100 Best Children's Books

By Lorie Witkop

A list of 100 best children's books can add some classic titles to your reading list in addition to introducing you to new favorites. Check out some of the ideas below.

A List of 100 Best Children's Books

10 Classic Novels

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

10 Classic Picture Books

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr.
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Curious George by H. A. Rey
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Saggy Baggy Elephant by Kathryn and Byron Jackson
Strega Nona: An Old Tale by Tomie dePaola
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

10 Caldecott Award Winners

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), awards the Caldecott Medal each year to the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (1942)
The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader (1949)
Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans (1954)
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1964)
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, retold by Verna Aardema (1976)
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (1982)
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (1986)
Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky (1998)
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein (2004)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (2008)

10 Newbery Award-Winning Books

The ALSC awards books the Newbery Medal for distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (1944)
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (1961)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (1963)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien (1972)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (1977)
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1978)
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman (1989)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (1994)
Holes by Louis Sachar (1999)
The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo (2004)

10 Printz Award Winners and Honor Books

The Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the ALA, awards the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers (2000)
Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger (2000)
Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison (2001)
A Step From Heaven by An Na (2002)
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson (2004)
Looking for Alaska by John Green (2006)
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (2007)
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; v. 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson (2007)
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (2009)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray (2010)

10 Best-Selling Books

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

10 Books to Stir the Imagination

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judith Barrett
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch
Peter Pan by James M. Barrie
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs "as told to" Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

10 Biographies and Autobiographies

Abe Lincoln's Hat by Martha Brenner
The Art Lesson by Tomie DePaola
DK Biography series by assorted authors
Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman by Dorothy Sterling
Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson
John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, a Photographic Biography by Elizabeth Partridge
Life Freaks Me Out: And Then I Deal with It by K. L. Hong
Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man by David A. Adler
Matt Christopher Sports Biographies series by Matt Christopher
When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson by Pam Munoz Ryan

10 Banned Books

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1) by Lemony Snicket
Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

10 Books That Celebrate and Recognize Diversity

And Tango Makes Three, written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole
Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon and written by Margaret Musgrove
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Black Mirror by Nancy Werlin
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston
I Love My Hair! by Natasha Tarpley
Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young
Parrot in the Oven: mi vida by Victor Martinez

Of course, there are more than 100 best children's books. Use this list as a starting point for building your own library of the most enchanting stories available.