100 Best Children's Chapter Books of All Time

I am a reader. No question about it. Growing up, we did not have a television (in fact, my parents still don't) so our entertainment consisted of books and our imagination (and playing with fire - gas stove + curious children = bad combination - our neighbors should thank the Lord they weren't burned to a crisp. Our gas stove will be under lock and key when we have children!). I remember eating breakfast and reading the cereal boxes (nutrition facts, ingredient list and all) - the same cereal boxes I had read the day before and the day before that and . . . even today I am rarely without a book to read in a any small downtime and I love how easy digital readers have made it to always have a book with me while I am out and about.

Needless to say, I am also a big library fan. As children, Mom would take us to the library every 1 - 2 weeks. I'd quickly snap up the next book or two in the various series I was reading and then scour the shelves for something new. The afternoon we returned from the library was my favorite time of the week - all these new books, just waiting for me to dive in. Invariably, I'd speed through the books, desperate to find out what happened, only to finish and realize I had several long days before the next library visit. I am thrilled beyond words that ebooks can now be checked out online from my library at any time. Now I don't have to wait until I can make to physical library - which, admittedly, is rather infrequent these days, what with job and family responsibilities. I've also discovered that I can browse the library catalog online, make my selections and have the books waiting for me at the checkout counter when I do go - which, sadly, means I'm less likely to find the hidden gem sitting on the shelf, but does save me precious time (and keeps me on time - it's dangerous for me to venture farther in than the checkout counter - I may never emerge!). I look forward to having children of my own to take to the library and enjoying its physical space again, but for now, ebooks and held books are the way to go.

So, a long introduction to get to the meat of this post - the 100 Best Children's Chapter Books of All Time, as determined by Children's Book Guide. I can't find any information on the website that details the editor(s)' qualifications to be making such a list, but I've seen it on Pinterest several times, so it clearly has garnered some attention. I've glanced at it before, but after another friend pinned it today, I finally went through the entire list. Of the 100 books listed, I have read 47 for sure, another 9 are maybe-reads (as in, I know the story well, but not sure I ever read the book - Peter Pan is one example) which leaves 44 that I've never read. That's partly because, despite the writer's claim that these books "are the ones that continue to be loved for ages upon ages", many of them have been published only within the last 10 years. I'm sorry, but you can't say that a book published in 2010 (The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan) has quite stood the test of time like one published in 1868 (Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott). Nevertheless, I realize that the 19th century does not hold a monopoly on great children's literature, and as a lover of kid-lit myself, I thought I'd read and review them all myself. Half of the books that I have never or only maybe read are available as digital books from the library, so I'll start with those, check the rest out as physical copies and finish by re-reading ones I've already read. I plan to read all the books, unless I have read it very recently (particularly if I have no desire to read it again - I'm looking at you, Inkheart!). I'll write up a brief review of each book as I read it, note if I feel it deserves a spot in the top 100, and finish with my own ranking to compare to Children's Book Guide.  Whew, that's a lot to do - time to stop writing and start reading!

I'll list links to my reviews as I publish them here:

100 Best Children's Chapter Books of all Time - Children's Book Guide Ranking

Note: Children's Book Guide divides these only by decade, not as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. To give each book a unique ranking, I am giving 1 to the first book listed in the 1-10 group, 2 to the second, etc.

1. Charlotte's Web, E.B. White
2. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, J.K. Rowling
3. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
4. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
5. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
6. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
7. Holes, Louis Sachar
8. The Giver, Lois Lowry
9. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
10. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1911
11. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
12. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
13. Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery
14. The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Stewart
15. The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo
16. The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams
17. Hatchet, Gary Paulsen
18. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
19. Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo
20. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
21. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
22. The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick
23. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo
24. Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt
25. Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
26. Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
27. Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne
28. James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
29. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
30. Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell
31. The Golden Compass, Phillip Pullman
32. The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket
33. Number the Stars, Lois Lowry
34. Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh
35. Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli
36. Coraline, Neil Gaiman
37. The Lightening Thief, Rick Riordan
38. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien
39. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
40. Julie of the Wolves, Jean Caighead George
41. Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine
42. Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
43. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
44. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
45. Matilda, Roald Dahl
46. Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder
47. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
48. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, 1868
49. Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick
50. The Lost Hero, Rick Riordan, 2010
51. Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Louis Sachar
52. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
53. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
54. Fablehaven, Brandon Mull
55. Stone Fox, John Reynolds Gardiner
56. Inkheart, Cornelia Funke, 2003
57. Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli
58. The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare
59. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, Christopher Paul Curtis, 1995

60. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
61. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Judy Blume
62. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling
63. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor
64. When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead
65. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
66. Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis
67. Ramona the Pest, Beverly Cleary
68. The Penderwicks, Jeanne Birdsall
69. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney
70. Frindle, Andrew Clements
71. The BFG, Roald Dahl
72. Stuart Little, E.B. White
73. Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan
74. The Boxcar Children, Gertrude Chandler Warner
75. The Secret of the Old Clock, Carolyn Keene
76. A Long Way from Chicago, Richard Peck
77. The Book of Three, Lloyd Alexander
78. Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech
79. Redwall, Brian Jacques
80. The Borrowers, Mary Norton
81. The Witches, Roald Dahl
82. The Thief Lord, Cornelia Funke
83. The Maze of Bones, Rick Riordan
84. My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
85. City of Ember, Jeanne DuPrau
86. Judy Moody, Megan McDonald
87. Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers
88. Love That Dog, Sharon Creech
89. Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse
90. Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes
91. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Grace Lin
92. Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie
93. The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg
94. Beezus and Ramona, Beverly Cleary
95. Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink
96. The Indian in the Cupboard, Lynne Reid Banks
97. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling
98. The Little White Horse, Elizabeth Goudge
99. Pippi Longstocking, Atrid Lindgren
100. Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl