MotherReader

I hadn’t made any announcement about it being Children’s Book Week, because on this blog every week is Children’s Book Week. I mean, when has it not been a week about children’s books since I started this thing? However, some bloggers including Bloomability (home of my retired dots template) and Fuse#8 (home of the Hottest Men in Children’s Literature) have celebrated by posting about a list of the Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children. It’s a great list, even though it’s seven years old now. It hits across picture books, easy readers, and chapter books as well as a variety of styles. The blogger game is to copy the list and bold the ones you’ve read, put an asterisk by the ones you liked, and a minus by the ones you hated. And then there is the all-important number reflecting how many you’ve read.

I did the bolding and asterisking and minusing, but I left the document on my work files. I’m not sure if I feel like putting the whole list up here anyway. I’ve read seventy that I can remember, but I have a terrible memory. I’m guessing I read at least five more. I liked most of what I read, or had a pretty neutral reaction. The only books I didn’t like were The Veleteen Rabbit because I hated the idea of the kids stuffed animals getting tossed (which explains some of my Tulane distaste). I didn’t like Sylvester and the Magic Pebble because the idea of turning into a rock freaks me out. As a kid I found Jumanji creepy, and I stick by that assessment today.

There are some mistakes on the list that should have been corrected. Both the Little House series and a couple of individual books from the series are listed. That’s just wrong. Some huge notables are missing from the list that show up on the kids’, books like Holes and Redwall and Harry Potter. The list tends toward books that teachers maybe read as children, rather than reflecting newer titles. Plus a 1999 list is kind of showing its age.

I’d love to see the American Library Association take on the process of an online survey of children’s librarians. There are tons of lists over at ALA’s site, but it would be cool to have one book popularity contest, but from knowledgeable people. I know some of you librarians must have some pull and could urge the association in this direction.