Clearly this is a list of Australia's favourite kids books, not favourite Australian kids books.
As always the books I've read are in red.
1. Possum Magic - Mem Fox and Julie Vivas
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling
3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
4. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green (see my review)
5. Where is the Green Sheep? Mem Fox and Judy Horacek
6. The 39-Storey Treehouse - Andy Griffiths
7. The Magic Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton
8. Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
9. Diary of a Wombat- Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
10. The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
11. Matilda - Roald Dahl
12. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
13. Tomorrow When the War Began - John Marsden
14. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
15. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien (see my review)
17. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (see my review)
18. Wonder - R.J. Palacio (see my review)
19. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
20. Are We There Yet? - Alison Lester
21. The BFG - Roald Dahl
22. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (see my review)
23. We're Going On A Bear Hunt - Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
24. Animalia - Graeme Base
25. Charlotte's Web - E.B. White
26. Divergent - Veronica Roth
27. The Flying Orchestra - Clare McFadden
28. The Magic Pudding - Norman Lindsay (see my review)
29. Dear Zoo - Rod Campbell
30. Famous Five Series - Enid Blyton
31. Guess How Much I Love You - Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram
32. Hairy Maclary from Donaldon's Dairy - Lynley Dodd
33. Looking for Alibrandi - Melina Marchetta
34. Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor - Jacqueline Harvey
35. Looking for Alaska - John Green
36. Playing Beatie Bow - Ruth Park (see my review)
37. The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
38. The Witches - Roald Dahl
39. Where's Spot? - Eric Hill
40. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41. Stew A Cockatoo - Ruthie May and Leigh Hobbs
42. Edward the Emu - Sheena Knowles and Rod Clement
43. Magic Beach - Alison Lester
44. Giraffes Can't Dance - Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
45. Green Eggs and Ham - Dr Seuss
46. Storm Boy - Colin Thiele
47. Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes - Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury
48. The Cat in the Hat - Dr Seuss
49. The Lorax - Dr Seuss
50. The Messenger - Markus Zusak (see my review)
I've read 38/50. A grand effort but there are still some rather obvious holes.
Surprises for this list- Enid Blyton with a top 10 finish. She has always been popular in Australia, but she hasn't had any recency effects like a movie to boost the profile of the Magic Faraway Tree. And I'm very surprised to see Dr Seuss only emerge in the last 5.
As always there are a few books I've never heard of - Stew a Cockatoo and The Flying Orchestra.
June 2015 39/50
I've read 38/50. A grand effort but there are still some rather obvious holes.
Surprises for this list- Enid Blyton with a top 10 finish. She has always been popular in Australia, but she hasn't had any recency effects like a movie to boost the profile of the Magic Faraway Tree. And I'm very surprised to see Dr Seuss only emerge in the last 5.
As always there are a few books I've never heard of - Stew a Cockatoo and The Flying Orchestra.
June 2015 39/50
7 comments:
I imagine a lot of the books are the same in the U.S. Interesting list.
I adore Charlotte's Web.
I'm friends with 'Ruthie May' who wrote Stew a Cockatoo - she'll be delighted that her book made this list!
PS The Flying Orchestra is a favourite book of one of our regular customers. We always have one in stock for her as she gives it to pretty much every child she knows.
It's a wonderful story about music, emotions and well...the meaning of life!
Paulita- I'm sure there would be a lot of crossover these days. Which is a shame in a way.
Esme- it is a sweet story.
Brona- how fabulous that you have a connection with each book! I feel bad for not knowing them now. The Flying Orchestra sounds intriguing- I'll have to search it out- my library doesn't have one...
Here's one from this list that I'd put on our 1001 list: Where is the Green Sheep? I love to read that one over and over to the children at my school library.
I'd include Where is the Green Sheep too. I think I like it better than Possum Magic! Although that's a classic in its own right of course. I'd include The Gruffalo I think it's a shame it's not there. And I think it's a crying shame that Patrick Ness was omitted. And I think I'd swap The Hunger Games for Twilight.
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