Children's literature mogul Scholastic came out with a "bucket list" of must-read kids' books in its most recent issue of Parent & Child Magazine, says the Sun Times. Here's a look at the recommendations listed in their "100 Greatest Books for Kids."
* According to Scholastic Parent, they created the list to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the National Education Association's "Read Across America Day" on March 2. That day also commemorates the birthday of beloved children's author and illustrator Dr. Seuss (a.k.a. Theodore "Ted" Giesel).
* To create the top 100 list, Scholastic compiled opinions from educators, literacy experts and parents. Several parent bloggers were included, like The Budget Mommy, and Mommy Living the Life of Riley. Most of the moms were or had been educators, too. They voted on 500 different nominations based on books they had loved as kids, their own children's favorites, best-sellers, award winners and popular classroom titles.
* The committee selected books from different genres, age categories, historical time periods and culture backgrounds. They created a bookshelf of kid's classics and ranked them in number order.
* The number one book on the list is "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White. In second place is "Goodnight, Moon" by Marcia Brown, followed by Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" and "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats. Fifth place goes to Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are."
* In sixth and seventh place are books by two authors in the top 15 best-selling children's author list: J.K. Rowling ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") and Dr. Seuss with "Green Eggs and Ham." Dr. Seuss comes ties (with Gilbert Patten) for second for best-selling author and Rowling is fourth. Rowling's first Harry Potter book is the single best-selling children's book of all time and the fifth best-selling book in any genre of all time, says How Stuff Works. The best-selling children's author of all time is Enid Blyton with her Noddy series.
* Rounding out the top 10 are "The Diary of a Young Girl" (Anne Frank), "The Giving Tree" (Shel Silverstein) and "Frog and Toad are Friends" by Arnold Lobel. The current children's NY Times best-seller "The Hunger Games" (Suzanne Collins) places number 33. Collins' other two books in the series "Catching Fire" and "Mocking Jay" are third and fourth best-selling books right now, says USA Today.
* Several Scholastic favorite children's books were written by authors on the American Library Association's frequently-challenged or banned list: Lois Lowry, Judy Blume, Suzanne Collins, Katherine Paterson, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Gary Paulsen and J.K. Rowling.
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about parenting issues from 23 years raising four children and 25 years teaching K-8, special needs,
