So which of the Top 100 Children's Novels have you read?
I've put mine in bold, and asterisked those that Jemimah has.
What do you think of the list? What is missing? (The Magic Pudding for sure. And Tom's Midnight Garden.) Too American for you? (Yep.) Too much occult stuff? (Yes. There are many of these books I choose not to read.)
Anyway, on with the show...
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 - 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 - Streatfeild (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. Harry Potter 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. Harry Potter 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 in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - Carroll (1865/72)
26. Hatchet - Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women - Alcott (1868/9)
24. Harry Potter 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. Harry Potter 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 and the Philosopher's Stone - Rowling (1997)
2. A Wrinkle in Time - L'Engle (1962)
*1. Charlotte's Web - White (1952)
Daisy's list is here.
Jeanne: Most of what you've read plus all the ones that fall into the fantasy basket & then some.Riordan I don't like, Lowry I do. Loved Susan Cooper's the Dark is Rising; Pity about the movie. Doesn't do the series justice at all. Actually of the fantasy writer's listed, on the whole I prefer books not listed here.
ReplyDeleteYou & Jemimah might really like My Side of the Mountain. I've wanted to live inside a tree ever since I first read this book & every time I see a tree with a big hollowed out trunk I think of this book & measure the space with my eye to see if a little bed & small stove would squeeze in. lol
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is another I think might suite you. I think a movie was made of this too but I haven't seen it.
Ditz really liked The Indian in the Cupboard & The Bad Beginning ~ the Lemony Snicket movie was pretty good too.
From memory this [The Witch of Blackbird Pond ] would be good for an older child studying the Salem witch hunts, maybe along with the Crucible.
All these lists are different & so often what's on them is stuff I loath while all the really good books never get a mention. Notice Heidi & Little women for example are missing from this one. lol
A warning if you are considering this one: Where the Red Fern Grows .
ReplyDeleteI kept hearing good things about it so tracked it down. Still wouldn't give it to Ditz. Horrified me from an environmental POV & was terribly gory in spots. Parts of it were too much for me but people who hunt might cope better. I don't & it just sickened me.
It is an interesting list. Since you posted from 100-1 rather than 1-100 I breathed a huge sigh of relief to see that L'Engle had made it.
ReplyDeleteWe really liked "Love that Dog." Max has read "From the Mixed Up Files..." over and over. Not as many times as he has read the Audrey books though.
I'm so happy to know you have read "The Borrowers." It was a favorite of mine as a child and I hope you liked it, too. It was our Literature read for last term and I got such a kick every time I sat down to be experiencing it with my own children!
My sister's children gave "Johnnie Tremain" a big thumbs up but I've never read it.
Certainly not my list but then again, I doubt I'd ever take the time to put one together.
I counted with Miss Moppet, and between us we've read 39 of them, and several are on our shelf waiting to be read aloud in the coming school year.
ReplyDeleteGaneida, I found your comment about "Where the Red Fern Grows" interesting. That was one of my favorite books growing up. My fifth grade teacher read it aloud to us in class. Maybe it's because I grew up in the south, USA. It really hit home with lots of boys in my class, many of whom hunted with their fathers on the weekends! I am just a sucker for tear jerker animal books, I guess.
"The Witch of Blackbird Pond" is one of Miss M's favorite books (it's not about an actual witch, but a girl accused of being one - back when that was all the rage in my country).
Some on the list we would probably pass on (hello, Judy Blume, I knew you well, but my daughter will not), some of them I want to read but just haven't gotten to yet. Fun post!
Oh, yea, and "Johnny Tremain" is a huge favorite around here! Richele, I bet your boys would love it.
ReplyDeleteI got really excited to see that you have read some of the books I love! To whit:
ReplyDeleteCaddie Woodlawn, The Little White Horse (LOVE Elizabeth Goudge), The Borrowers, Ballet Shoes, The BFG, Mrs Frisby, Winnie, Little Women, Anne, Lion, Witch et al.
I loved Hatchet, but it may be more of a boy book. Think Jemimah might like Because of Winn-Dixie, lovely story. Holes I enjoyed from a writerly point of view.
I received Gone Away Lake for Christmas but haven't had time to read it yet. It had such enthusiasm from Jen of Jen's Book Page as a feel good book.
Sue: good to get another viewpoint. I just didn't get this book. It truely horrified me but as I said, I don't hunt & it's lack of environmental sensitivity also upset me ~ but I live in an ecologically senstivie area. A little damage takes along time to recover here. Thank you for pointing out why it gets such raves.
ReplyDeleteFUN! I'm going to list how many my daughter has read.
ReplyDeleteMmmm.. Lots of stuff I would not consider, on that list (old prude that I am), but I loved Johnny Tremain, My Side of the Mountain, Gone Away Lake. I enjoyed The Witch of Blackbird Pond and Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. There's several others there I have read, but they didn't particularly move me.
ReplyDeleteI found the second Hatchet book, (Hatchet Winter?) to be better, and less "feel sorry for myself about my divorced patents-ish", than the first.
There's not a single book from my favourite authors here, and now that I am becoming an old, yes, an ancient homeschooler, who does little else in the way of reading than pre-reading for the hoards of little girls here, I tend to take book lists with a grain of salt.
Everyone's book lists look different, and I believe a book list I would write now would look different to a book list I would have written ten, or even five, years ago. Defining why you read helps choose what books become "must reads", and is (I find) very helpful in deciding where those precious reading hours are spent.
Thanks for sharing. Seeing other people's book lists is a bit like peeking into someone's pantry. Always there are surprises :)
I'm curious to know how many of the books on this list people have read after they began homeschooling.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many we would find on the shelves of an Aussie bookshop! Not many, I'll hazard.
Jeanne: I hate to disappoint you but I read everything BEFORE I began homeschooling. One reason I chose the curriculum I did was that I already owned so many of the books listed ~ & if I didn't I had read them & liked them.
ReplyDeleteI am more discerning now but as a child I read absolutely any fiction I could get my hands on.
I know for sure I've read 55 of the above & there are others I think I may have but am not real sure. Not good with names & titles. I think the greater preponderance of what I've read is probably English. A comparative list of English/American titles would be interesting. I think I will go google that.
i think i've read them all but only really
ReplyDeleterecommend one that you haven't read.
please run, not walk, to purchase "from
the mixed up files".
it is one of our all time favorites, a classic
really.
I am really surprised that The Golden Compass is on that list.
ReplyDeleteWill have to count up later how many I have read of them. Lots from the top 50 but not many from 100-50.
Oh and if I had to make this list, I would put Bridge to Terrabitha at number 1. It is the greatest book I have ever read.
I'm going to post this... :)
ReplyDeletecopy cat. yes.
amy in peru
Since you love Japan and books, I just discovered today that "The Borrowers" is this summer's Studio Ghibli film. I hope these links work:
ReplyDeletefilm's site www.kariguashi.jp/index.html
www.mania.com/mary-nortons-borrowers-next-from-gyibli_article_119510.html
Hi Jeanne, I just wanted to give you a heads up that I mentioned you and this blog post on my blog today. I've been thinking about this list for days (since you first posted it). I've read quite a few of them, but my daughter read barely a handful. Which honestly feels weird because we're always reading. Anyway, we're going to try to get through all of them and maybe find some new favorites. It will be fun to work on this throughout the summer. Anyway, thanks for being so on top of things and posting it.
ReplyDelete