Comments on: Top 100 Children’s Novels (#30-26)

By: Top 100: 2010 Picks for Best Children’s Novels (grades 3-8) : PragmaticMom

Top 100: 2010 Picks for Best Children’s Novels (grades 3-8) : PragmaticMom — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:56:57 +0000

[...] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling#25 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott#26 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen#27 A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett#28 Winnie-the Pooh by A.A. Milne#29 [...]

By: Scrumptious

Scrumptious — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:29:41 +0000

I, too, scanned the Little Princess covers so anxiously – mostly anxious that I perhaps couldn’t even remember what “my” cover looked like. Until I came to the Tasha Tudor. What a sigh of relief! There it is. Aaah…

So fun to hear how many others feel the same way about that cover!

This is the first group where I’ve already read everything on the list. I’m surprised at that – I’m usually missing one or two books from each grouping. Lots to read!

By: Fuse #8

Fuse #8 — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:18:14 +0000

I like that interpretation better anyway.

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:17:04 +0000

Mitali, that sounds right to me.

By: Mitali Perkins

Mitali Perkins — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:02:56 +0000

In one sense Eileen Connell is right, but isn’t Ram Dass the Messiah/Avatar/Savior archetype who ends up saving Sara? To me, Burnett uses him to turn colonial power, wealth, and might upside-down.

By: marjorie

marjorie — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:57:20 +0000

betsy, again, thank you!

and brooke, thanks for that inside scoop — juicy.

my 8-year-old is terrified that The Phantom Tollbooth won’t make the list — that’s the one remaining book she’s completely invested in. i tried to bet her cash money that Charlotte’s Web would be #1, but she wouldn’t take my bet. boo. otherwise we’re both doing OK on our lists; there are a few i’m quaking about at this point, but I WILL LIVE BECAUSE I AM STRONG. like that kid in Hatchet.

belatedly – -i was thinking about the Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret covers (and still hoping that Sally J Freedman makes the list, eep) — they’re a great tour through teen fashion. the oldest cover looks hilariously prissy — then we get sheer knee socks, colorblock Memphis-y Cosby sweaterwear, acid-wash high-waisted pegged jeans…

on today’s list i’m smitten with the diversity of Alice covers.

By: Hazel

Hazel — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:57:49 +0000

Hatchet beats Winnie the Pooh? No –I’m sorry, but just no. NO!
I mean, I enjoyed Hatchet. It’s a good book, sure. But WINNIE THE POOH? I mean COME ON! He practically DEFINES childhood!
AND Hatchet beats Alice? And A Little Princess?
I’m sorry, but Gary Paulsen is NOT a better writer than A.A. Milne. Even back when I was obsessed by Hatchet, I would not have rated it above Pooh. Pooh is a classic.
If these were arranged in the opposite order it would make more sense to me. As is… Pooh should be up there in the top ten! Man!
I didn’t know I would be so opinionated about these. Who knows the stresses that lie ahead?! Oh God!

By: Constance

Constance — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:05:29 +0000

A great installment today! I agree with Miriam about scrolling for one’s own covers. To me that pink Tasha Tudor cover will always be A Little Princess but I liked most of those covers, particularly the Margery Gill, whose work I began to love when she illustrated Ruth Arthur.

I have been making lists along with Betsy: books I haven’t read (yet-although as I said to my mother last night, don’t hold your breath for me to read The Wind in the Willows) and today it occurred to me another list – books of which I have an autographed copy: The Dark is Rising and probably others on this list…

By: Old Gene in Tacoma

Old Gene in Tacoma — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:56:54 +0000

Read the list yesterday. Stopped at the library. Checked out “Hatchet”. Wow! The parts that stand out so far are the verity of Brian’s internal dialog and the immediacy of the action. The description of the mosquito and fly attack. Gack!

By: Fuse #8

Fuse #8 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:25:11 +0000

Maybe so, but those stories are arranged in chapters. That’s a question that never really came up: Would short story collections count as chapter books? Nobody asked so I never had to answer the question. Looks like the genre needs a little more attention.