Top children's books some people remember reading

[callmemadam]

From dovegreyreader comes this Daily Mail list of the top 50 children’s books . I've read all but nine of these and four of the unread ones are by Julia Donaldson. Just shows how these lists of the 'best' films, TV programmes, songs etc. are slanted towards the most recently read, viewed or listened to. I think perhaps four books on that list would be in my own personal top fifty. You could try guessing them, if you liked.

Comments

[minniemoll.livejournal.com]

I've read 18 of them. Although putting things like 'The Famous Five series' is cheating somewhat, especially when 'The Harry Potter series' doesn't seem to have been an option. One wonders whether there was a free choice or respondents had to choose from a list.

As for your choice of four, well, difficult one. Stabs wildly - The Secret Garden, Paddington, The Borrowers, and The Railway Children...

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

A lot of my reading, like the Dahls, was due to having a child of the right age to read them to. Otherwise, my list would have been shorter.

Good guesses! I prefer Winnie the Pooh to Paddington, though.

[minniemoll.livejournal.com]

I dithered between Pooh and Paddington, but I like Paddington best, so I went for him. I never really got Pooh, not sure why - I like him in little bits, and I love the illustrations, but somehow too much is just, well, too much. Perhaps it's because I never had him as a child - I had When We Were Very Young, and loved that though.

And I was of an age to watch Paddington on TV, which probably clinched it.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Ah me, I heard David Davis read Winnie the Pooh on Children's Hour. I could still sing the songs, too. Later, I found they were great to read aloud. All those characters were fun to do, especially Eeyore.

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

I bet you read some GREAT books when your child was small!

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

I did!

[sloopjonb.livejournal.com]

I've read 20 of those. And I agree about the series thing. It's obviously just a fix to prevent Harry Potter walking off with it.

No William? No Little Grey Rabbit? No Ransome? Tsk.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Tsk indeed. Depends who you ask, eh?

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

It *is* the Daily Mail, never a mark of quality. (When travelling by train I avoid reading Metro because it may be free, but it's from the same stable as the Daily Hate.)

I'd include Bogwoppit (the first book I ever bought myself, which I'd heard on Jackanory), Charmed Life, The Conjuror's Box and The Borribles. The last two are very 1970s.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

I can't resist a free Daily Mail but I don't buy it. We need something to shriek over.

Obviously each generation will have new favourites but this list is very lacking in books which have had lasting appeal.

[minniemoll.livejournal.com]

The story was in the Telegraph as well, I think the survey was done by a bookish organisation.

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I was briefly obsessed with bogwoppits as a pre-schooler. OBSESSED. I think Jackanory had something to do with that too.