Top 100 Children's Books...

Thanks to The Reading Zone and Teacherninja for this fun tidbit.  How often does one of these have to do with literacy?  I have read 54 of the top 100.  It looks like I have some work to do.  But I must admit, I have three of them sitting on my coffee table right now - they were already next on the list, and I have about 10 more unread books from this list on the bookshelf in my classroom.

So...

Which of Betsy Bird’s Top 100 Children’s Novels have you read? Bold the titles of any books you have read.  Post your number in the comments and/or add a link to your own post.

100. The Egypt Game – Snyder (1967)

99. The Indian in the Cupboard - Banks (1980)
98. Children of Green Knowe – Boston (1954)
97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – DiCamillo (2006)

96. The Witches - Dahl (1983)

95. Pippi Longstocking - Lindgren (1950)

94. Swallows and Amazons – Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn – Brink (1935)
92. Ella Enchanted – Levine (1997)
91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Sachar (1978)
90. Sarah, Plain and Tall – MacLachlan (1985)
89. Ramona and Her Father - Cleary (1977)
88. The High King – Alexander (1968)
87. The View from Saturday – Konigsburg (1996)
86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Rowling (1999)

85. On the Banks of Plum Creek - Wilder (1937)

84. The Little White Horse – Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief – Turner (1997)
82. The Book of Three – Alexander (1964)
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Lin (2009)
80. The Graveyard Book – Gaiman (2008)
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family – Taylor (1951) 
78. Johnny Tremain – Forbes (1943)

77. The City of Ember - DuPrau (2003)

76. Out of the Dust – Hesse (1997)
75. Love That Dog - Creech (2001)

74. The Borrowers - Norton (1953)

73. My Side of the Mountain - George (1959)

72. My Father’s Dragon – Gannett (1948)

71. The Bad Beginning – Snicket (1999)

70. Betsy-Tacy – Lovelae (1940)
69. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Stewart ( 2007) 

68. Walk Two Moons - Creech (1994)

67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher – Coville (1991)

66. Henry Huggins – Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes – Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago – Peck (1998)
63. Gone-Away Lake – Enright (1957)

62. The Secret of the Old Clock – Keene (1959)

61. Stargirl – Spinelli (2000)

60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart – Funke (2003)

58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Aiken (1962)

57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 – Cleary (1981)
56. Number the Stars – Lowry (1989)

55. The Great Gilly Hopkins – Paterson (1978)

54. The BFG - Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows – Grahame (1908)

52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
51. The Saturdays – Enright (1941)
50. Island of the Blue Dolphins – O’Dell (1960)
49. Frindle – Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks – Birdsall (2005)
47. Bud, Not Buddy – Curtis (1999)

46. Where the Red Fern Grows – Rawls (1961)

45. The Golden Compass – Pullman (1995)

44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Blume (1972)
43. Ramona the Pest – Cleary (1968)
42. Little House on the Prairie – Wilder (1935)

41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Speare (1958)
40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Baum (1900)
39. When You Reach Me – Stead (2009)

38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix – Rowling (2003)

37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Taylor (1976)

36. Are You there, God? It’s Me, Margaret – Blume (1970)
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire – Rowling (2000)

34. The Watson’s Go to Birmingham – Curtis (1995)
33. James and the Giant Peach – Dahl (1961)
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – O’Brian (1971)
31. Half Magic – Eager (1954)

30. Winnie-the-Pooh – Milne (1926)

29. The Dark Is Rising – Cooper (1973)
28. A Little Princess – Burnett (1905)
27. Alice I and II – Carroll (1865/72)

26. Hatchet – Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women – Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows – Rowling (2007)
23. Little House in the Big Woods – Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux – DiCamillo (2003)
21. The Lightening Thief – Riordan (2005)

20. Tuck Everlasting – Babbitt (1975)
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Dahl (1964)
18. Matilda – Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee – Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy – Fitzhugh (1964)
15. Because of Winn-Dixie – DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Rowling (1999)
13. Bridge to Terabithia – Paterson (1977)
12. The Hobbit – Tolkien (1938)
11. The Westing Game - Raskin (1978)
10. The Phantom Tollbooth – Juster (1961)

9. Anne of Green Gables – Montgomery (1908)

8. The Secret Garden – Burnett (1911)

7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)

6. Holes – Sachar (1998)

5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – Koningsburg (1967)

4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – Lewis (1950)

3. Harry Potter #1 – Rowling (1997)

2. A Wrinkle in Time – L’Engle (1962)

1. Charlotte’s Web – White (1952)

Books We Love - Anything But Typical

Before I picked up this book I had read several reviews by bloggers who were reading or thinking about reading this book aloud to their class.  It was on my list to read, but I kept putting it off because it just didn't sound like a book I wanted to read.  Well, I was wrong.  I read this book cover to cover in two sittings.  I was moved by the main character's voice and several moments were truly heartbreaking.

The main character is Jason Blake, a 12 year-old autistic boy who doesn't fit in at school and is judged by his teachers, classmates, strangers and some members of his family.  He finds a storyboard forum online where he submits stories he has written for comments by other young writers.  This forum allows him to express his ideas without being judged and it is here he is treated as an equal.  He meets PhoenixBird online, another story writer who becomes a friend.  Things get complicated when Jason's parents surprise him with a trip to the Storyboard convention where he will have to meet PhoenixBird in person, which runs the risk of ruining everything...

I am now planning to use this as my next read aloud with my class.


Nora Raleigh Baskin is the winner of the middle-school 2010 Schneider Family Book Award for “Anything But Typical.”

Books We Love - The Diamond of Darkhold

I finished reading the Fourth Book of Ember, The Diamond of Darkhold last night.  I started it on Thursday night, so my inability to read books a couple chapters at a time seems to remain stong.  I thought this was a good book to wrap up the series, but it wasn't my favourite of the four.  There were moments that the plot seemed manipulated a bit to fit the situation, and I HATE when children's book authors feel the need to write a final chapter giving the happily ever after of the characters and what happens to them as adults.  I think that is better left to the reader's imagination, even if it does drive my students crazy.  They couldn't believe that the first book ended when it did.  But the fourth book continues the themes of the first 3: survival, hope, community, and persistence, and Lina and Doon continue to be unsatisfied with the hard times faced by their community and have the drive to do something about it.  All in all, I have been impressed with the entire series.

I have read the City of Ember to several of my classes and am now reading The People of Sparks to my class this year.  They have enjoyed both, but I am not sure I want to read them out loud again - it may be time to move on, and put They City of Ember into my literature circle collections.  The City of Ember allows for students to practice inferring as their are lots of moments where things are left partially explained and the reader needs to fill in the rest.

I am currently on the hunt for some good read-alouds that will get my students thinking and discussing big issues.  I am also making a list of 'dystopian' novels for young adults and would like to do a novel study on that theme.  I would need a long list, with many titles at different levels for it to work out...

Books We Love - The Hunger Games

Two of the best young adult books I have read this year has been Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games and its sequel, Catching Fire.  I just did a quick search for the cover picture of this book, and Scholastic has announced the release date of the third and final book in the trilogy as August 24, 2010.  That is somewhat sooner than I expected, as in the past I have waited several years for an entire series to be published.  Most of the students in my grade 6/7 class seemed very interested in the storyline of these books, but the reading level of the books makes them accessible only for my top readers.  I may consider using them as a read-aloud in the future, or a literature circle choice, but I may just leave it as a choice in my classroom library.  So far the books have been passed from one student to another in my class and there always seems to be somebody waiting to be the next person to read it.

Check out the Scholastic web page for a summary and a peak at the first chapter of each book.