult (I blame my love of chocolate, oranges and biscuits on Swallows and Amazons!) Happy reading! (and thanks for the list as I have much more than 16 to read -- yippie!)

[Ramona]

I have some work to do too!

[andrea (book scout)]

i may be the only person alive who hasn't read the westing game. crazy! it's going to the top of the pile. it's slightly weird that i've read books by most of the authors, but just not the books that are on this list. i've read a lot of avi, but not charlotte doyle; i've read time cat, but none of alexander's other books, etc. etc. i am so behind. thanks for the encouragement, all!

[Sarah in Indiana]

I saw your comment, and realized I meant to comment over here, and forgot. My name links to my list. 16--that's not bad at all. I have more than twice that. I've read almost none of the ones since my childhood (Harry Potter being the big exception), and there are a handful that I managed to miss as a kid. I still love children's books, so I'm really looking forward to reading these.

[mc]

I have read only 9! but I didn't grow up in the US or Canada. It will be fun to discover these at the same time as my kids. Perhaps I'll go ahead and start reading some on my own.

[samantha hall]

I just followed some links to your blog and am loving it! I secretly purchase kid's books for me to read and have them around for my kids to pick up.

[Michele]

I was bummed when I realized I've only read a little over half.

My list is here: http://renothegirl.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-read-this-many.html

I just finished Tuck Everlasting today and really liked it. Next up is Because of Winn-Dixie!

[Chelsea]

Wow, I don't want to even count how many I have to go! Many of them I read in school as a kid, but haven't read them as an adult so I feel like they don't count. What is incredible to me is how timeless many of these books are. Looking at the publishing dates amazes me for some titles. Although, I find it very encouraging because it means I should be able to find the books used! Thanks!

[kira]

The Westing Game rules! This is the type of challenge I could sink my teeth into. Don't tell anyone but I don't read near enough adult books for being a librarian.

[Barbara]

I want to bookmark every one of your posts, so I can go back and reread them, or just reference them when I need a good idea for my next book. Perhaps I should keep a journal of all the books you recommend, so I can start my son off with all the best books, when he's the right age (this could take a while, as he's only 1.5 years old).

[Betsy]

Here's a link to my list:
http://applesandonions.tumblr.com/post/622814737/top-100

I need to read 42--yikes!

[Katie]

I started doing this around the time that you posted this. I had read 32 of the books on the list (there were a few more that I recall reading, but could not remember the stories and decided to re-read). As of now, I've gotten through 22 of the books I hadn't read. It's taking me much longer than I'd expected! I am definitely enjoying myself though. I keep track of it all on my Goodreads and look forward to each "Library School Journal" pick that I get from the library.