Scholastic releases '100 Greatest Books for Kids' list and a pig is on top • Hypable

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Scholastic releases ’100 Greatest Books for Kids’ list and a pig is on top

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by Jen Lamoureux
@jenlam26

Posted on 10:15 am,
February 15, 2012

Scholastic’s Parent and Child magazine released a list of the 100 Greatest Books for Kids yesterday. Interestingly, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White topped the list – a book that is over 60 years old. Find out where your favorites landed, if they hit the list at all.

Looking at the list I find it interesting that Twilight was deemed too mature however The Hunger Games was included. Falling in love with a vampire is more mature than kids killing each other violently? Also Harry Potter only makes the list once in the #6 spot. Check out the rest of the list below and tell us what you think.

The 100 “Greatest Books for Kids,” ranked by Scholastic’s Parent & Child magazine:

1. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

2. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engel

4. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jacks Keats

5. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

7. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

8. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

9. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

10. Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel

11. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

12. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

13. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

14. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

15. The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

16. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

17. Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt

18. When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan

19. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems

20. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

21. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

22. Corduroy by Don Freeman

23. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

24. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

25. The Giver by Lois Lowry

26. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

27. Black on White by Tana Hoban

28. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

29. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume

30. My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco

31. The Mitten by Jan Brett

32. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

33. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

34. Swimmy by Leo Lionni

35. Freight Train by Donald Crews

36. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

37. The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don & Audrey Wood

38. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

39. Zen Shorts by John J. Muth

40. Moo, Baa, La La La! by Sandra Boynton

41. Matilda by Roald Dahl

42. What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry

43. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

44. Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

45. The Composition by Antonio Skarmeta

46. Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

47. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

48. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

49. Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport

50. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

51. Sylvia Long’s Mother Goose by Sylvia Long

52. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

53. The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

54. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges

55. Smile! by Roberta Grobel Intrater

56. Living Sunlight by Molly Bang & Penny Chisholm

57. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

58. Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull

59. Dear Juno by Soyung Pak

60. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes… by Annie Kubler

61. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

62. Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

63. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

64. My Truck Is Stuck! by Kevin Lewis

65. Birds by Kevin Henkes

66. The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

67. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

68. Counting Kisses: A Kiss & Read Book by Karen Katz

69. The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Joanna Cole

70. Blackout by John Rocco

71. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

72. Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

73. Tea With Milk by Allen Say

74. Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

75. Holes by Louis Sachar

76. Peek-a Who? by Nina Laden

77. Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold

78. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

79. Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

80. What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

81. Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman

82. Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows

83. Yoko by Rosemary Wells

84. No No Yes Yes by Leslie Patricelli

85. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

86. Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

87. Rules by Cynthia Lord

88. Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

89. An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston

90. Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault

91. Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh

92. What Shall We Do With the Boo Hoo Baby? by Cressida Cowell

93. We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States by David Catrow

94. I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis

95. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

96. Gossie by Olivier Dunrea

97. The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

98. First Words by Roger Priddy

99. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman

100. Animalia by Graeme Base

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Anonymous

What about the other 6 Harry Potter books? But i would argue that they no longer became children books either

Josh

Listing the first one is like listing the series.

Anonymous

if that was the case, they would have listed the “Harry Potter Series”

http://www.facebook.com/laurabyrnecristiano Laura Byrne Cristiano

Stunned that not a single Little House book is on the list.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=694613944 Petra J Sander

I like the list, just wish they had separated them into children’s picture books and children’s novels. It is hard to compare _A Wrinkle in Time_ with _Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus_ for example! Thanks for sharing.

Jimmy Rose

Yes! Exactly! This list is entirely unhelpful to parents unless they are planning on buying all 100 books and holding them until their child is ready to read them. It doesn’t make sense to group all of these books in one list, especially when any reasonable bookstore would separate them by age group or at least by format (picture book vs. chapter book). I wonder what the criteria was for a book to make the list.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Amanda-Hafer/35105289 Amanda Hafer

Aww, the nostalgia in me was hoping for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry…but this is a fantastic list.

Anonymous

I read that book last year for school, it was so good

http://www.facebook.com/people/Megan-Mattesich/887610533 Megan Mattesich

Yes it seems strange that my favorite Harry Potter book didn’t make the list (granted because it was more mature than the others), yet The Hunger Games made the list. There are some books I deem as ‘children’s’ books and some that I definitely deem as ‘teen.’ Teen books get a bad rap but books such as the Hunger Games and The Book Thief are wonderful, however I think they should have differentiated the list between children and teens.

And I agree, one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books should have definitely been on the list. They hold a special place in my heart and in my childhood, as I know they do in others.
Jb

I Love Hunger Games and Harry Potter. I do like Twilight but the only reason why I think Hunger Games is on the list because it an Amazing book but also may be because Hunger Games is published by Scholastic while Twilight is not. IMO

http://twitter.com/tarthurs09 Tylor Arthurs

Why the hell would you let a child read Twilight???

WillowBlood

By child do you mean 1-12 or teenagers? I read it when I was pretty young.

Guest

If you’re too young to discern the real messages in Twilight, you shouldn’t read it.

WillowBlood

Agreed. I strongly dislike it not just because of the writing, but the message and lack of strong female characters.

http://twitter.com/when_she_smiles lindsay

Not quite sure what their age range is for children…when both Goodnight Moon and The Hunger Games are on the list, lines get blurred.
Karen

No Little House but several books by Rick Riordan? Really? Over HP? Granted it’s a very strange list that’s very mixed age-wise and there appears to be a current trend bias.

Eilif

The later HP books aren’t as much for children, but neither is the Hunger Games. They just added it to the list because they are the publisher. ALL of these books have been published by Scholastic and are currently in the catalogue. :P

http://twitter.com/maggieemuggins maggie a

Technically teenagers are still children. Even though we aren’t really.

Misswriter18

Legally they’re still kids… but when it comes to maturity, they are at a different level than “children”… Based on this list, they are doing the 4-12 age group…

WillowBlood

I didn’t really like Tuck Everlasting, but (for the most part) I agree with the list, though the books are hard to compare in many cases.
http://twitter.com/Andrew_ww Andrew W

Charlottes Web is the best!
If Harry Potter was a children’s series then it should be #1. Unfortunatly it isn’t for kids. If book 1 was for an 11 year old then book 7 is for a 17 year old.
Child (0-12) Teenager (13-19) Adult (20+)

Liz Lemon

The HP books are for every age group, but JK Rowling did initially write book 1 for children.

Sarah

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Charlotte’s Web as a kid, but I do NOT think it belongs on the top of the list. There are so many other books on this list with much more depth and power. Charlotte’s Web is sweet, but it is not perception-altering as some of these other books are.
nova

wonder how many of these books are published by scholastic
stargazer

I wouldn’t be too upset that there was only one Harry Potter book on the list. If you look carefully, you’ll notice that if there’s a book series they list the first book. “A Wrinkle in Time,” “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” and “The Lightning Thief” are all firsts. (and yes, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” is the first book–”Magician’s Nephew” didn’t become the “first” book in the series until somebody got the idea to reorder the books chronologically)

As for Rick Riordan having multiple books on the list–well, he’s written multiple series. I’m not sure if “The Maze of Bones” is a first book in a series (I haven’t read any of his other than his Percy Jackson and the Olympians books), but I’m betting so.

PotterGleek

I noticed that as well. I think they did so as to not spend 7 slots on the list for one series. That said, one wouldn’t exactly consider the latter Potter books to be for children anyways.
Frankie

Maze of Bones is first in the 39 Clues Series, which is brilliantly written, and each book is written by a different author. It’s pretty good.

Danielle

I wouldn’t respect the list if Twilight were on it. I LIKE Twilight, I enjoyed reading it, however it does not deserve a place on this list.

A Wrinkle in Time- what a great series! Reading this list has brought back lots of memories from my childhood. And the Giver…man. I can’t wait to give these books to my child.
Hagrid’s Coat

i don’t know if anyone here is familiar with “in your pants” jokes (you basically put “in your pants” at the end of book titles, and it’s funny), but there are some good ones here…

Danielle

I wasn’t familiar but I sure as heck did it! Thanks for the laugh!
Anonymous

Nerdfighters forever!
LilyLuna

*runs to go try that*

Lol, my friends did that with Wrock songs once…’99 death eaters go by….in my pants’ 0_o

Malone

How is the Hunger Games a children’s book?
http://twitter.com/tarthurs09 Tylor Arthurs

The Hunger Games is NOT a kids book. lolololol seriously wtf.

http://www.hypable.com Andrew Sims

Well considering it’s Scholastic’s list – who publishes the books in the US – the list may be slightly biased when it comes to that book.

Anonymous

Maybe Hypable should make their own list

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-Moonshoes-Fussell/1691051026 Jessica Moonshoes Fussell

Seconded, belac889.

Erikd16

Where in the world is “Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” ??? One of the most beloved children’s classics of all time?

Erikd16

My bad. it is there. X)
Kaitlin L

it should be up much higher

Tucker

I’ve never heard of the snowy day.. how is that above Harry Potter.

http://www.hypable.com Andrew Sims

The Snowy Day is a classic!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-Arvizu/100000703545901 Jessica Arvizu

I loved the Snowy Day. It’s probably my favorite book before I discovered Harry Potter.

http://www.eigakanthemovietheater.blogspot.com Jenny Leigh

I feel like the mention of Harry Potter means all the series. What I find interesting is that this “Snowy Day” book is higher, yet I’ve never heard of it?? The Hunger Games is also an interesting add. I know of elementary school children reading those books, but it just seems super controversial to put it on this list.
http://twitter.com/Merina2 Merina

Eh…ok.
http://twitter.com/AubreyLeigh2010 Aubrey McElmeel

This is an interesting list, but they’ve mixed YA and Children’s books, which is unexpected when calling it strictly a “children’s list”. There is a HUGE difference.

ElspethGordie

YA is a generally new genre (within the last 10 years). Any books that were not adult used to be categorized as children; they are mixing choices of books that aren’t “adult.” But of course this is only 100 books… how can you pick only 100 best books?

http://twitter.com/Annanass777 Anna Di

Seriously? Where is Astrid Lindgren? Where is Cornelia Funke?
Liz Lemon

No one Beverly Cleary book!?!
http://twitter.com/ufninja7 Nikki G

This is a pretty good list (LOVE that Anne of Green Gables in ranked high), but I’m surprised to not see anything by Avi or Jerry Spinelli.
DreamNox58

I always liked this one kids book called N-O Spells No. It’s a good one and my niece learned to read that one all by herself. I’m pretty sure it is the first one she’s read on her own. I also love the book Corduroy. It’s a good one as well.
Kaitlin L

i love that rick riordan’s the lighting theif is on there.
Katie

No “Nancy Drew”?!

But I agree, the list should have been more specific with age groups…
Jessie

8. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank … how did that happen? Also, Hunger Games. YA, not kids.
Annebailey62442

I think its amazing how many of these books I have read and loved since childhood. There are only a few that I’ve never heard of.
http://twitter.com/shiny_chang Shi-En Chang

ummm… how big is the age range for ‘kids’ here…?
GoodGollyMissMolly

Matilda should be higher up the list and why is Little House on the Prarie not up here?
Silverfirelizard16

Is this just scholastic…because I’m not seeing “The Golden Compass”

HungaGurl

That is NOT a children’s book…..it’s an Atheist book not to hate on anyone but I’m pretty sure it has been banned in certain groups and such. It’s too Atheist for kids

AngieRanck

so your saying there aren’t any kids that are atheist???? not true. plus being atheist is not a bad thing! statements like yours really piss me off. and if your gonna say “oh it’s too violent and mature” there are other violent/YA books on this list so The Golden Compass definitely deserves a spot on here too.

Emilydhebert12

this list is the biggest joke.
Asdf

look, i know charlotte’s web is a classic and all, but in terms of actually interesting reads, it does NOT deserve number one. sorry, but that’s honestly how i feel.
Linorien

Just reading this list brings back great memories!
HungaGurl

Ok Goodnight Moon and The Hunger Games should NEVER be on the same list…..
Sydney Rose

Are you there God? It’s me Margret. On my godness! That was the first book I read to my mom. Loved it!
PotterGleek

Meh. I’m glad they listed Potter, but honestly the entire list feels more like advertising on their part. Are any of these books not published by scholastic?

I was disappointed by the lack of and of the Ramona books (by Beverly Cleary), The little House books, Amber Brown, or Junie B. Jones. I completely adored those books in elementary school.
Georgia

Hatchet? Really? We had to read that for school and it was the worst book ever. Also, why is the Hunger Games on here?
Tamtam77453

I’m a preschool teacher and believe they shoud have split them by age groups, like 25 books each for 0-5,6-9,10-13,14-18.Ihen “Good-night Moon” and “Hunger Games” can be on the 1st and 4th lists and make sense.
And in the preschool category how is there no Robert Munsch. I mean “Love you Forever”, even made it on the show “Friends”.
Aart223

I have probsbly read like 10-15 of those books before. GO HARRY POTTER!!!!!!
Frankie

Loving this list, although I wish there were more on here, and that it was clearer by age ranges, although I think a person of any age would enjoy Goodnight Moon…
Anon

Oh MY! That took me down memory lane. Most of my favorite childhood books are on that list! It like covered, for me, my life from 4-12 (Hunger games being the only exception as I was 14 when I read them).
Agreed that A Little House on the Prairie should have been on there. My only complaint is that there is no Ella Enchanted by GAil Carson Levine. I ADORED that book in 4th grade :) :D Made my day :D
PotionWillow207

Um, where was Island of the Blue Dolphins?
http://myselfandpotter.blogspot.com/ VideoKilledSeverusSnape

Hunger Games is young adult. I don’t understand why they put that on there! Potter just be further up. A Wrinkle In Time wasn’t good at all, and don’t understand how it even made that list. :/ Diary of a Wimpy Kid should have gone further up also.
Reikinikkiwilliams

….Definitely missing Laura Ingals Wilder books on that list…
http://twitter.com/rocktwomusic Jackie Luciani

The Polar Express should be on here somewhere, yet it is not. What are they basing the rankings on?
Mariah

Where the heck is Nancy Drew???
Callahan

Why is Harry Potter only on here once?? :(