That's right folks. I'm coming out of blog hibernation to tackle the best children's books ever written. I wouldn't except for this article in the New York Times that I don't totally agree with.This is such a hard topic to address because it's so subjective. What are the criteria? Can it be any children's book, or do they have to be books that influenced you as a child? Or do they have to be literarily sound? What about books that used to be considered children's books but are now considered adult classics (such as A Christmas Carol or Gulliver's Travels)? Should chapter books be separated from picture books? I have no answers for these questions, so without further ado, here are my favorites, in no particular order. I won't say "best" because that's impossible to judge.
1. Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery because reading this column made me remember one summer when I read all of those books in one summer. I was technically a young adult, but I loved them. In fact, I remember getting in trouble a couple of times that summer because I was caught reading those instead of doing something else I was supposed to be doing.
2. Laddie: A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton-Porter not because it influenced me as a child, but because I fell in love with this as an adult. The story is sweet and endearing, and so idyllic.
3. Heidi by Johanna Spyri because it's the first book I remember my mother reading to me. I know I was young enough that I didn't know how to read yet, and I remember wanting to know how you knew what those words on the page actually said.
4. The Snowman by Raymond Briggs because I could read it before I knew how to read! I will always remember the illustrations in that book and how they told a more vivid story to me than any words.
5. Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss again, because the images and funny concepts remind me of childhood. I remember tracing the different paths the poor boy who lived in Ga-Zair could take to get from his bedroom to the bathroom.
6. Richard Scarry's Best First Book Ever because I loved that everything was labeled with a word of what it was.
7. The Boxcar Children Gertrude Chandler Warnerbecause it was cool the children could just live in a boxcar. It always sounded like a fun adventure.
8. The Witches by Roald Dahl. My 5th-grade teacher read it to us, and I remember the vivid description of those witches. I could just see those hideous witches in my mind's eye.
I've probably forgotten many of my favorites, but it's a start. So if anyone still reads this here blog, I'd love to hear what you think. What are your "best" children's books of all time and why? Let's discuss.
