The top 50 children's books

Fred Goodwin, CMA · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 29

The top 50 children's books

nbook222.xml>
http://tinyurl.com/yvztcc

Last Updated: 2:03am GMT 22/02/2008

1 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, C S Lewis
2 The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
3 Famous Five series, Enid Blyton
4 Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
5 The BFG, Roald Dahl
6 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J K Rowling
7 The Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
8 The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
9 Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
10 The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson

11 The Tales of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter
12 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
13 Matilda, Roald Dahl
14 The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
15 The Cat in the Hat, Dr Suess
16 The Twits, Roald Dahl
17 Mr Men, Roger Hargreaves
18 A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
19 The Malory Towers Series, Enid Blyton
20 Peter Pan, J M Barrie

21 The Railway Children, E. Nesbit
22 Hans Christian Fairy Tales, H C Andersen
23 The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
24 The Witches, Roald Dahl
25 Stig of the Dump, Clive King
26 The Wishing Chair, Enid Blyton
27 Dear Zoo, Rod Campbell
28 The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr
29 Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jan Brett
30 James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl

31 A Bear Called Paddington, Michael Bond
32 Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
33 Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
34 Aesop's Fables, Jerry Pinkney
35 The Borrowers, Mary Norton
36 Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling
37 Meg and Mog, Jan Pienkowski
38 Mrs Pepperpot, Alf Proyson
39 We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen 4
40 The Gruffalo's Child, Julia Donaldson

41 Room on a Broom, Julia Donaldson
42 The Worst Witch, Jill Murphy
43 Miffy, Dick Bruna
44 The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
45 Flat Stanley, Jeff Brown
46 The Snail and the Whale, Julia Donaldson
47 Ten Little Ladybirds, Melanie Gerth
48 Six Dinners Sid, Inga Moore
49 The St. Clares Series, Enid Blyton
50 Captain Underpants, Dav Pilke

Archived from group: rec>arts>books>childrens

Steffan O'Sullivan · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 40

"Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
>The top 50 children's books
>
> >nbook222.xml>
>http://tinyurl.com/yvztcc

While many of these are excellent and worthy books, the absence of
The Hobbit makes the list makers abilities to recognize good
children's books suspect.

But thanks for posting it!

--
-Steffan O'Sullivan |
sos@panix.com | "Today is the yesterday you won't be able to
Plymouth, NH, USA | remember tomorrow."
www.panix.com/~sos | -Daniel M. Pinkwater

Jeff · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 582

Steffan O'Sullivan wrote:
> "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
>> The top 50 children's books
>>
>> >> nbook222.xml>
>> http://tinyurl.com/yvztcc
>
> While many of these are excellent and worthy books, the absence of
> The Hobbit makes the list makers abilities to recognize good
> children's books suspect.
>
> But thanks for posting it!

I think this is a best sellers list, not an all-time greatest books list
(Note the absence of Harry Potter and the [Socerer's | Philosopher's]
Stone and the other Harry Potter books on the list, too).

aglet · Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

I'm going to ask a stupid question (won't be the first or last time). Is
The Hobbit really considered a children's book? I mean, was it written with
children as the intended primary audience? And, if so, can I assume the
Lord of the Rings trilogy was also?

-----------------------------

"Steffan O'Sullivan" wrote in message $eb0$1@reader2.panix.com...
> "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
>>The top 50 children's books
>>
>> >>nbook222.xml>
>>http://tinyurl.com/yvztcc
>
> While many of these are excellent and worthy books, the absence of
> The Hobbit makes the list makers abilities to recognize good
> children's books suspect.
>
> But thanks for posting it!
>
> --
> -Steffan O'Sullivan |
> sos@panix.com | "Today is the yesterday you won't be able to
> Plymouth, NH, USA | remember tomorrow."
> www.panix.com/~sos | -Daniel M. Pinkwater

Steffan O'Sullivan · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 40

"aglet" wrote:
>I'm going to ask a stupid question (won't be the first or last time). Is
>The Hobbit really considered a children's book? I mean, was it written with
>children as the intended primary audience? And, if so, can I assume the
>Lord of the Rings trilogy was also?

The Hobbit was written for Tolkein's own children, in a slightly
different version than is now readily available. LotR was written
for an adult audience, and he went back and ammended the Hobbit to
match the plot, particularly the chapter Riddles in the Dark. (The
original story matched Bilbo's version to the dwarves pretty
closely.)

--
Steffan O'Sullivan sos@panix.com
-------------------- http:/www.panix.com/~sos --------------------
"I wonder," he said to himself presently, "I wonder if this
sort of car *starts* easily?" -Kenneth Grahame

Jeff · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 582

aglet wrote:
> I'm going to ask a stupid question (won't be the first or last time). Is
> The Hobbit really considered a children's book? I mean, was it written with
> children as the intended primary audience? And, if so, can I assume the
> Lord of the Rings trilogy was also?

The Hobbit was written for a small audience of four children: John
Francis Reuel Tolkien, Michael Hilary Reuel Tolkien, Christopher John
Reuel Tolkien and Priscilla Mary Anne Reuel Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings was written as a sequel to the Hobbit originally
meant to be a children's tale, but grew more serious and darker.

Tolkien also wrote a few shorter children's tales, like Farmer Giles of
Ham and the Smith or Wotten Minor.

You can read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien#Writing

> -----------------------------
>
> "Steffan O'Sullivan" wrote in message
> $eb0$1@reader2.panix.com...
>> "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
>>> The top 50 children's books
>>>
>>> >>> nbook222.xml>
>>> http://tinyurl.com/yvztcc
>> While many of these are excellent and worthy books, the absence of
>> The Hobbit makes the list makers abilities to recognize good
>> children's books suspect.
>>
>> But thanks for posting it!
>>
>> --
>> -Steffan O'Sullivan |
>> sos@panix.com | "Today is the yesterday you won't be able to
>> Plymouth, NH, USA | remember tomorrow."
>> www.panix.com/~sos | -Daniel M. Pinkwater
>
>

Jeff · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 582

Steffan O'Sullivan wrote:
> "aglet" wrote:
>> I'm going to ask a stupid question (won't be the first or last time). Is
>> The Hobbit really considered a children's book? I mean, was it written with
>> children as the intended primary audience? And, if so, can I assume the
>> Lord of the Rings trilogy was also?
>
> The Hobbit was written for Tolkein's own children, in a slightly
> different version than is now readily available. LotR was written
> for an adult audience, and he went back and ammended the Hobbit to
> match the plot, particularly the chapter Riddles in the Dark. (The
> original story matched Bilbo's version to the dwarves pretty
> closely.)

LotR originally started out as a Children's book, but became darker and
more serious.

jeff

Ruritanian Muglug · Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 4

Besides "Alice in Wonderland" "A Christmas Carol" (which I don't think
was at all directed at children) and "Anderson's Fairy Tales" --
nothing before 1900? What about Grimm's Fairy Tales, Perrault's. Just
because children's stories from before 1900 don't fit people's current
tastes or conception of children's books doesn't mean they aren't good
reading. Surely some of Capt. Marryat's novels warrant reading
today...OK maybe he's not much remembered nowadays...but surely R.L.
Stevenson's "Treasure Island" should make such a list. I would also
put in my vote for "Struwwelpeter"
http://www.fln.vcu.edu/struwwel/pauline_e.html -- "meow, mee-o, meow-
meo, She'll burn to death, we told her so." -- my young daughters
loved Stuwwelpeter when they were little. Lots more <1900 stuff too,
but I won't belabour the point...

Roald Dahl was a fine writer, and I've very much enjoyed his
children's and adult fiction, but 6 of 50 titles? And 5 by Enid
Blyton, hugely popular in England, but largely unknown elsewhere? and
of dubious literary merit according to some (personally, those I tried
to read as a child bored me to tears). What about Arthur Ransome's
"Swallows and Amazons" series, or the Green Knowe series by Lucy M.
Boston.

What about Collodi's Pinocchio?

Jeff · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 582

Ruritanian Muglug wrote

> What about Grimm's Fairy Tales

The original Grimm's Fairy Tales were really grim. You can find them online.

Michelle J. Haines · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 266

aglet wrote:
> I'm going to ask a stupid question (won't be the first or last time). Is
> The Hobbit really considered a children's book? I mean, was it written with
> children as the intended primary audience?

Yes.

> And, if so, can I assume the
> Lord of the Rings trilogy was also?

No.

Michelle
Flutist

Jeff · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 582

Michelle J. Haines wrote:
> aglet wrote:
>> I'm going to ask a stupid question (won't be the first or last time).
>> Is The Hobbit really considered a children's book? I mean, was it
>> written with children as the intended primary audience?
>
> Yes.
>
>> And, if so, can I assume the Lord of the Rings trilogy was also?
>
> No.

Actually, it was intended for children, but grew darker and more serious.

Jeff

> Michelle
> Flutist

Penny Gaines · Joined: 01 Nov 2007 Posts: 52

Jeff wrote:
> Michelle J. Haines wrote:
>> aglet wrote:
>>> I'm going to ask a stupid question (won't be the first or last
>>> time). Is The Hobbit really considered a children's book? I mean,
>>> was it written with children as the intended primary audience?
>>
>> Yes.
>>
>>> And, if so, can I assume the Lord of the Rings trilogy was also?
>>
>> No.
>
> Actually, it was intended for children, but grew darker and more serious.

Well, yes and no.

The book the publishers asked Tolkien for would have been published for
children. But the book Tolkien wrote was not a children's story.

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

Jeff · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 582

Penny Gaines wrote:
> Jeff wrote:
>> Michelle J. Haines wrote:
>>> aglet wrote:
>>>> I'm going to ask a stupid question (won't be the first or last
>>>> time). Is The Hobbit really considered a children's book? I mean,
>>>> was it written with children as the intended primary audience?
>>>
>>> Yes.
>>>
>>>> And, if so, can I assume the Lord of the Rings trilogy was also?
>>>
>>> No.
>>
>> Actually, it was intended for children, but grew darker and more serious.
>
> Well, yes and no.
>
> The book the publishers asked Tolkien for would have been published for
> children. But the book Tolkien wrote was not a children's story.

According to Wikipedia, he started writing LotR for his four kids. But
when he finished, it wasn't for kids.

According to Tolkien, however, the Hobbit was written for people, adults
and children, not just children. And that he wrote it for his kids was
wrong, too.

http://www.nytimes.com/1967/01/15/books/tolkien-interview.html

Michelle J. Haines · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 266

Jeff wrote:
>
> According to Wikipedia, he started writing LotR for his four kids. But
> when he finished, it wasn't for kids.
>
> According to Tolkien, however, the Hobbit was written for people, adults
> and children, not just children. And that he wrote it for his kids was
> wrong, too.

LotR also ties much more strongly into the full history of The
Silmarillion than The Hobbit did, and is much more similar to it in
tone. And Silm was never a "children's" story, but rather more a
"mythology for England". Also even darker than LotR.

Michelle
Flutist

Jeff · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 582

Michelle J. Haines wrote:
> Jeff wrote:
>>
>> According to Wikipedia, he started writing LotR for his four kids. But
>> when he finished, it wasn't for kids.
>>
>> According to Tolkien, however, the Hobbit was written for people,
>> adults and children, not just children. And that he wrote it for his
>> kids was wrong, too.
>
> LotR also ties much more strongly into the full history of The
> Silmarillion than The Hobbit did, and is much more similar to it in
> tone. And Silm was never a "children's" story, but rather more a
> "mythology for England". Also even darker than LotR.
>
> Michelle
> Flutist

I loved LotR, the Hobbit and the Children's stories. I started to read
the Silm, but I got bored. The first time I read Watership Down, I got
bored too (i was in 8th grade). Now it is one of my top 100 books.

Maybe, the next time I reread tolkien, I will give it another go.

Jeff

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