1001 Children's Books

[Miss Chicken]

You Must Read Before You Grow Up.

I have a copy of this book in front of me.

I could have started this thread in TV and Media but I think we have more parents in Misc than in that forum so I think knowledge of chidlren's books might be greater here but if a mod thinks it should be moved by all means do.

The book covers many years of children's books (though most are 19th century or later). It also covers many books from non-English speaking countries. It covers age group 0-3, 3+, 5+, 8+ and 12+. I want people to name books that they think should be on this list and I will tell you if the books you name make it our not.

I have read quite a few of the books either as a child or as a mother reading to my children, a handful as an adult just reading a good book.

 

[thestrangequark]

Oh Gosh...so many from which to choose! Just to begin...

The Phantom Tollbooth
Harry Potter series
The Wind in the Willows series
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Ramona series
The Giver
Number the Stars
Where the Wild Things Are
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Matilda
The BFG
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
A Wrinkle in Time
The Secret Garden

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Also...

The Tale of Peter Rabbit
A Little Princess
The Little Prince / Le Petit Prince

 

[Mary Ann]

English language books for very young children:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
The Queen's Knickers (very much a British book. Sweet, and very funny)
Little Bear books
Where the Wild Things Are
Green Eggs and Ham
the Alfie books by Shirley Hughes
The Tiger Who Came to Tea (the Mog books by Judith Kerr are also well worth reading)
Nijntje/Miffy books by Dick Bruna
Canadian children's author Robert Munch writes very good stories, often with much humour

I'm sure I'll think of some more.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Mentioned by thestrangequark

The Phantom Tollbooth - YES
Harry Potter series - THREE ARE LISTED (the others are mentioned in boxes at the bottom of the page)
The Wind in the Willows series - YES, first book is.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - YES
The Ramona series - YES Ramona the Pest is
The Giver - YES
Number the Stars - YES
Where the Wild Things Are - YES
Where the Sidewalk Ends - YES
Matilda - YES
The BFG - YES
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - YES
A Wrinkle in Time - YES
The Secret Garden - YES

menioned by Tora Ziyal

The Tale of Peter Rabbit - YES
A Little Princess - YES
The Little Prince / Le Petit Prince - YES

Mentioned by macloudt

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - YES
We're Going on a Bear Hunt - YES
The Queen's Knickers (very much a British book. Sweet, and very funny) - NO
Little Bear books - NO
Where the Wild Things Are - YES
Green Eggs and Ham - YES
the Alfie books by Shirley Hughes - YES, Alfie Gets in First is listed
The Tiger Who Came to Tea (the Mog books by Judith Kerr are also well worth reading) - YES, (YES, Mog the Forgetful Cat is listed)
Nijntje/Miffy books by Dick Bruna - YES, the first book is mentioned and it is stated that there is a series of books
Canadian children's author Robert Munch writes very good stories, often with much humour

Two Robert Munsch books are listed Love You Forever and The Paper Bag Princess

 

[thestrangequark]

I loved Paperbag Princess!

 

[Miss Chicken]

I was pleased to see so many books that i loved as a child mentioned. Some of these I totally expected to be mentioned, others less so

They included

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Seven Little Australians (I was pleased to see many Australian books in the list)
Children on the Oregon Trail
The Story about Ping
The Story of Ferdinand
Curious George (when I was a child Curious George was known as Zozo in Commonwealth countries)
Harry the Dirty Dog

I was slighty disappointed that The Five Chinese Brothers wasn't mentioned but it might have been omitted because of the way the brothers were illustrated.

 

[J.T.B.]

I have no idea of what would or should make it on a list of essentials, but there are a handful of books that I can't imagine growing up without:

Katy and the Big Snow, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and Calico the Winder Horse or The Saga of Stewey Stinker by Virginia Lee Burton.

Norse Gods and Giants by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire.

Where the Wild Things Are of course.

A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer and illustrated by P. D. Eastman.

The Little Golden Books illustrated by Tibor Gergely (Scuffy the Tugboat, Tootle, Fire Engines, The Little Red Caboose).

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.

Some "children's calssics" illustrated version of King Arthur and Robin Hood, the details and authorship of which I don't know.

And I know it doesn't count but the Charles Schulz Peanuts compilations.

Justin

 

[Miss Chicken]

Some of your loves are included

Katy and the Big Snow - NO

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel - YES

Calico the Winder Horse or The Saga of Stewey Stinker- NO.

Norse Gods and Giants by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire - YES

Where the Wild Things Are - YES.

A Fish Out of Water - NO

The Little Golden Books illustrated by Tibor Gergely (Scuffy the Tugboat, Tootle, Fire Engines, The Little Red Caboose).

- one of the few compaints about this book is that it has overlooked all the Little Golden Books.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - YES

My Side of the Mountain - YES

Some "children's calssics" illustrated version of King Arthur and Robin Hood, the details and authorship of which I don't know.

- King Arthur and his Knights by Roger Lancelyn Green (author) and Athur Hall (illustrator) is mentioned

And I know it doesn't count but the Charles Schulz Peanuts compilations.

- It does count. The Complete Peanuts is listed.

 

[J.T.B.]

^ Well I'll be damned, not bad. Thanks!

BTW Calico the Winder Horse or The Saga of Stewey Stinker is one title (and a fantastic, beautiful comic-like kid's Western).

Justin

 

[Miss Chicken]

I will correct that in my post. It is a long title for a children's book.

If anyone is interested 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up is quite a thick book (960 pages).

 

[Tora Ziyal]

While you're correcting things, the book I listed should be A Little Princess, not The. I was editing at the same time you were posting.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Does it mention the Choose Your Own Adventure books? I was always very fond of those.

 

[thestrangequark]

Ooooh, how about the His Dark Materials trilogy? That was a great piece of sci-fi fantasy promoting critical thinking. There's not a lot of that just lyin' around!

 

[Non Sync]

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Stuart Little by E.B. White
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

 

[Miss Chicken]

Choose Your Own Adventure books? - NO

His Dark Materials trilogy - Yes. Northern Lights (The Golden Compass) is listed.

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh - YES
Stuart Little by E.B. White - YES
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White - YES

 

[Zulu Romeo]

How about non-fictional children's books, such as the Horrible Histories series?

 

[Miss Chicken]

No, it only covers fiction, not non-fiction.

Which means excellent books such as The Diary of Anne Frank are excluded.

Can anyone remember a book about lots of little goats. Their mother goes out and the wolf come and the kids try to hide. I remember one hiding in a grandfather clock. I can't think of the name of this book.

 

[Mary Ann]

Good grief, how could I forget the Thomas the Tank Engine books? The originals written by the good Reverend himself, not the later spinoffs.

 

[Miss Chicken]

YES, Thomas the Tank Engine is included.

I was wondering if any of the Australian books are known outside of Australia. Some of the Aussie books included on the list are

Seven Little Australians
Blinky Bill
The Magic Pudding
Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
The Silver Brumby
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Possum Magic
By the River
The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley
Walking Naked
Thursday's Child
Stony Heart Country
Deadly, Unna?
The Gifting
Foxspell
The Gathering
Dougy
Tomorrow, when the War Began
Looking for Alibrandi
Strange Objects
Taronga
Hating Alison Ashley
Playing Beatie Bow (written by New Zealander, set and published in Australia)

There are more. Maybe I will add them later.