“Perhaps it is only in childhood that books have any influence on our lives . . . In childhood, all books are books of divination, telling us the future.” – Graham Greene
We’ve had a lot of fun here, haven’t we? I’ve had fun putting these posts from the poll together. You’ve had fun predicting them and making crazy stats left and right (read Eric’s round-up of the final statistics here, if you’ve a chance). Good times. Good times.
It’s not entirely over yet, but here is the list of every book that has appeared on the countdown with links to the posts giving background information:
#1 Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
#2 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
#3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
#4 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
#5 From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
#6 Holes by Louis Sachar
#7 The Giver by Lois Lowry
#8 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
#9 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
#10 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
#11 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
#12 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
#13 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#14 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
#15 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
#16 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
#17 Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
#18 Matilda by Roald Dahl
#19 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
#20 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
#21 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riodan
#22 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
#23 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
#25 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
#26 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
#27 A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
#28 Winnie-the Pooh by A.A. Milne
#29 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland /Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
#30 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
#31 Half Magic by Edward Eager
#32 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
#33 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#34 Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
#35 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling
#36 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
#37 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
#38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
#39 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
#40 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
#41 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
#42 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#43 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
#44 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
#45 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
#46 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
#47 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
#48 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
#49 Frindle by Andrew Clements
#50 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
#51 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
#52 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
#53 Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
#54 The BFG by Roald Dahl
#55 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
#56 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
#57 Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
#58 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
#59 Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
#60 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
#61 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
#62 The Secret of the Old Clock (The Nancy Drew mysteries) by Caroline Keene
#63 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
#64 A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
#65 Ballet Shoes by Noah Streatfeild
#66 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
#67 Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
#68 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
#69 The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
#70 Betsy Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
#71 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
#72 My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
#73 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
#74 The Borrowers by Mary Norton
#75 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
#76 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
#77 City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
#78 Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
#79 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
#80 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
#81 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
#82 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
#83 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
#84 Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
#85 On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#86 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
#87 The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg
#88 The High King by Lloyd Alexander
#89 Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
#90 Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
#91 Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
#92 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
#93 Caddie Woodlawn by C. R. Brink
#94 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
#95 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
#96 The Witches by Roald Dahl
#97: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
#98 Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
#99 The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
#100 The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
I’ve been asked to add to these titles the number of nominations and the number of #1 votes each one got. I may do this if I get a chance.
How many people voted? I received 318 emails containing Top 10 lists. Of these emails, about six were from teachers and their students, Those emails averaged out to about 8 lists per email. So a rough estimate of votes received would look something like 366 lists. A fair sampling.
Some of you will recall that in my poll-crazed state I challenged the lot of you to guess what the Top 10 of this list would be and in the correct order. Some of you were sad that I asked for order, but I had good reason. In the end, a whopping sixteen of you correctly predicted which books would appear in the Top 10. These folks were not swayed by the possible appearance of Diary of Wimpy Kid (tomorrow: an explanation of why it didn’t appear on the list). They understood that The Little Prince could not possibly make it at this point. And they respected the Tollbooth. That was probably the most forgotten title (though a couple fellas did miss out on Anne).
But how many got the order right? Well, last year I didn’t ask for order and only one person correctly predicted the Top 10 Picture Books. This year sixteen people correctly figured out the Top 10 but none of them got the order exactly right. A couple people did slot the right book into the right number, however. So I kept track. If someone correctly predicted just #1 (Charlotte’s Web) and #10 (The Phantom Tollbooth) then they got two correct. Whoever got the most correct would win. Here are some stats on how this turned out then.
People Who Got Zero in the Right Order: 3
People Who Got One in the Right Order: 4
People Who Got Two in the Right Order: 3
People Who Got Three in the Right Order: 3
People Who Got Four in the Right Order: 2
And finally, the folks who correctly predicted five of the books in exactly the right slots . . . give it up for . . .
Genevieve and Melissa!!!!
Woo-Woo!
They have already been contacted about their stupendous win. I will be offering them their choice of fabulous prizes.
Tomorrow . . . the books that never made it on the list. Where were they? What happened?
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I notice that on several lists J.M Barrie’s classic “Peter Pan” is overlooked…such a pity.
Folks just didn’t vote for it. I think the era of Pan-love may be past.
I am astounded that the Wizard of Earthsea plus sequels by Ursula Le Guin does not appear in this list. These books are vastly superior to Harry Potter in terms of narrative, literary quality and issues raised.
The Snow Spider trilogy by Jenny Nimmo is a beautifully told series based on Celtic mythological tradition.
Alan Garner’s works (especially Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Moon of Gomrath, Elidor, Owl Service) have also been left out, which is a crying shame.
Incidentally, the above, plus John Masefield’s Midnight Folk and Box of Delights feature in my list of 100 top reads alongside fiction and non-fiction written for adults. Follow my link if you are curious see my selections.
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im reading hatchet and it is my favorite book and i think it should be number 1
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No mention of any of C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien’s other works in this list? That’s a shame considering they’ve withstood the test of time to be called “classics” while Rowling’s works (6 of the 7 Harry Potter books) have not withstood any particular test of time.
I guess I can just attribute this list to the recency effect in memory. There’s no way Rowling is THAT much better of an author than Lewis or Tolkien. In another 40-50 years, you might find 1 of her books on a top 100 children’s novels list… if you’re lucky.
Since both The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Hobbit are on this list I will assume that you are objecting to the fact that there are not more Narnia and Middle Earth titles here. One might argue that Lord of the Rings and its fellows was more teen than children’s fare. As for the other Narnia books, some of them are perfectly peachy but few would argue that books like The Last Battle would have any place on this list.
I hated the Hobbit as an 11 year old. I think that’s really a grown up book. Peter Pan isn’t on the list because very few people have actually read it. I thought Walt Disney wrote Peter Pan till I was in Junior High. Then I discovered the book and adored it. Who remembers Captain Hook’s monologue on the playing fileds of Eton and the old School tie?
About 80 books on this list are old and new favorites of mine.
The fact that Percy Jackson beat out The Golden Compass by twenty places makes the order of this entire list a little suspect to me. My disagreements with the ranking aside, this is a lovely nostalgia-filled post.