Tuesday 12 August 2014

Australia's 50 Favourite Children's Books

Brace yourself. It's time for another list. Just released last week to celebrate National Bookshop Day, August 9 2014.



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

7 comments:

Paulita said...

I imagine a lot of the books are the same in the U.S. Interesting list.

Esme said...

I adore Charlotte's Web.

Brona said...

I'm friends with 'Ruthie May' who wrote Stew a Cockatoo - she'll be delighted that her book made this list!

Brona said...

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!

Louise said...

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...

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

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.

Louise said...

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.