Over 4,000 parents in the UK were asked to name the best children's books of all time. C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia series topped the list, and Roald Dahl was by far the favorite author with six books making the top 50.
Here's a rundown of the top 10:
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 (Book 6), 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
Check out the rest of the top 50 here.
I'm most intrigued that The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a picture book made it to the number two spot--a great testament to Eric Carle's work. It's also interesting that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the ONLY Harry Potter book to make the top 50 and that Captain Underpants rounded out the list, coming in at number 50.
I'm making a note to read more of Julia Donaldson's, since four of her books are on the list, and I would have liked to have seen The Velveteen Rabbit on the list. What are your thoughts?
I wonder if Famous Five is the whole series, or just the first one? I remember them fondly, but no single one stands out as excellent by itself. I'll have to check out Donaldson too.
ReplyDeleteBeth,
ReplyDeleteThe article just says, "The Famous Five series," instead of singling out one of them. I never read any in that series...looks like I have more to add to my pile. ;)
Beth...
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thanks for your excellent question...I updated the post to say "Famous Five Series" so that it was more clear.
We've read a few of Donaldson's books, but not any Gruffalo. We adore The Snail and the Whale, Room on the Broom is addictive, and Monkey Puzzle is sentimental to us because my in-laws gave the Italian version to my daughter when they returned from there. We had our own interpretation for years before reading the English version!
ReplyDelete