Awesome Books for Children, by the Alpha Mummies

[callmemadam]

How does an alpha mummy differ from a yummy one, I wonder? Via The Times comes the Alpha Mummy list of 90 Awesome Books for Children, with comments. Quite an eclectic mix and every reader will utter glad cries of recognition or wonder in amazement that his/her favourite book has been left out.


I’ve highlighted in bold the ones I haven’t read, as the easiest option.
1. Enid Blyton books
2. The Patchwork Cat
3. Susan Pulls the Strings
4. Swallows and Amazons
5. The House of Arden
6. The Tiger Who Came to Tea
7. A Traveller in Time
8. The Wool-pack
9. Hugh Lofting's Dr Doolittle series
10. Laura Ingalls Wilder books
11. Elizabeth Enright’s Saturdays series, Gone Away Lake series, Thimble Summer and Melendys
12. Lois Lowry books
13. The Wolves Chronicles (Joan Aiken)
14. The Swish of the Curtain
15. Ballet Shoes
16. The What Katy Did series
17. Anne of Green Gables
18. Little Grey Rabbit
19. The Narnia Chronicles
20. The Family from One End Street
21. Dogger
22. Brother Dusty-Feet
23. The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch
24. The Hobbit
25. Treasure Island
26. The Molesworth sequels
27. The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
28. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci
29. Pippi Longstocking
30. Hating Alison Ashley
31. Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague series
32. The Punchbowl series
33. Mary O'Hara's Thunderhead series
34. Joyce West's Driver's Road series
35. Rosina Copper (Kitty Barne. Certainly not her best book.)
36. The Mirrors of Castle Doone (but I have read other books by Elisabeth Kyle)
37. L.M. Montgomery's books
38. Ruby Ferguson's Jill books
39. Susanna Gretz's Teddybears series
40. The Garden Gang books
41. Blackberry Farm books
42. Rebecca's World by Terry Nation
43. Fattypuffs & Thinifers
44. Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales
45. Black Beauty
46. One Is One
47. Little Wooden Horse
48.Gymnast Gilly series
49. Sweet Valley High books
50. Asterix
51. The Life of a Country Child (Do they mean The Country Child by Alison Uttley?)
52. Dancing Peel series
53. Dune series
54. Rumer Godden stories
55. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
56. The Teddybears books
57. The Land of Green Ginger
58. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
59. Eric Linklater's 'The Wind on the Moon'
60. Charlotte’s Web
61. The Bridge to Terabithia
62. Mantlemass series
63. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
64. By the Banks of Plum Creek
65. The Bobbsey Twins
66. Fanny and the Monsters
67. Hardy Boys series
68. Louisa May Alcott books
69. Where The Wild Things Are
70. The Greatest Gresham
71. The Owl Service
72. The Magic Wishing Chair
73. The Robber Hotzenplotz
74. Mrs. Pepperpot books
75. Worst Witch books
76. Marigold in Godmother's House
77. Jean Little’s books
78. The Moomin books
79. Gobbolino the Witch's Cat
80. The Little Grey Men
81. Down By The Bright Stream
82. The Five Find-Outers
83. Anything by the Pullein-Thompsons
84. Sylvie and Bruno books
85. Rilla of Ingleside books
86. Lois Duncan books
87. Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
88. Girl of the Limberlost
89. The Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit
90. The Wind In The Willows

Comments

[sloopjonb.livejournal.com]

[obligatory gasp at omission] Dear me, where's Beatrix Potter?

I've never even heard of lots of those, but here's some there I've read and forgotten about for many years. The Wind on the Moon, for instance, which is now bugging me because I can't remember the name of the sequel. And I think that should be Down The Bright Stream, which, IIRC, was the sequel to The Little Grey Men. I read almost everything by Denys Watkins-Pitchford.

Children's books of certifiable genius that never get on these lists: Orlando the Marmalade Cat.

[sloopjonb.livejournal.com]

The Pirates in the Deep Green Sea!

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Oh, well remembered! The Eric Linklater books have been reissued in paperback for a new generation and those wishing to relive their youth.

I love Orlando, too, and of course Beatrix Potter.

You're right about the BB: this list was obviously done off the tops of people's heads, with no time to look anything up.

[sloopjonb.livejournal.com]

The huntin' shootin' and fishin' BB wouldn't be very politically correct nowadays, and I can't say I was ever a fan of such things myself, but it doesn't matter ... the man wrote beautifully. (I dread to think how many times I read Brendon Chase).

Did you ever read "The Tree That sat Down"?

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Brendon Chase is the only BB book I keep. Every child's woodland fantasy and I love the woodcuts. If you loved that I should think you'd like Roland Pertwee's The Islanders; ever read it?

Strange thing, I've read almost everything Beverley Nichols ever wrote *except* those three children's fantasies.

[sloopjonb.livejournal.com]

No, never come across that book, but I now know Roland Pertwee was the father of the Third Doctor (or Chief Petty Officer Pertwee, if you prefer).

I recall the Tree That ... as being rather odd, somewhat moralistic, but strangely funny.

Books for children

[(Anonymous)]

What a great list. I see Bayard’s have got themselves a guest illustrator for one of their stories in the September edition of Storybox - award winning illustrator Helen Oxenbury, who also provided illustrations for Alice in Wonderland - http://www.Storyboxbooks.com

Re: Books for children

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Storybox is new to me and looks interesting but not something I'd want to subscribe to.