You know, all this talk about the Best 25 Books Written In the Last 25 Years has gotten me thinking. We've done the required growling over how none of those books were children's. Okay, so there's a solution. I know that some bloggers have been making their own alternate lists, but I don't think that ANYONE has been making one for children's books alone. SO. With that in mind, I need your votes. What, to your mind, are the books that would deserve inclusion on such a list? Please note that the following are already guaranteed a slot:
- Holes by Louis Sacher
- Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge (my list, my rules, HA HA HA HA HA!!!)
Beyond that, I'm open. Gimme whatchu got.
Okay.
ReplyDeleteI am buying "Fly by Night" tomorrow. If it makes you that gooey, it must be good.
KT
I vote for.....
ReplyDeletePicture Book: Max Makes a Million by Maira Kalman
Chapter Book: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle
(I'm guessing Teen Books don't count here)
ReplyDeleteThe Giver. duh.
Number the Stars
Olive's Ocean?
I scew old. Sorry.
With chapters: Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
ReplyDeleteThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
picture book: The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler.
It must be an oversight on your part, but didn't you mean to include The Rainbow Fish in your starter list?
ReplyDeleteNo?
Oh. My bad.
Hmmm, now I'm curious about Fly By Night. =) And I agree about Holes. =)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, A Wrinkle In Time came out in 1962 and can't be included. We're not counting YA books (a separate list, perhaps?) and picture books may or may not appear. Good suggestions, so far. Now go buy Fly By Night.
ReplyDeleteThere's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar.
ReplyDelete- Jay
A View from Saturday, by E.L. Honigsburg
ReplyDeleteSkellig, by David Almond
A Splendid Friend Indeed, by Suzanne Bloom
More More More Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams
and that's just off the top of my head
Oh, right.
ReplyDeleteThe original list of 25 writers was just for Americans.
Hm.
*sigh*
Okay, fine. I'll get rid of "Fly By Night". Then, by extension, I'm forced to get rid of "Skellig" too, even though I completely agree with you on that one. We're getting quite a good Sacher representation here. And only one Konigsburg? Shocking! I'm gonna add a Christopher Paul Curtis, though I'm having a hard time choosing between Bud, Not Buddy and The Watsons Go To Birmingham. Any preferences?
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's others I'm just drawing a blank.....
Oh and a personal favorite of mine is "Sorcery and Cecilia" by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... my library classifies Sorcery and Cecilia as YA ... but I liked it so much when I read it that I'd be willing to say it's also good for older children.
ReplyDeleteHaroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie; A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park; and The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo.
ReplyDeletePooja
Coupla questions:
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should separate out picture books? Because really, can you compare Rainbabies to Fly by Night? Babushka's Doll to Skellig (if you hadn't tossed them, that is)?
Me, I'm all about picture books, especially for younger kids. Go ahead, make mock if you will, but here are the books I really admire. Note the lack of LLFE. Paperbag Princess would be on this list but it's slightly too old.
Rainbabies (Melmed)
Sheep in a Jeep (Shaw)
Babushka's Doll (Polacco)
The Jolly Postman (Ahlberg)
The Owl and the Pussycat (Lear/Brett)
Brundibar (Sendak/Kuschner)
Voyage to the Bunny Planet (Wells)
Tulane, of course. Ahhh, kidding. But I would put in my vote for Because of Winn Dixie.
ReplyDeleteAnd how about Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos.
And The Liberation of Gabriel King
And what about Donuthead. How could you not name Donuthead?
I'll look at the library shelves tomorrow to add some titles.
Obviously I didn't think this through as well as I might. Okay, so here's the deal. It's American books AND we'll separate the picture from fiction.
ReplyDeleteDONUTHEAD?!!! How could I forget my glorious Donuthead? I'm a fool.
I gotta say I'm a pretty big fan of Moricai Gerstein's The Man Who Walked Between the Towers as a picture book (though there's actually a single spread I don't like). Also, I just wanna toss out Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. Yes, I'm kowtowing to his name a bit, but I'd love to see the good Dr. in there somehow
ReplyDeletepicture book - Jumanji
ReplyDeleteshort chapter book - Stonefox
chapter book - Maniac Magee
YA (when you get to that list) - Rats Saw God