Sunday, May 17, 2009

Top 100 Children's Picture Book Poll and my Top 10

Elizabeth Bird at Fuse 8 held a 100 top picture book poll at the beginning of March and asked for our top 10 picks. She's been revealing the top vote getters bit by bit on her blog and now all 100 (101 actually, due to an error) are up in a concise list of Top 100 Children's Picture Books.

Here are my picks and my comments (with where they ended up on the master list in parenthesis):

1. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963). The art direction, the story, the writing, everything is just perfect. (also #1)

2. The Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer (1961). Great atmosphere and story. I picked this one because it is one of the few Tomi Ungerer books on sale in the US. But I could have also picked Zeralda's Ogre or others. (not on list)

3. Not a Box by Antoinette Portis (2006). What a great idea for a book. So simple and so creative. (#90)

4. Wild about Books by Judy Sierra, ill. by Marc Brown (2004). My favorite rhyming book. So clever! (not on list)

5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1979). Lovely illustrations and art direction. (#3)


6. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (1964). Makes me cry everytime! But not for the reasons you might think. (#93)

7. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems (2003). Interactive and silly. (#5)

8. Hondo and Fabian by Peter McCarty (2003). Gorgeous illustrations and Fabian has fun just like my cat does with the toliet paper. (not on list)

9. Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola (1975). This is so fun to read to kids aloud. (#44)

10. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, ill. by Betsy Lewin (2000). Hilarious. (#32)

And here are others I own and enjoy that made the list (links lead to descriptions on Elizabeth's blog):

#22: The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone, ill. by Mike Smollin (1971)

#26: Corduroy by Donald Freeman (1976)

#46: Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt (2006)

#56: Frederick by Leo Lionni (1967)

#57: Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin, ill. Harry Bliss (2003)

#60: Chicken Soup With Rice: A Book of Months by Maurice Sendak (1962)

#65: Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner (2003)

#68: The Arrival by Shaun Tan (2006)

#88: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (1993)

#99: Little Pea by Amy Krause Rosenthal, ill. by Jen Corace (2005)


There are a bunch more that I've read but don't own, and also some I didn't know and want to buy now.

What are your favorite picture books? Did you participate in the poll?
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24 comments:

  1. YanMay 17, 2009 at 8:13 PM

    I used to stalk Elizabeth's blog! :P I must find my way back to there ASAP

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  2. Kristen M.May 17, 2009 at 8:17 PM

    I just wrote up my post for this as well! It will be up next week. We had eight of our ten books on the list and own 25 of them but none of our 10 intersected with yours! Funny!

    I love The Three Robbers too. And Chicken Soup with Rice and The Monster at the End of This Book were on our list. I just added a bunch to our wishlist. This was such a fun project!

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  3. UnknownMay 17, 2009 at 8:52 PM

    Great books : ) My five-year-old recognized many of the titles, but she wanted to know where "Piggie Pie" is. "Piggie Pie" is her favorite book (and the bane of my existence lol)

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  4. LindaMay 17, 2009 at 9:48 PM

    Corduroy will always be one of my favorites. I used to read it to the kids all the time!

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  5. JanssenMay 17, 2009 at 10:11 PM

    I LOVE Not a Box - so clever and fun. Not a Stick is just as good.

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  6. AleaMay 17, 2009 at 10:15 PM

    These bring back some great memories :)

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  7. CarrieMay 17, 2009 at 11:06 PM

    Ooooo...I love Scaredy Squirrel. It's so much fun to read at storytime. The parents love it as much as the kids.

    One of my favorite picture books which I'm sure is not on the list is Santa Calls by William Joyce. I love Joyce's older style before he did Roly Poly Olie.

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  8. TashaMay 17, 2009 at 11:06 PM

    I love Miss Rumphius and The Story of Ferdinand.

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  9. Ana S.May 18, 2009 at 12:03 AM

    I've only read 1 and 5...I feel deprived!

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  10. AmeeMay 18, 2009 at 1:17 AM

    I didn't even know this was going on by I agree about several you listed. Corduroy was one of my favorites as a kid. Going On a Bear Hunt was also a favorite. I'll have to go see if it made the list or not. :)

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  11. Marie CloutierMay 18, 2009 at 2:53 AM

    so many great classics there. can't wait for the where the wild things are movie! :-)

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  12. ElizabethMay 18, 2009 at 6:37 AM

    Okay, I'll bite... why DOES The Giving Tree make you cry?

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  13. Lenore AppelhansMay 18, 2009 at 12:12 PM

    Ha - didn't mean to tease. It's personal...

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  14. JessMay 18, 2009 at 8:46 PM

    Click, Clack, Moo, Cows that Type is one of my absolute favorites. Great list!

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  15. Keri MikulskiMay 18, 2009 at 11:14 PM

    Great list!

    I love reading picture books to Kaci. :)

    But, I had to put away Where the Wild things Are for a bit.. Too many monster nightmares. :)

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  16. GreenBeanTeenQueenMay 18, 2009 at 11:17 PM

    I loved this poll and really enjoyed reading about all the results. I'm planning on passing the list on to my sister and my niece.

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  17. Heather ZundelMay 19, 2009 at 3:42 AM

    I love The Giving Tree, but have you ever heard of The Missing Piece Meets the Big O? Still Shel Silverstein, but my absolute favorite picture book, ever.

    Let's see, love The Arrival (I'm really glad that made the top 100. It's simply incredible). But some others:

    The Big Bad Wolf and Me by Delphine Perret
    I Love You the Purplest by Barbara M Joosse
    Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
    The Three Questions by Jon J Muth
    Toad to a Nightingale by Brad and Mark Leithauser
    Imagine a Day (and) Imagine a Night by Sarah L. Thompson.

    By the way, Toad to a Nightingale is a book of poetry, and some of the best I've read. When I was flipping through it, I was simply stunned and bought it on the spot. The illustrations are amazing too.

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  18. Heather ZundelMay 19, 2009 at 3:45 AM

    Crap, I know double posting is bad, but I forgot another book (also poetry), ADORABLY illustrated (okay, see if you can resist this):

    Please Bury Me in the Library by J. Patrick Lewis and Kyle M. Stone

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  19. ElizabethMay 19, 2009 at 6:05 AM

    Re: comments upthread: Okay, fair enough.

    My favorite picture book is The Streets Are Free by Karusa. Set in Caracas, Venezuela.

    It was my favorite as a child and I can't really separate my experience with it now from that, but I also see many merits in it as an adult.

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  20. Lenore AppelhansMay 19, 2009 at 9:06 AM

    Thanks for the poetry suggestions Heather!

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  21. Debbie FMay 19, 2009 at 4:22 PM

    I love Wild About Books!!! I read it to my 2 small children aleast once a week!
    Deb

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  22. SadakoMay 19, 2009 at 4:27 PM

    Totally agree with Where the Wild Things Are. I love all things Sendak!

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  23. UnknownMay 19, 2009 at 5:22 PM

    It is a great list but you seem to have left off one great book. The Adventures of Kid Humpty Dumpty. This tale shows you what Humpty Dumpty was like before his fall. It is packed full of Fun characters you will love. Shellga is sweet and Sunny Side Down is so Crazy. You and your child will be delighted. Check it out at www.eloquentbooks.com/theadventuresofkidhumptydumpty.html

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  24. Ladytink_534May 23, 2009 at 5:26 AM

    I love the Fuse 8 blog! I hadn't heard of a lot of these but I enjoyed her coverage of them :)

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