Jeffrey had a grad school assignment to create a canon of children's literature. Our family had a great time making this list together.
From the Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler - E.L. Konigsburg
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Lee Burton
The Saggy Baggy Elephant - K. & B. Jackson and Tengren
Richard Scary's Best Story Book Ever - Richard Scary
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - Barbara Robinson
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
Polar Express (not the movie tie in) - Chris VanAllsburg
Thirty One Brothers and Sisters - Reba Paeff Mirsky
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert O'Brien
Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder
How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Mark Teague
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus - Mo Willems
The Five Chinese Brothers - Claire Huchet Bishop
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Days - Jeff Kinney
The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Frank L. Baum
How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Dr. Suess
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Tawny Scrawny Lion - Gustaf Tengren
Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher - Vip
Miss Nelson is Missing - Harry G. Allard Jr.
Sarah, Plain and Tall - Patricia MacLachlan
The Important Book - Margaret Wise Brown
By the Great Horn Spoon - Sid Fleischman
Cranberry Thanksgiving - Wende Devlin
My Father's Dragon - Ruth Stiles Gannett
The Littles Go Exploring - John Peterson
The Story About Ping - Marjorie Flack
The Little House - Virginia Lee Burton
Farfallina and Marcel - Holly Keller
The Napping House - Audrey Wood
All of a Kind Family - Sydney Tyler
Chicken Sunday - Patricia Polacco
Talking Eggs - Robert D. San Souci
The Snowy Day - Ezra Jack Keats
The Black Stallion - Walter Farley
Farmer Boy - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Tikki Tikki Tembo - Arlene Mosel
Snuggle Puppy - Sandra Boynton
The Lonely Doll - Dare Wright
Auntie Claus - Elise Primavera
Do Unto Otters - Laurie Keller
Strega Nona - Tomie DePaola
Owl at Home - Arnold Lobel
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkein
Bark George - Julius Feiffer
Half Magic - Edward Eager
Stone Soup - Marcia Brown
Katy No Pockets - H.A. Rey
Madeline - Ludwig Belmans
Curious George - H.A. Rey
Robin Hood - Howard Pyle
Meet Addy - Connie Porter
Silly Sally - Audrey Wood
Stuart Little - E.B. White
Bunnicula - James Howe
Babar - Jean de Brunhoff
Ferdinand - Munro Leaf
Owl Moon - Jane Yolen
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Lee Burton
The Saggy Baggy Elephant - K. & B. Jackson and Tengren
Richard Scary's Best Story Book Ever - Richard Scary
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - Barbara Robinson
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
Polar Express (not the movie tie in) - Chris VanAllsburg
Thirty One Brothers and Sisters - Reba Paeff Mirsky
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert O'Brien
Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder
How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Mark Teague
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus - Mo Willems
The Five Chinese Brothers - Claire Huchet Bishop
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie - Laura Numeroff
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Days - Jeff Kinney
The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Frank L. Baum
How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Dr. Suess
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Tawny Scrawny Lion - Gustaf Tengren
Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher - Vip
Miss Nelson is Missing - Harry G. Allard Jr.
Sarah, Plain and Tall - Patricia MacLachlan
The Important Book - Margaret Wise Brown
By the Great Horn Spoon - Sid Fleischman
Cranberry Thanksgiving - Wende Devlin
My Father's Dragon - Ruth Stiles Gannett
The Littles Go Exploring - John Peterson
The Story About Ping - Marjorie Flack
The Little House - Virginia Lee Burton
Farfallina and Marcel - Holly Keller
The Napping House - Audrey Wood
All of a Kind Family - Sydney Tyler
Chicken Sunday - Patricia Polacco
Talking Eggs - Robert D. San Souci
The Snowy Day - Ezra Jack Keats
The Black Stallion - Walter Farley
Farmer Boy - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Tikki Tikki Tembo - Arlene Mosel
Snuggle Puppy - Sandra Boynton
The Lonely Doll - Dare Wright
Auntie Claus - Elise Primavera
Do Unto Otters - Laurie Keller
Strega Nona - Tomie DePaola
Owl at Home - Arnold Lobel
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkein
Bark George - Julius Feiffer
Half Magic - Edward Eager
Stone Soup - Marcia Brown
Katy No Pockets - H.A. Rey
Madeline - Ludwig Belmans
Curious George - H.A. Rey
Robin Hood - Howard Pyle
Meet Addy - Connie Porter
Silly Sally - Audrey Wood
Stuart Little - E.B. White
Bunnicula - James Howe
Babar - Jean de Brunhoff
Ferdinand - Munro Leaf
Owl Moon - Jane Yolen
What did we leave out?
29 comments:
Goodness, there's only a handful that I've heard of, never mind read!
So many that I've never heard of. Made me realise how many of our children books are Faroese or Scandinavian. I'll have to check out your list :)
oh . my . goodness . such a treasure here . what a list of favorites
Ah, so many childhood friends! I loved Katy No-Pocket as a child. How about Blueberries for Sal, Harry the Dirty Dog, Petunia, and Caddie Woodlawn?
I like this list even better upon rereading it. I know this is silly, but I just love hwo you always make your lists look cool too. I love you, sweet girl.
Some I have heard of and some I have not. Great list. How about Shel Silverstein's books? They were my sons favorites, he memorized all the poems.
I keep thinking about your list. I see E.B. White there, but not Charlotte's Web. This one brought tears to my children's eyes. What about the Velveteen Rabbit?
Marilyn,
I can't believe I forgot Shel. I love him so much that my students and I always call him Uncle Shelby. I'm going to have to go back and add him in. I didn't put Velveteen Rabbit because every woman I know loves it, but I've never met a kid who does. I debated long and hard about Stuart versus Charlotte. I may have picked wrong, but in the end, we went with the one boys tend to like better in my experience. We noticed that there was a dearth of real boy books on the list at first.
There are so many lovely children's books aren't there...a few of our favorites that aren't included are:
The Twits by Roald Dahl...well anything by Dahl really
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Katy and the Big Snow by Virgina Lee Burton...my grandson's favorite book for years
...well I can go on and on...
i LOVE children's books and consider this a list of to-be-reads or to-be-rereads. :)
This was a fun list of familiar and new (to me) titles!
i see some that i loved too as a child
that must have taken you forever to create.
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.
Rascal by Sterling North
Great list, Relyn! I would probably add NUMBER THE STARS and SADAKO AND THE THOUSAND PAPER CRANES and maybe HATCHET. Love your blog!
karen (4th grade teacher)
What a happy nostalgic list!
Like a family reunion:)
Love them all...
-Jennifer
I love Alexander's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Two of my favorite books from childhood are Sensible Kate, by Doris Gates, and Understood Betsy, by Dorothy Canfiled Fisher. My all time favorite is Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery. All these books, except the first one, are about young girls learning how to live life. I love the heroines in each one. They may be totally outdated for kids in today's world, but they still live in mine!
Thank you for the list--you've given me several new ones to discover!
Oops--misspelled a name--that should be Dorothy Canfield Fisher!
When my children were in elementary school they had author's day once a year. I remember Ezra Jack Keats, Beverley Cleary, and Tomie de Paolo all being authors different years. It was such a treat for the children to meet the authors and get up close and talk to them. Then the children would dress in costumes from the stories and parade around the neighborhood. My children still remember that as a highlight to their elementary school experience
Nice collection. I think Through the Looking Glass is missing. Or I could have overlooked it in the list.
I immediately copied this list so that I would have a reference for Christmas shopping. Thank you Lawsons All!
For infants, I love the "Good Dog, Carl" series by Alexander Day.
A lesser-known book called "Six-Dinner Sid", by Inga Moor, was a perennial favorite in our family. We still talk about that wily Sid.
"Fever 1793" was my daughter's favorite book from fifth grade through seventh grade. This was the book that turned her into a life-long reader.
This is a great list; I'm bookmarking it.
Some other books too -
The Wind in the Willows; Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass; Anne of Green Gables; The Giver by Lois Lowry; Heidi.
I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to.
God Bless You ~Ron
I haven't read all of these, but I have read - and loved a good many of them.
this is just one of the reasons i love you!
huge hugs!!
xo
GASP! This is great! I may need to chat later about using this (or at least some of it) for a list on my book blog which I have ENTIRELY ignored as of late. sigh.
What a lovely list! So many of our favorites here. Here's a few to add:
The Kettles Get New Clothes by Dayle Ann Dodds
Stellaluna and Pinduli by Janell Cannon
People by Peter Spier
Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs
Honey...Honey...LION! by Jan Brett
Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray
BTW, I love your music playlist and I'm thinking about copying it.
You've done very well, but I would add Make Way for Ducklings or some other McCloskey. I loved the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace and the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books by Betty McDonald.
Mandy by Julie Andrews (Edwards)- love the list even without it!
For Magic by Julia L. Sauer
Boy might especially like:
The search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt
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