For this list of favorite children’s books, I decided to use certain criteria. First, I picked books from my own childhood. Much as I love the Harry Potter books, they won’t be on this list simply because they weren’t written when I was a kid. Second, I chose books that are written for children 12 and under.
1) *_ Do the Strangest Things* by various authors
Probably among the first science books I ever read. Every book in this series has the phrase’Do the Strangest Things’ in the title, e.g. *Fish Do the Strangest Things*. Each book is divided into short chapters that describes animals and their peculiarities. This series was written in the 1960’s and 1970’s, however, so some of the volumes, like the one on dinosaurs, might have out-of-date information.
2) *The Cat in the Hat* by Dr. Seuss
This rollicking nonsense tale concerns a mischievous cat that tries to befriend two bored children. In this classic, which was written in 1957, Seuss combines poetry, humor, and cartoony artwork. Seuss wrote many other children’s books as well, including *Green Eggs and Ham*, *Horton Hears a Who*, *The Grinch Who Stole Christmas*, and *The Lorax*, all of which are definitely worth tracking down.
3) *The Chronicles of Narnia* by C.S. Lewis
Actually, this is a series of seven books, all very well-written. All of the books revolve around children who through various means travel the magical realm of Narnia, where mythological creatures like fauns and nymphs live, and where animals can talk. While Narnia is ruled by human kings, its spiritual leader is the great Lion, Aslan, who is patterned after Jesus Christ. Lewis deftly combined fantastic adventure and religious allegory in *Chronicles*.
4) *Harriet the Spy* by Louise Fitzhugh
The title character is a keenly observant(or nosy, if you don’t like her) ten year old girl, who watches her neighbors and records their doings and her opinions of them in a diary. Unfortunately, some of her classmates find the diary-and they aren’t happy about some of the things she’s written.
5) *James and the Giant Peach* by Roald Dahl
Quite possibly my favorite children’s book of all, it is the first book I’d read that I fell in love with. The plot concerns an orphaned boy who is raised by two cruel aunts. When a magical substance causes a peach to grow to gigantic proportions, the boy, James, crawls inside and finds that the giant peach is inhabited by equally giant bugs-who are eager to leave the aunts’ dreary hilltop abode. Their journey forms the meat of the book.
6) *The Jungle Books* by Rudyard Kipling
Most of these short stories revolve around animals in India, and about half involve Mowgli, the boy who was raised by wolves. The Mowgli stories follow him from his birth until his teen years, when he leaves the jungle. Among the non-Mowgli stories is’Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’, the tale of a brave mongoose who battles a pair of cobras. The 1960’s Disney movie, ’The Jungle Books’ was loosely based on the first story, and changed some of the animals’ personalities. For example, in the book version of the story, Kaa the Python is a *good* guy and is friends with Baloo the bear, who is a far more serious character than in the movie.
7) *Meet_* by various authors.
Another non-fiction series, these books introduce youngsters to various figures from American history. Many of these books, like *Meet Abraham Lincoln* are biographies.
8) *A Wrinkle in Time* by Madeline L’Engle
The first book from a children’s science fiction series, it tells of three children who travel through different dimensions to rescue an imprisoned scientist. The youngsters are helped along by three alien guides, and learn to confront and begin to overcome their greatest weaknesses. There are at least two other books in the series: *Wind in the Door* and *A Swiftly Tilting Planet*, both of which also involve dimensional or time travel.