The Best Kids' Books Ever?

[sdelmonte]

On Saturday, NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff, in an effort to encourage kids to read during summer vacation, presented his list of the best kids's books ever. By which he means books for kids who can read, as opposed to picture books. His list strikes me as a bit pedestrian (though is there any chance that any list of this sort will not include Harry Potter any time between now and 2100?). Wisely, he invites readers to make their own suggestions at his blog, which over 2,000 have done so far.

Personally, I think that any list of this sort needs The Phantom Tollbooth and Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang. I would throw in the Young Wizards series (which I am only making my way through now). And I don't care if Kristoff left off picture books - I have to include the collected works of Maurice Sendak and William Steig.

Given who reads my blog, I am sure that many of you have your own opinions. So feel free to opine here. Or go to Kristoff's blog and tell him directly what you think.

Comments

[kali921.livejournal.com]

Wow, almost NO books with girls as lead characters or with PoC in any prominent role. What a white and male-centric list. And no books teaching kids about the wonderful diversity of flora and fauna on the planet? And no SFF?! No A Wrinkle in Time?


I'd recommend Margaret Wise's unforgettable Wait Till the Moon is Full - that is probably the book that made me want to go out and read on my own as a little girl. It's a lovely tale about a baby raccoon and his mother, and the tales she tells him each night.

What about the Babar books and the Nancy Drew series? Babar is problematic, though, because a sophisticated kid will probably get that they don't date well in terms of post-colonial theory. But the anti-hunting stance in the early books is a powerful one.

Ferdinand the Bull is another childhood favorite of mine. And the Richard Scarry Busytown books! Talk about being fun, hilarious, AND educational. I read them to my little brother constantly.

[aisforamy]

As much as I love the classics, I think books like Little Lord Fauntelroy will find very limited appeal for young modern readers. Even the Anne of Green Gables series, which I dearly love, will not have impact on young reader that it does one adults, who understand the way life was then, and why Anne's behavior and situations were so shocking or amusing during the time it was written. I didn't fully appreciate it all until I was an adult!

The list he compiled is fine, but he should be asking kids what THEY'RE reading and why. Having worked in a school library, I can guarantee that The Phantom Tollbooth was taken out a lot more often than any of the Anne books. Harry Potter is big, of course, but so is Captain Underpants (which really makes me shudder, but it's getting kids to read), the Magic Treehouse series, the Fablehaven series, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series...it goes on and on!

Are any of the above the best books ever written? Probably not. Do they appeal to kids and spark their imaginations? You bet! That's the important thing in my opinion--books they can relate to and that have relevance to the modern culture they live in.

[schung1968.livejournal.com]

Babar

Madeline

Dr. Seuss

I love Danny and the Dinosaur!

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

Favorites from my actual childhood:

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

The Phantom Tollbooth

Tuck Everlasting

Bridge to Terebithia

The Wizard of Earthsea series

The Pushcart War

Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series

Little Women et al by Louisa May Alcott

The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

The Girl With the Silver Eyes

Plus Recent YA finds I greatly admire:

Sabriel by Garth Nix

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman