5.14.2010

Just for Fun

I saw this list of the School Library Journal's poll result compiling the top 100 Children's Novels on this blog, and thought it would be fun to go through and see how many I've read.  The ones I've read are marked in bold.  I counted a total of sixty, including all of the top ten {although it's almost probable that I miscounted.  I'm not very good at counting -- feel free to count for yourself and tell me in a comment how many I've actually read}, which I attribute to my mother, who always encouraged us to read, and who had excellent taste in children's books.  In fact, the fact that I haven't read all of them speaks more to my stubbornness, since I always have a hard time wanting to read a book if I didn't discover it for myself.
Looking at this list {along with hearing Heather talk about how irritating Anne of Green Gables can be when you're an adult} reminds me how much I used to enjoy children's books, and how much I love reading.  I've gotten out of the habit lately, partly because I set reading goals for myself that I find it hard to reach, which takes some of the fun out of reading, and partly because I can't find anything good to read.  I'm thinking that maybe I might take some time to read the books on this list that I didn't read when I was younger.



How many has anyone else read?  Are you surprised at any books that didn't make my list?  And doesn't looking at this list make you want to read children's literature?
#1 Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
#2 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
#3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
#4 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
#5 From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
#6 Holes by Louis Sachar
#7 The Giver by Lois Lowry
#8 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
#9 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
#10 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
#11 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
#12 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
#13 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#14 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
#15 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
#16 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
#17 Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
#18 Matilda by Roald Dahl
#19 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
#20 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
#21 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riodan
#22 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
#23 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
#25 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
#26 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
#27 A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
#28 Winnie-the Pooh by A.A. Milne
#29 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland /Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
#30 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
#31 Half Magic by Edward Eager
#32 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
#33 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#34 Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
#35 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
#36 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
#37 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
#38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
#39 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
#40 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
#41 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
#42 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#43 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
#44 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
#45 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
#46 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
#47 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
#48 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
#49 Frindle by Andrew Clements
#50 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
#51 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
#52 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
#53 Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
#54 The BFG by Roald Dahl
#55 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
#56 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
#57 Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
#58 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
#59 Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
#60 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
#61 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
#62 The Secret of the Old Clock (The Nancy Drew mysteries) by Caroline Keene
#63 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
#64 A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
#65 Ballet Shoes by Noah Streatfeild
#66 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
#67 Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
#68 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
#69 The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
#70 Betsy Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
#71 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
#72 My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
#73 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
#74 The Borrowers by Mary Norton
#75 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
#76 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
#77 City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
#78 Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
#79 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
#80 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
#81 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
#82 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
#83 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
#84 Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
#85 On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#86 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
#87 The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg
#88 The High King by Lloyd Alexander
#89 Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
#90 Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
#91 Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
#92 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
#93 Caddie Woodlawn by C. R. Brink
#94 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
#95 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
#96 The Witches by Roald Dahl
#97: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
#98 Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
#99 The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
#100 The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

6 comments:

  1. That's a lot of books...it brings back good memories to think of the ones I've read or had read to me. Sorry I didn't count, but the font was so tiny my eyes hurt! I can't believe I've actually read some of the ones you haven't. I can assure you it was never by choice. But also I love looking to see how many books were made into movies.

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  2. So, I read a lot of books as a child, and I felt pretty good about it until I read this list. Seriously, I had only read a handful. It made me feel like an unaccomplished child because apparently I didn't read the right books. It's changing my entire outlook on my adult life as we speak. I think I'm going to go try out for a sports team, or steal some kid's lunch money or something to compensate. :)

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  3. What's really funny is I OWN like ten of these but haven't read them. Reason: Mama was beefing up my bedroom library to encourage good reading choices but some of them didn't interest me at the time (I don't think it having a Newberry award is a compelling reason for a 10 year old to read a book).
    I've read most of the same ones, short a few you have but also have read a few you haven't. Fun list.

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  4. maybe it isn't so surprising that my list is almost identical to yours. i TOLD you to read the invention of hugo cabret. also, i was kind of relieved to see the children of green knowe, because i have remembered it for years as a haunting lovely book, but no one else seems to have heard of it. fun list!!

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  5. Reading is so much easier than counting, isn't it?

    I've read most of the ones you've read and a few you haven't - it probably comes out even. Ones I've read that you haven't that I loved:

    The Tale of Despereux (it was WAY better than the movie, and different)
    Number the Stars
    The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (really, read anything by Joan Aiken, I think you'd like it)
    Gone-Away Lake (one of my all-time childhood favs)
    Johnny Tremain (I had a crush on him when I was O's age)

    Now, I have read a book called The River at Green Knowe, which has children in it. I wonder if they're two in a series or two titles for the same story...? I was surprised and gratified to see some really old ones on there, like Half Magic.

    A book that I think should be on there is called The Owlstone Crown. I loved that one when I was in 4th grade.

    Right now I'm reading political and history books, and just finished Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I loved it.

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  6. Forgot to mention I really liked the Series of Unfortunate Events books, tho' I haven't read them all. The kids and I just finished reading The Spiderwick Chronicles. B got them at the library and O and I read them too while they were here. I've never seen B read something so quickly! He couldn't put it down, it made me really happy. We're going to watch the movie today. Now I need to find something similar that for him so he'll keep reading!

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