MORE 'BEST-BOOKS' POSTS
#68 The High King by Lloyd Alexander (1968) 28 points The masterpiece against which all heroic fantasy for young people should be measured. – Emily Willis Previously #88 on the list the last of the Lloyd Alexander Prydain series makes yet another appearance. Many of us have a great deal of affection for Lloyd Alexander’s […]
#69 The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan (2006) 28 points This is by far the most popular series at my campus and has been for the past couple of years–boys and girls alike enjoy it. – Jerry Jarrell Wow! Did NOT see that one coming! Here we have a series that is hugely popular […]
#70 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (1994) 28 points Yes, it’s a Newbery, but I really loved it when I first read it, and I cried and cried, too. I also laughed at Salamanca’s grandparents a lot. – Libby Gorman Creech has the amazing ability to spin a web of stories within stories, and […]
#71 Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (1993) 27 points Beautiful story, beautiful illustrations. – B Patton An adventure in identity. – Rose Marie Moore Sweet baby. When Stellaluna first came out I was in high school and my mom was working in the oldest independent bookstore in Kalamazoo, Michigan, The Athena (until Barnes and Noble snuffed […]
#72 But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton (1982) 27 points To me, what makes this book so uniquely great is the meta-joke that the Hippo isn’t allowed to join the group of animals until someone can figure out a rhyme for hippopotamus, but I know from speaking with other parents who missed that joke, […]
#73 May I Bring a Friend by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, illustrated by Beni Montresor (1964) 27 points Another classic that I enjoyed as a child and enjoyed more as an adult reading to children. – Libby Gorman Despite the fact that I can never spell de Regniers’s name correctly (I had to correct it […]
#74 I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (2011) 26 points Funny, I’ve never seen my kids laugh so hard when finishing a book. That, and the bear’s unfailingly polite. There has to be points for that. – Melissa Fox Yeah, it’s awfully soon to tell, but I think this will be a classic. […]
#75 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, illustrated by Ron Barrett (1978) 26 points A childhood favorite. My mother used to come and read this book to my classes when I was young. I remember dreaming of food falling from the sky, though never so much it destroyed the town. Whimsical storytelling […]
#76 Eloise by Kay Thompson (1955) 26 points Oh my! This I did not expect. What can we extrapolate from a book that previously held the coveted #37 slot on our last Picture Book Poll, falling incredibly to a lowly #76? It’s particularly strange when you consider the sheer plethora of Eloise marketing going on […]
#77 Flotsam by David Wiesner (2006) 26 points Most of David Wiesner’s wordless picture books are all wonderful, it is hard to pick one, but I don’t want to list them all and take up spots. This one is more intricate, and a good one to ask kids to write out their version of the […]