13 Responses to “Top 100 Children’s Books”

1. jennifer Andrews on February 26th, 2008 8:22 pm

   I love the lists though I am partial to the educator’s list. It’s a hard thing for kids to decide…for instance you ask a kindergartner what their top 100 favorite books are and I can pretty much guarantee they only know a handfull (if that) and their favorite is what ever book I read them that day! As far as picking a favorite of mine I am not sure I could though I was surprised to see so few Eric Carle and Leo Lionni books, they are two classics and up there in my favorite children authors list. I do like the story and the branching out into the world of children’s literature…by the way you didn’t mention Drummer Hoff!

2. Evil E on February 27th, 2008 5:34 am

   Yeah, Drummer Hoff is the shit!
   http://www.amazon.com/Drummer-Hoff-Board-Barbara-Emberley/dp/0689815093/ref=ed_oe_o
   You don’t win a 1968 Caldecott Medal for nothing.

   The Very Hungry Caterpillar was one of the 1st books that I really cherished. The UK list actually had it at #2, so I’ll give them props for that. I had to look up Leo Lionni right now. The illustrations look totally familiar, but I don’t recall any of his books. Is there one that stands out?

3. Jenn on February 27th, 2008 2:33 pm

   Leo Lioni kicks ass. One of his best has to be Swimmy but some other great ones include, but not limited to, Fredrick, Fish is Fish, and The Biggest House in the World. Of course I would probably have pretty much every Dr. Seuss book and Shel Silverstein on my list. Another hilarious book that my kids love and you should check out is “Animals Should Definitely NOT Wear Clothing”.

4. Ardilla on February 27th, 2008 10:11 pm

   Wow this lists bring me way back. It’s good to see some of the classics still surviving , outsiders, bernstien bears, and beverly cleary. I’m surprised Betrix Potter is not on any lists. Old school but still pretty classic. I also remember enjoying Richard Scary books, Babar the elephant and Mercer Mayer when I was younger. Is curious george on any lists?

5. Jonny on February 29th, 2008 3:51 pm

   I recognize all not of those titles. My wife worked as a TA at a day care back when we were first dating. She must have read all these. When my son was born she knew exactly which books she wanted. Myself , I loved the Giving Tree growing up. I read it over and over.

   Another book I noticed was Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. She actually did a reading at my gallery a few months ago. She’s cool. I think they are going to make a movie about that book soon.

   Over the years I’ve picked up quite a few NEW books that I don’t see on that list. Ha there actually really good. Jerry Seinfeld put out a Halloween book a few years back. I happened to be SMOKED THE FUCK OUT one day at work and my wife came to pick me up with our son. She had just bought the book and I pulled it out and read it out loud. Now I might have just been blasted but I laughed thru the whole thing and till this day i still think it’s a funny ass book. It’s fucking hilarious.

   There’s this other book and a Zen Panda Bear Buddah guy that doesn’t give or recieve gifts…something like that..I’m a little drunk now..anyway, it’s great.

   …wow maan my son has some AWESOME books that I didn’t see. i’ll throw those up if I remember.

6. Evil E on March 1st, 2008 12:07 pm

   Yeah, that Zen Panda book is cool. Good call on Richard Scarry Ardilla!

7. Eve del Rosario on March 2nd, 2008 8:00 pm

   I love the Ramona Quimby books. I love them. I heart them. I love Ramona Quimby. If she were alive, I would want to be her friend, regardless of her age. I’d be her friend as an eight year old and I’d still be 29. She rocks. Beverley Clearly is someone who made me love reading.

8. Andrew King on March 4th, 2008 11:11 am

   Never read the Meatballs one.

   You’ll have to lend that to me. Huge fan of the genre. I once checked out “Books of Wonder” in NYC. Nothing but kids books. It was a cool store. In their glass case, they had a copy of the first edition of Wizard of Oz. Both the binding and book were in “C” condition (”A” being the best), but it was still $11,000.

   Clearly any list that doesn’t include Silverstein isn’t worth looking at. My only gripe with the Educator’s list is that it seems to have a cutoff date (any great works of children’s literature coming before not being included), but it isn’t clear when that cutoff date is.

9. Andrew King on March 4th, 2008 4:07 pm

   “A Wrinkle in Time” should be in the top 5.

   I take everything I said back. Fuck the educators.

10. Andrew King on March 4th, 2008 4:16 pm

    Something else doesn’t make sense to me: How in the blue fuck is “Oh, the Places You Go” by Dr. Seuss higher than “The Cat in the Hat”?

    Personally, I also prefer the Lorax, but I wouldn’t want to be sent into a debate arguing his #1 unless I was assigned The Cat in the Hat. “The Sneetches” is too far down, too.

    But yeah, what list could get it all right? Bottom line is they got the good books on there. But yeah, with the cutoff date, I don’t see any great literature from before the 19th century (like Twain- who appears on the Kids’ list, there- and a personal favorite of mine, Rudyard Kipling, who wrote great works for children like “Riki Tiki Tavi”)

11. Evil E on March 4th, 2008 8:10 pm

    Fuck the educators, eh? Thats not very nice. I agree that Oh the Places You Go is overrated. My favorite underrated Dr. Seuss book is Yertle the Turtle.

    “I know up on top you are seeing great sights, but down on the bottom we, too, should have rights!”

12. Steve on March 5th, 2008 5:42 am

    I’m not sure how many people here feel strongly against the lists and the rankings but I can think of at least a couple of reasons why some people might really hate them. First, though, it would be nice to know how widely published these lists are (how many other websites have they been posted on, how many times have they been printed and distributed on paper, etc), how many people have seen them and actually used them, and how many people (including educators, parents, readers who just want something new to read) will defer to these lists in deciding which childrens books to get. I entered the terms “top 100 children’s books” in some of the major search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo!, Ask) and these lists showed up at the top for each search. The implications are enormous.

    I think the lists fail to adequately describe the METHOD (I prefer the word “algorithm”) for ranking the Top 100 books and also fail to address the METHOD’s importance. I went online and searched for evidence of objectivity in how the lists were formed and the only statements I could find was that the “Children’s Top 100 Book List” was “compiled from an NEA website survey of 1,800 students from 39 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Department of Defense schools” and that the “Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children” was “compiled from another NEA website survey of teachers “….that’s IT. There’s no other evidence (I could find) that supports the sequence of rankings on the lists.

    Questions: Why 39 states, Puerto Rico, and the US Dept of Defense Schools (the last one really puzzles me)? Were the surveys taken by random sampling? How much variation in the youth population can be explained by the sample size in the survey for the “Children’s Top 100 Book List”? (probably none!) What qualities does a book need to demonstrate in order to be considered a candidate for being a “Top book”? Which books are candidates for being a “Top book”? Are candidates chosen from another “list”? Are new authors eligible to submit their work for candidacy? What’s the format of the surveys? Are the lists subject to change? If so, when? Why? Who, exactly, are the educators (“proclaiming” the Top 100 books)? How much disagreement is there among educators? (probably a lot) Skepticism abounds.

    I don’t expect NEA and its educators to come up with a completely objective list that most educators will agree on, but clearly accounting for the lists’ (potential) limitations while perhaps advocating their benefits, would be a significant improvement. I imagine the market for children’s books is HUGE with thousands upon thousands of titles (both new and old) for consumers to choose from. But lists such as these compiled by the NEA highlight just a hundred of them without bothering to really say how they were compiled. Authors, publishers, and even the NEA could stand to gain or lose extra hundreds thousands of dollars (possibly millions) depending on which titles appear on the lists.

13. Seidelllllll on March 8th, 2008 9:14 pm

    The Giving Tree makes me cry every time. I really hate that stupid boy. I wish the tree could grow a pair and just say no for once.

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