Sunday Times Britain's 100 Favourite Children's Books

I love a good book list and it seems a lot of other folks do too. So much so that this list was turned into a 90 minute BBC special, hosted by David Walliams! There's some kid lit cred right there. I hope we outside Britain get the chance to see it soon too. In the meantime here's the list. It even has it's own twitter hashtag #britainsfavouritechildrensbooks. The list was selected by Nicolette Jones, Children's Books Editor of The Sunday Times. The criteria included books suitable for children up to 12 years, so it excludes YA. It's a killer list though.

1. Winnie the Pooh (especially The House at Pooh Corner) - A.A. Milne (illustrated by E.H. Shephard)

2. The Chronicles of Narnia (especially The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) - C.S. Lewis (illustrated by Pauline Baynes)

3. Harry Potter (especially Harry Potter and the Philosohper's Stone) - J.K. Rowling

4. Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak

5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (illustrated by Quentin Blake)

6. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (illustrated by E.H. Shepard) (see my review)

7. The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

8. A Bear Called Paddington - Michael Bond (illustrated by Peggy Fortnum) (see my review)

9. The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson (illustrated by Axel Scheffler)

10. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien (see my review)

11. The Cat in the Hat - Dr Seuss

12. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (illustrated by John Tenniel)

13. We're Going On a Bear Hunt - Michael Rosen (illustrated by Helen Oxenbury)

14. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

15. Alfie and Annie Rose (especially Dogger) - Shirley Hughes

16. Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren (illustrated by Lauren Child)

17. The Tiger Who Came to Tea - Judith Kerr

18. Finn Family Moomintroll - Tove Jansson

19. The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter (especially The Tale of Peter Rabbit) - Beatrix Potter

20. Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson

21. The Story of Tracey Beaker - Jacqueline Wilson (illustrated by Nick Sherratt)

22. Kensuke's Kingdom - Michael Morpurgo (see my review)

23. Goodnight Mr Tom - Michelle Magorian

24. Rooftoppers - Katharine Rundell

25. A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness (illustrated by Jim Kay) (see my review)

26. The Railway Children - E. Nesbitt

27. Millions - Frank Cottrell Boyce

28. The Snowman - Raymond Briggs

29. The Arrival - Shaun Tan (see my review)

30. The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen

31. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell

32. Famous Five (especially Five on a Treasure Island) - Enid Blyton

33. Just William (especially Just William) - Richmal Crompton

34. Holes - Louis Sachar (see my review)

35. Stig of the Dump - Clive King

36. The Boy in the Dress - David Walliams (illustrated by Quentin Blake) (see my review)

37. Charlie and Lola (especially I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato) - Lauren Child

38. The Jolly Postman - Allan and Janet Ahlberg

39. Horrid Henry (especially Horrid Henry Strickes it Rich) - Francesca Simon (illustrated by Tony Ross)

40. How to Train Your Dragon - Cressida Cowell

41. The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett

42. Alex Rider (especially Stormbreaker) - Anthony Horowitz (see my review)

43. Mortal Engines (especially Mortal Engines) - Philip Reeve

44. The Secret Garden - Francis Hodgson Burnett (illustrated by Inga Moore) (see my review)

45. Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling

46. This is Not My Hat - Jon Klaassen

47. Fortunately, the Milk - Neil Gaiman (illustrated by Chris Riddell)

48. Charlotte's Web - E.B. White (illustrated by Garth Williams)

49. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney

50. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

51. The Borrowers - Mary Norton (see my review)

52. Gorilla - Anthony Browne

53. The Poems of Edward Lear (especially Owl and the Pussycat) - Edward Lear

54.  Pig-Heart Boy - Malorie Blackman

55. Orlando the Marmalade Cat - Kathleen Hale

56.  The Silver Sword - Ian Serraillier

57. Elmer (especially Elmer the Patchwork Elephant) - David McKee

58. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery

59. Guess How Much I Love You - Sam McBratney (illustrated by Anita Jeram)

60. The Little White Horse - Elizabeth Goodge

61. Tom's Midnight Garden - Philippa Pearce (illustrated by Susan Einzig) (see my review)

62. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster (illustrated by Jules Feiffer)

63. Flour Babes - Anne Fine

64. Centrally Heated Knickers - Michael Rosen (illustrated by Harry Horse)

65. The Way Home - Oliver Jeffers

66. Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie

67. Asterix - Uderzo and Goscinny

68. The Family from One End Street - Eve Garnett

69. Mr Gum - Andy Stanton (illustrated by David Tazzyman) (see my review)

70. Fairy Tales - Berlie Doherty (illustrated by Jane Ray)

71. Wolves - Emily Gravett

72. The Worst Witch - Jill Murphy

73. The Blue Kangaroo (especially I Love You, Blue Kangaroo) - Emma Chichester Clark

74. The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams (illustrated by William Nicholson)

75. Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild (see my review)

76. The London Eye Mystery - Siobhan Dowd

77. The Sheep-Pig - Dick King-Smith

78. Chrestomanci (especially The Lives of Christopher Chant) - Diana Wynne Jones

79. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

80. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T.S. Eliot (illustrated by Nicholas Bentley) (see my review)

81. 101 Dalmatians - Dodie Smith

82. Emil and the Detectives - Erich Kästner (see my review)

83. A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicker

84. Handa's Surprise - Eileen Browne

85. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Joan Aiken (see my review)

86. Babar - Jean de Brushoff

87. Carrie's War - Nina Bawden (see my review)

88. Captain Underpants - Dav Pilkey

89. Mary Poppins - P.L. Travers

90. The Tom Gates (especially The Brilliant World of Tom Gates) - Liz Pichon (see my review)

91. The Casson Family (especially Saffy's Angel) - Hilary McKay

92. The Percy Jackson (especially Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief) - Rick Riordan

93. Thomas the Tank Engine - Rev W Awdry (illustrated by Peter Sam)

94. The Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula Le Guin

95. The Inkworld Series (especially Inkheart) - Cornelia Funke

96. War Boy - Michael Foreman

97. The Wizard of Oz - L Frank Baum

98. Goosebumps - R.L. Stine

99. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome (see my review)

100. Tintin - Hergé (Georges Remi)

59/100

March 2017 60/100

June 2018 61/100