Exceptional Books discussion

If you have any recommendations, any books you would like to nominate for the Top 100 Children's Books of All Time list, please post them here. Note that any book, from picture books to YA novels and nonfiction, can be included. If you would also like to give a reason for any nominations, anything about why you thought that book was exceptional, please feel free to do so.

Goodnight Moon I used to read Goodnight Moon to toddlers. They loved it.
A Wrinkle in Time This was my first time traveler book.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Little House in the Big Woods I would put this book at number one. Loved the entire series. The TV show was a huge disappointment.
Bridge to Terabithia
The Secret Garden
The Red Trailer Mystery Not great litereature, but I loved this series as a kid.
The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport Another favorite series of my childhood.

Paula, those are some great books! I haven't yet read Little House or Red Trailer, but I agree with all the others.

Thanks Tayyab, I tried to only list books I read as a child. The brain of a child processes stories very differently than an adult.

The Bobbsey Twins was a favorite of mine. I am also a fraternal twin and it was wonderful to read about children like me. Today, twins of all kinds are common. In my day, it was rare.

Millions of Cats- I read this to nephews, nieces and my own son and they loved it, as did I!!
Where the Wild Things Are- a brilliant book showing a child's imagination running riot, with just a hint of danger to spice it up, but with the child firmly in control.
Treasure Island- I read this first at age 9 and have re-read it many times ever since. Great adventure & suspense, with pirates and treasure to boot!
Over Sea, Under Stone- the first of a series of five, which use Arthurian legend, old magic and celtic mythology to tell the story of the battle between the dark and the light. They're not as well known as they should be.
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen: A Tale of Alderley- again magic, arthurian legend, suspense and danger. I loved this as a child.

Linda, I had been waiting for somebody to come up and nominate Where the Wild Things Are and Millions of Cats! I plan on reading Treasure Island, sounds like a pretty good book. I've read The Dark Is Rising from that series only, though maybe I'll read Over Sea, Under Stone too. And The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is another to-read. Anyway, great choices!

Please note, everyone: David nominated four books for this list on another topic. Those four books are:

The Little Prince
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Lord of the Flies
The Catcher in the Rye

One more book from Amy:

Number the Stars

http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Knight-Bla...

This is a YA book set in Medieval England that realistically shows the struggles of a young woman with family expectations, arranged marriage, temptation, religious conflict, and trusting a stranger when there is no one else. Two versions -- plain and illuminated in the style of a medieval manuscript.

Okay, another addition to our list:
Hope and the Knight of the Black Lion

I've got some nominations:

The Boxcar Children series
Louis Sacher's Sideways Stories from Wayside School series, Holes
The Animorphs series
The Giver
Where The Red Fern Grows


Anything by Roald Dahl: James and The Giant Peach, The Witches, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Obviously Harry Potter and Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series.

Wow! That's a lot of great books, some of them are my favorites!

Okay, so further down we've got:

The Boxcar Children
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Holes
Any particular Animorphs books you'd suggest, or can I just include the first one?
The Giver
Where the Red Fern Grows
James and the Giant Peach
The Witches
Matilda
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Any books from Harry Potter and His Dark Materials which you think are really great?

Of course, I could just include the whole His Dark Materials trilogy, but what about Harry Potter and Animorphs?

I don't know that I would include some of the later Harry Potter books, but the first one would get my vote.
It would be great also to include something by Janet & Allan Ahlberg, perhaps The Jolly Postman: Or Other People's Letters or Each Peach Pear Plum.
Shirley Hughes would be definitely worth including, perhaps Dogger. And also Rosie's Walk and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Sorry, I'll stop now!!

Okay, great! So I'm including the first book of Animorphs, the first book of Harry Potter and the whole His Dark Materials Trilogy:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
His Dark Materials
The Invasion

Here are some of my children's/YA favorites:
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
Bud, Not Buddy
Catherine, Called Birdy
A Year Down Yonder
The Frog Princess
Wildwood Dancing
Talking to Dragons
Rules of the Road
Best Foot Forward
Ella Enchanted
Definitely Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows :)
Hmmm... oh! The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is a great one :)

Tayyab/Killer of Mockingbirds wrote: "Please note, everyone: David nominated four books for this list on another topic. Those four books are:

The Little Prince
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Lord of the Fl..."</i>

I don't think that [book:The Little Prince belongs on this list, and neither do The Catcher in the Rye or Lord of the Flies (I haven't read the other one you mentioned, so I don't know about that one). The Little Prince might seem simple, but it's really not... deeper themes, deeper meanings, and it really can't be taken superficially. The Catcher in the Rye and Lord of the Flies are both drastically inappropriate for younger children: sexual themes and crude language are abundant in "Catcher", and in "Lord of the Flies", English boys lose their senses of humanity and civilization. No, I would definitely not give either book to anyone not in high school to read. One COULD read "The Little Prince" at a younger age, but you wouldn't REALLY understand it... :)

Hermione wrote: "Tayyab/Killer of Mockingbirds wrote: "Please note, everyone: David nominated four books for this list on another topic. Those four books are:

The Little Prince
[book:The Pied Piper o..."

I agree with you on your point that The Little Prince has many deeper meanings and Catcher in the Rye and Lord of the Flies are inappropriate for younger children, but here we're not just talking about younger children. This list is for all ages, from birth to teens, meaning that there would be picture books here too and YA novels too, and along with that everything in between.

Hermione wrote: "Here are some of my children's/YA favorites:
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
Bud, Not Buddy
Catherine, Called Birdy
A Year Down Yonder
[boo..."

I agree with you on most of your recommendations. Bud, Not Buddy was really great and I'm currently reading Catherine, Called Birdy and finding it very enjoyable.

So far, we've got 57 books for the list. We'll be needing many more if we want this whole process completed anytime soon and a final, definitive Top 100 Children's Books list on Listopia.

Ages 10+ - Fly By Night - Frances Hardinge

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49...
This one as well. I read it near grade 7 and I absolutely loved it. I was crying.

Fly by Night and Centuries of Stories have been added to the list.

Here are some more titles for discussion :)

Terry Jones' Fairy Tales - modern fairy tales that still have a traditional feel.
The Story of the Treasure Seekers- I always preferred this to The Railway Children when I was growing up as it's not so sentimental and funnier.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - iconic picture book
Anne of Green Gables - fun, with a really strong central character who has suffered loss in her young life. And not as sentimental as some of the later books in the series.
Tales from Earthsea- My favourite was always the middle book, but it's a great series.
Smith- I loved this book as a child, a dickensian thriller about a young pickpocket who is pursued through the London underworld after witnessing a muder
Peace at Last - brilliant to read aloud!
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret & The Outsiders- books about growing up and fitting in, both very influential.

Wow, we keep getting more and more great suggestions!

67 books now! Keep them coming!

Alice in Wonderland

Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

70 Books and those were some great recomendations, I tell you, Paula!

For little children but a good, classic story for everyone,

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

it's timeless.

Thanks Tayyab. I love Ferdinand!

Surprised no one mentioned Charlotte's Web - E.B. White.

39 Clues series starting with The Maze of Bones. In addition to adventure, one must learn about various historical characters and places in order to understand the clues.

Melissa wrote: "Surprised no one mentioned Charlotte's Web - E.B. White."

Well, to tell the truth, I was sort of surprised too. But, now, well, Charlotte's Web has been added too.

Some more recommendations from Kernos, Amy and Linda:

War Horse
King of the Cloud Forests
The Tripods Trilogy
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Soap-Bubble Stories (Illustrated Edition)
The Jungle Books
The Wind in the Willows
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Heidi
Black Beauty
The Call of the Wild

And are there any specific Dr. Seuss books that somebody will suggest?

One more suggestion from Dani:

Julie of the Wolves

Has nobody mentioned...?

Around the World in Eighty Days

or for younger readers...

Freckle Juice
Superfudge
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

The Lorax. I used to read this book to my 3 year old class. They sat through the entire story. Probably because I was being silly when I read it.

The Sneetches and Other Stories. "Oh save me from those pale green pants with nobody inside them!"

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - a classic!

Ok, maybe these are not the most famous or popular childrens' books, but I absolutely LOVE them...and hope that more parents seek them out for their children to read.

Panda Bear's Paint Box

My Book of Seasons

Gretchen and the Lost Carousel

Ma Lien and the Magic Brush

Does anyone out there remember these?

GardenSinger wrote: "Has nobody mentioned...?

Around the World in Eighty Days

or for younger readers...

Freckle Juice
Superfudge
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume"

Agreed. Around the World in 80 Days is a great novel. And Freckle Juice, Superfudge and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing are also good, especially Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is one of my favorites.

Are You My Mother? - a great book to read to young children
The Story about Ping - I've read this story many times.

Paula wrote: "Are You My Mother? - a great book to read to young children
The Story about Ping - I've read this story many times."

Are You My Mother was really funny! And I've heard many great things about Ping.......

Alice in Wonderland
The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
Pinocchio
The Little Prince
The Jungle Book
Heidi
Aesop's Fables
Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales
The Famous Five Series

I had been waiting for somebody to come up and suggest Aesop's Fables! They are really famous nowadays, even if some people know about some of the fables without knowing about Aesop.

Slake's Limbo, Island of the Great Yellow Ox by Walter Macken, Nicobobinus. ( Ab 10 J.). and How Many Bugs in a Box?: A Lift-up Counting Book are all excellent. I particularly loved the Walter Macken title when I was growing up.

Edited to add: I'm so glad someone suggested The Story about Ping - I had completely forgotten about it and it's a lovely book :)

Tayyab/Killer of Mockingbirds/Eggman Walrus Taxman wrote: "I had been waiting for somebody to come up and suggest Aesop's Fables! They are really famous nowadays, even if some people know about some of the fables without knowing about Aesop."

I used to loved them when I was little. It's a shame they have been forgotten for some time.

Howl's Moving Castle, Narrated By Jenny Sterlin, 8 Cds Complete & Unabridged Audio Work by Diana Wynne Jones

Five stars! I found this on Audible.com and then found the movie (by Disney) WOW I loved both.

Yes, one of my friends also mentioned Howl's Moving Castle once. He liked it very much too.

We have now exactly 118 books nominated for the list. But we're not stopping right now. There are still some more books to go, then we'll stop the nominations.

#$$%@@ - Just lost an hours work >:-| Trying again...

When I was a kid a favorite that was read to me, IIRC, and which has the distinction of one of the earliest children's Novels is Hans Brinker or The SIlver Skates about the boy who stuck his finger in the dike.

I think something by Edgar Rice Burroughs should be included. My favorite is The Barzoom series; others might prefer Tarzan or another work.

As a kid, I think I enjoyed the Heinlein juvenile SciFi's the most. Favorites were Have Space Suit—Will Travel and Starman Jones

My grandsons are still small and our favourite is Cheese Louise by David Michael Slater -witty story of a brave cheese who comes to the rescue, and by doing so comes to believe in herself.