First up, if you haven’t yet entered your funny scene in the Jacob Wonderbar Funny Writing Contest Spectacular Happening Event, please do so! You have until tomorrow! Do it do it!
Meanwhile, this question has not yet been asked on this blog:
Which book do you think is the best children’s book of all time?
I know what a difficult question this is. So many incredible books to choose from.
I’m going to close my eyes and choose…………….. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
What about you?
Cossette says
My favorite children's books growing up were, without a doubt, The Chronicles of Narnia, and King of the Wind and Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry. Also, the Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald is amazing. Golly, ya'll are making me want to go grab a stack of children's books right now and start reading!
SonyaTerjanian says
My kids and I found the Mary Poppins series to be absolutely enchanting, but if we're judging by literary merit I'd have to go with Charlotte's Web.
Joanna Roddy says
The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables
M.A. Leslie says
Bridge to Terabithia & The Chronicles of Narnia. Can I have a tie?
Anonymous says
Charlotte's Web
Jaime says
For me it's definitely
Charlotte's Web.
E.B. White is my hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Darley says
I'm gonna say The Little Prince.
The Pollinatrix says
As a child, I loved a lot of the books already mentioned here, but would add the Black Stallion books, which I didn't see mentioned. And one I'd add that I discovered as a parent and read to my kids is Abel's Island by William Steig.
Susie says
Nathan, you and Posh Spice share a favorite book! (she named her daughter Harper). I love that one too…I also love (still love!) Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series, as well From the Mixed up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, all the Anne of Greene Gables books, all the Betsy-Tacy-Tib books, and everything by Madeleine L'Engle. I also loved "Little Women," which maybe this crowd wouldn't say was a kid's book either, but I read that and To Kill a Mockingbird when I was about 9 or 10.
Anonymous says
"On TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD being a children's book, it may not be how it was originally conceived, but it's a book that just about everyone in America reads when they're a child. Seems to me like whether or not it was the intent it is a children's book."
I'm with you on this one. What you said.
Maia Powloski says
Three-way tie between "Half Magic" by Edward Eager, "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine, and "The Secret of Platform 13" by Eva Ibbotson.
I re-read these books countless times between the ages of 9 and 14. Later, as a teenage camp counselor, I read a chapter or two of "The Secret of Platform 13" to my campers each night before they went to bed, and sometimes during the day as a coveted reward for good behavior. (If you haven't read "The Secret of Platform 13"…Eva Ibbotson came up with the idea of a London train station platform as a portal to a magical world before Rowling wrote about Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.)
Heather says
Either The Indian In the Cupboard or Shiloh. The former was the first book I read where I felt like I was really inside the story instead of reading it. And the latter because it deals with bravery and how kids can do big things in small ways.
Kristin Laughtin says
ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS by Scott O'Dell was my favorite as a child, but I think overall Roald Dahl has to take top honors. THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE; BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, and anything by Shel Silverstein or Louis Sachar ranks pretty highly, too. Ahh, it's too hard to choose–which is funny, because my word verification is "comit", and makes me think of how I'm unable to commit to anything in this post.
The Sentence Sleuth says
The children's book that sticks in my mind the most is "Blubber," by Judy Blume.
Pete Grimm says
I like your choice because of the life lessons To Kill a Mockingbird can teach young people. However, when you said children, I imagined myself even younger than the child ready for To Kill a Mockingbird. My parents read short stories, fables from the bible or Hans Christian Anderson or the Brother's Grimm to my sister and me. Most were just the right length for a bedtime story. Later the Wizard of Oz books (there were many not just the one made into the movie) became favorites, before I graduated to anything by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Cheers, Pete Grimm
MJR says
really hard to pick one:
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
James and the Giant Peach
Goodnight Moon, Madeline, Babar
Chronicles of Narnia
The Secret Garden and The Little Princess
Jamberry
Martha Speaks
Eloise
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Pat the Bunny
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
I also love Voyage to the Bunny Planet, a boxed set of 3 small books by Rosemary Wells
Jadi says
When children's books were considered age-appropriate for me, well, I didn't read.
Now as a YA reading children's, I like Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles.
Diana says
Now see, when you say "children's book," I think little kids. And the best of the true children's book for me will always be "Goodnight Moon."
🙂
Ramona's Story Time says
I think "Holes" by Louis Sachar is one of the most perfect books ever written. Pure/unadulterated gold.
Janie Mason says
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Jaimie says
Gonna go with my favorite as a child, THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE.
Anonymous says
The Horse and His Boy. But any of the Narnia series, really. Closely followed by The Hobbit, and The Prydain Chronicles.
G says
"Rumble Fish" and "The Outsiders" has my vote.
Raquel Byrnes says
ooh! Girl with the Silver Eyes.
Nicole Zoltack says
Anne of Green Gables or The Chronicles of Narnia
sally apokedak says
I don't think this is the best children's book ever, because, come on…how can we possibly pick? There's Narnia, Treasure Island, Airman, The Bark of the Bog Owl, City of Ember, The Giver…no way can I pick. So I'll tell you the book I've read more often than any other: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
Marta says
Pick one, huh? I'm cheating, too.
A Wrinkle in Time
Lassie Come-Home
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Hollister Ann Grant says
I'm reading To Kill A Mockingbird right now — bought it for 50 cents at the public library sale last weekend. I saw the classic movie ages ago, but never read the book. It's fabulous… but while it has a child telling the story, it's definitely not a children's book. They don't give the Pulitzer to kid's books (I don't think, anyway).
Best kid book? I can't think of a single book, but these are among my favorites:
Wind in the Willows
A Wrinkle in Time
Half Magic
Alice in Wonderland
Chronicles of Narnia
The Hobbit
Charlotte's Web
Phantom Tollbooth
Margie says
Mine was Where The Red Fern Grows and my daughter's would be
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkeban.
Nathan Bransford says
hollister-
The Yearling won the Pulitzer as well.
writingbabe, aka Flora says
I agree with so many: Charlotte's Web, The Hobbit, A Wrinkle in Time.
I'll add a couple I didn't notice in the list: The Neverending Story and the Little House books, which I checked out of the Marcy Elementary School library again and again.
And for the very littlest kids, Goodnight Moon.
Caroline Starr Rose says
The Phantom Tollbooth. I make everyone read it.
Robert says
For me, it's Where The Wild Things Are.
Unknown says
Five Children and It
Anonymous says
Another vote for Wizard of Oz, though I'd add the Chronicles of Prydain and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe as close seconds.
(And another vote for Mockingbird being an adult book, not a kid book. ^_^)
Laurie
Reina says
I adore To Kill a Mockingbird too, but agree with those who said it is not a children's book. When I was a girl, I loved the Little House books, E.B. White, The Snowy Day (Ezra Jack Keats), Goodnight Moon, Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad, Little Bear…I still read children's books of all kinds (not just beacuse I have 2 young sons) and newer favorites include Karen Cushman's books, The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall, and Steamboat A'Comin (a picture book and fabulous tribute to Mark Twain)…I could go on–I love children's books! 🙂
Deborah says
My favorite books when I was a kid were Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss and The Black Stallion books by Walter Farley.
Laura says
GOODNIGHT MOON, definitely.
But also Charlotte's Web, A Wrinkle in Time, anything by Roald Dahl, Peter Pan, The Westing Game, anything by James Howe, and Tuck Everlasting.
As for To Kill A Mockingbird… I would agree that it's a children's book in the way that The Outsiders is a children's book.
In other words, if you consider teenagers children (which I don't).
Hollister Ann Grant says
Hi, Nathan.
I'm sorry to say The Yearling is another classic I haven't read. I just looked it up and interestingly enough, Gregory Peck played in both the film versions of The Yearling and To Kill A Mockingbird (obviously representing a type of character). I will add The Yearling to my TBR pile.
I can't win a discussion about whether To Kill A Mockingbird is truly a children's book or not. I'm on page 80 right now. So far, while the author tells the story from the point of view of a child, she includes many adultlike nuances that would have gone over my head if I'd picked the book up as a kid.
I think I could have appreciated the book if I'd read it in my late teens, though, after I'd suffered a little and seen a few things in life. When we talk about children's books, we are looking at a huge range of ages.
JJ Toner (euclid) says
Daft question. How old is a child? How long a piece of string. Going with the spirit of the question, I would choose
The Wind in the Willows.
I hated Alice in W and Through the Looking-glass. They gave me nightmares.
Karen Rickers says
Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery was a childhood touchstone! I also loved Harriet the Spy and The Pushcart Revolution!
Moonbird says
Nathan, you shouldn't have left it so wide-open! I divided mine roughly into ages – they were all my favorites for at least a while:
If I Ran the Circus – Dr. Seuss
Ramona Quimby – Beverly Cleary
Half Magic – Edward Eager
A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L'Engle
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkein
Huck Finn – Mark Twain
and, when I was a teen I loved
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden – Joanne Greenberg
…and just about every book mentioned above. 😉
CageFightingBlogger says
Roald Dahl's Matilda. Taught me one thing: ALWAAYS question the authorities. They are not always right. Aside from this, an entertaining story for all. 8+
irishoma says
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Little Engine that Could
Red Shoes for Nancy
Trish says
I agree with CageFightingBlogger. Matilda by Roald Dahl.
I love the story, the humour and best of all, the writing. This book shows kids that they don't have to believe everything that adults say, especially rotten ones. I had a teacher just like The Trunchbull, really I did. She was a bully and stopped me from learning. So to me, Matilda rocks!!! She kicks ass. Go Matilda and God bless Roald dahl.
Anonymous says
A Little Princess.
Goodnight Moon.
I don't think of To Kill a Mockingbird as a children's book at all, though it is an all-time favorite.
Lani Wendt Young says
I agree with a lot of the previous comments – TO kill a mockingbird – wouldnt have thought that was a kids book. Hmm.
Best Childrens book in the entire universe and all the other parallel universes and all the other rabbit hole type universes and even those go through a black hole and emerge into a new universe? In all of those…Best Kids book is: Narnia Lion, witch and the Wardrobe.
And if you doubt me, you just need to go check out allllll those other universes and see they're all rockin the Narnia book too. (No lie.)
Anonymous says
Best PB "mike and the steamshovel", Harold and the Purple Crayon,because they unleashed my imagination and I could waste hours wondering about their lives after the book finished and giving them different endings.
I was animal buff as a middle grader so, Old Yeller, Black Beauty and any of the works of Marguerite Henry. Still LOVE, LOVE Misty and the Chinquoteague.
Still am a HUGE fan of Judy Blume but my number one YA book was Saturday The 12th of October. I have always resolved to buy a copy and if it isn't in print to buy the rights and republish it.
HEE HEE, still have my purple crayon dreams!
mbb
Lem Thomas says
Lots of greats in the comments already, but Ben and Me by Robert Lawson deserves a nod.
Anonymous says
Same Anonymous from above…
Shoot just typed in Sat 12th of October published in 1971 by Norma Mazer. Still in print. Still quadzillion stars on Amazon
But I forgot one… The Rats of Nimh. Lost days of my life inside my imagination… Still also in print with bazillion stars on Amazon.
Sharpening my purple crayon… again.
mbb