Final Musings on Top 100 Children's Novels & My Personal Top 20

I can't seem to break the habit of going over to Fuse#8 each morning. Even though the countdown of the top 100 children's novels finished a week ago, Betsy has rewarded her readers with all sorts of goodies in the past several days, including a peek at what just missed the cut (books 101-120) and a long list of every book that garnered even one vote, a fascinating glimpse of beloved books ~ a mix of well-known, never heard of, half-forgotten.

One of the things that intrigued me about that list was how certain authors showed up again and again. Even though they might be known for one book in particular, their other books are also loved. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing (or imagining hearing!) the shrieks of glee in the comments among readers who assumed they were the only ones who had voted for something, only to find that at least one other person shared their passion for a certain title. It's how I felt when I realized I was not alone in voting for Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, the only one of the top ten I voted for that didn't make the top 100 list.

In case you're interested, here are the ten books I voted for. They're ranked in the order in which I placed them (1-10) with their actual final ranking on the poll in parentheses.

1. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (#1)
Our family discussions about whether or not CW would indeed come in first sparked a new love for Charlotte at our house. The sweet girl and I re-read it aloud (with her Daddy listening in as he was able) and she's now reading it on her own for the first time. S. also got curious about those initials -- what did E.B. stand for? -- which got me curious too. I never knew until the other day, but E.B. stands for Elwyn Brooks.

2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (#4)
I was happy to see this come in as high as it did, and to note that lots of readers lavished love (and votes) on Magician's Nephew and Dawn Treader as well. The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle all got one vote apiece too. Only Prince Caspian missed out in the vote-getting.

3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (#25)
I feared it might not make the list because of its age, but I should have known better. One of only a handful of 19th century titles to make the list, LW has stood the test of time.

4. Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace (did not make final poll)
I had a feeling that this wouldn't make it, if only because I assumed that the original Betsy-Tacy would (and it did, at #70). I came close to voting for the first book myself, but in the end felt swayed by the fact that this was supposed to be the best books for mid-grade readers (ages 8-12). As much as I love the first two Betsy-Tacy books, and have gone back to them again and again at many different ages, I think they work best for readers 5-8. But Betsy ages along with her stories, and by the time you get to Big Hill, the girls are celebrating the grown-up wonder of having two digits in their age. Plus I just flat-out love the way the girls scramble for votes to see who will be the queen of summer!

5. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (#3)
I actually thought it would come in at #2. It appeared high on my own list, otherwise mostly full of books I gobbled and re-gobbled as a child, or at least have loved for a couple of decades. Harry may be relatively new, but he is already dear to my heart. I was glad to see how much love he got in this poll, though frustrated by how often people feel a need to apologise for how much they love Harry, or explain why the books are so good in spite of their popularity or the critics' dislike of them or J.K. Rowling's writing, etc. I sometimes feel like saying, albeit in a nice way, "get over it, people, these are just fantastic stories. And they're gonna last."

6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (#2)
I was so happy to see this book come in as high as it did. I wonder if it's not at least in part due to its resurgence in popularity as a result of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me, the reigning Newbery champion that came in at a surprising #39. Stead’s book reads like a love song to Wrinkle. Regardless, I think Wrinkle would have ended up in the top five anyway, especially given how many of us feel gratitude for the gift of protagonist Meg Murry during our pre-and-early adolescence.

7. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (#90)

8. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (#23)

9. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (#12)

10. Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson (#13)

Choosing a top ten was so difficult, I went ahead and ranked my personal #11-20, prior to the poll, although I couldn't officially vote for them. Here they are, again with actual poll results in parentheses after.

11. Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary (did not make final poll)
The Cleary votes were clearly split. Small wonder: she's written so many gems, how do you choose just one favorite? Many people chose different books, with the result that a lot of worthy Cleary titles didn't make the final list. But don't cry too hard for Ramona, who managed to come in at #43 (Ramona the Pest); #57 (Ramona Quimby, Age 8); and #89 (Ramona and Her Father). And Henry Huggins, who would have made my husband's top ten for sure, came in at #66.

The sweet girls' favorite Ramona title (so far) didn't make the top 100 either. It's Ramona the Brave, and she put it at #1 on her top 10 list. Yes, she made one too, though not until we were part-way through the poll (when she started to get really interested). She still asked me to send it to “the lady who was doing the poll” and I happily did. I received a thoughtful note back from Betsy Bird, who told me it was one of the best kids' lists she'd gotten!

12. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (#15).

13. Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley (did not make the final poll). I'm beginning to feel achingly alone in my love for Bella. She didn't get a single vote anywhere, and I came darn close to moving this book into my own top ten. Any other fans out there?

14. The Moffats by Eleanor Estes (#120) That no Estes title made the top 100 baffles me. If I had considered The Hundred Dresses a mid-grade novel (its length subconsciously made me neglect it for this category) I might have put it in my top ten. I cut my reading teeth on all the Moffat books and have become a recent delighted fan of Ginger Pye, which won a Newbery. I hope Estes isn't going out of fashion, though if my daughter's response to her books is any indication, I shouldn't worry.

15. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (#65)

16. A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban (did not make final poll) I know this one is pretty new, but I think it will last. I was glad to see it did garner some votes, just not enough to push it into the top 100.

17. The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (#82) Though I really wanted to put the whole Prydain series on my list.

18. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (#27)

19. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (did not make final poll) Another relatively new book that I think will make a poll like this ten years from now.

20. Heidi by Johanna Spyri (did not make final poll). I guess its age is against it, but this is a classic I was hoping would make the list.

I had several other books I would have loved to put in the top twenty, such as Jenny and the Cat Club; The Penderwicks; Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion; The Door in the Wall; All-of-a-Kind Family; Babe the Gallant Pig; Paddington Bear; Hattie Big Sky. Some made the poll, some didn’t, but all are books that have meant a great deal to me over the years.

What a fun ride this has been! There were some delightful surprises and some interesting omissions. People sure do love their Dahl and Blume, two writers I must confess I never really went for. Nancy Drew made the list but Trixie Belden didn’t ~ no surprise there, though it did make me want to gnash my teeth. Two verse novels made it but hardly any realistic animal stories. Did you notice? No Sounder, Old Yeller, Bambi, Misty of Chincoteague (or many of the other Marguerite Henry books that might have been chosen) Black Beauty, or any of the Black Stallion books.

And because it’s too much fun not to mention ~ here's a link to 100 Scope Note’s “Wordle” of the Top 100 Children’s Novels. I loved Scope Note’s chortle-worthy observation that, based on this poll, “the most successful children’s book of all time” will likely be called “Little Harry Potter and the Green Witch Ramona Mountain Game.” Wonder if I could borrow that title? Based on Eric Carpenter’s statistics about authors’ ages, I’m in my best decade to write a great children’s book. 52 of the top 100 titles were written by authors between the ages of 38-51. So I’ve got nine years ~ I’d better get cracking!