One Hundred Books Famous In Children's Literature

Winnie The Pooh by AA Milne

This is the catalogue of a marvellous exhibition held in the Grolier Club in New York between December 2014 and February 2015 and curated by a friend, Chris Loker. I first heard Chris talk about this project in 2011 and was greatly intrigued as to which books would be included among the list she was putting together of The One Hundred Books Famous In Children's Literature. The catalogue itself is a work of art, containing beautiful illustrations of the books' covers and fascinating detail about their original publication and their authors as well as some erudite essays on subjects such as their illustrations. The whole exhibition was the result of five years intensive scholarship.

The exhibition of the books - mostly priceless first editions printed between 1600 and 2000 - was a great success and attracted wide attention. Everyone has their own much-loved favourites and few are omitted, and though I would have loved to have included 'Harry, The Dirty Dog', no one would argue with the inclusion of classics like 'Struwwelpeter', 'The Wind In The Willows', 'Winnie The Pooh', 'The Secret Garden', 'Le Petit Prince', 'Barbar' and of course the comparatively recent 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' and 'Where The Wild Things Are'. But two more of my childhood favourites, long forgotten, also featured - 'The Story Of Ferdinand' and 'The Children Of The New Forest', so this was no mere roll-call of predictable best-sellers.

A full listing of the 100 books is here
You can order a copy of the catalogue online here.
A link to the New York Times photographs of the exhibition is here

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Le Petit Prince by Saint-Exupery

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Tom Sawyer by Samuel Clemens

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Peter and Wendy by James Barrie

Barbara by Jean De Brunhoff

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein

The Cat In The Hat by Dr Suess

Strewelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann

100 Books Famous in Children's Literature

Endpaper

One Hundred Books Famous In Children's Literature - The List

CHRONOLOGICAL BOOK LIST

2014

1A.      Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1658), Comenius, Johann Amos                       (Morgan)

                      [Jan Komenský]                                                                

1B.      Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1659), Comenius, Johann Amos                   (Michelson)                                     

2.         A Token for Children (1671), Janeway, James, and                                        (AAS)

                      [Mather, Cotton] (later Divine Emblems)

3.         A Book for Boys and Girls: or, Country Rhimes for Children                   (Harvard)   

                      (1686) [Bunyan, John]

4.        The New-England Primer. To which is added, Milk for Babes                       (AAS)    

                      (1727) [Anon.]

5A.      Histoire ou Contes du Temps Passé (1697) [Perrault, Charles]                   (Cotsen)

5B.      Histories, or Tales of past Times (1729), [Perrault, Charles]                     (Harvard)

6.         Divine Songs (1715), Watts, Isaac                                                              (Morgan)

7A.      Robinson Crusoe (1719), [Defoe, Daniel]                                                       (Lilly)

7B.      Robinson Crusoe (1920), Defoe, Daniel                                                    (Osborne)                                                

         

8.         Aesop’s Fables (1722), [Croxall, Samuel]                                          (Anonymous)     

9A.      Gulliver’s Travels (1726) [Swift, Jonathan]                                                    (Lilly)

9B.      Gulliver’s Travels (1772) [Swift, Jonathan]                                                 (Cotsen)  

10.       Gigantick History of the Two Famous Giants (1740)                            (Michelson)                                          

 11A.    Little Pretty Pocket-Book (1744), Printed by J. Newbery                              (Lilly)      

11B.     Little Pretty Pocket-Book (1787), Printed by Isaiah Thomas                    (Morgan)       

12.       Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book (1744), Printed by G. Bickham           (Cotsen)                        

13.       The Governess (1749), [Fielding, Sarah]                                                     (Cotsen)

14.       Magasin des enfans (1756), (Le Prince de Beaumont, Jeanne-Marie)         (Miami)

15.       Goody Two-Shoes (1765), Printed by J. Newbery                                       (Cotsen)

16.       Hymns in Prose (1781), [Barbauld, Anna Laetitia]                                    (Morgan)

17.       Hieroglyphick Bible (1783), [Anon.]                                                           (Cotsen)

18.       Mother Goose’s Melody (1784), Printed by T. Carnan                                (Cotsen)

19.       Songs of Innocence (1789), Blake, William                                               (Morgan)

20.       The Parent’s Assistant (1796), [Edgeworth, Maria]                                    (UCLA)

21.       Old Mother Hubbard (1805), [Martin, Sarah Catherine]                           (Morgan)

22.       Rhymes for the Nursery (1806), [Taylor, Ann and Jane]                                (Lilly)

23.       Butterfly’s Ball (1807), Roscoe, William                                               (Michelson)

24.       Tales from Shakespear (1807), [Lamb, Charles and Mary]                            (Lilly)

25A.    Kinder-und Hausmarchen (Grimms Fairy Tales) (1812-1815),                  (Cotsen)

                      Grimm, Jacob and Wilhem

25B.    German Popular Stories (Grimms Fairy Tales) (1826),                              (Cotsen)

                      Grimm, Jacob and Wilhem / George Cruikshank

26.       ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (1823), [Moore, Clement]                 (Beinecke)

27.       Tales of Peter Parley, About America (1827) Goodrich, Samuel          (Michelson)

28A.    Eventyr (“Fairy Tales”) (1835), Hans Christian Andersen                         (Morgan)

28B.    Wonderful Stories for Children (1846), [Hans Christian Andersen]            (Cotsen)

29.       McGuffey’s Eclectic First Reader (1836), McGuffey, William                   (Miami)

30.       Holiday House (1839), Sinclair, Catherine                                                (Morgan)

31A.    Struwwelpeter (1845), [Hoffman, Heinrich]                                              (Morgan)

31B.    Struwwelpeter (1848), Hoffman, Heinrich                                             (Michelson)

32.       Book of Nonsense (1846), [Lear, Edward]                                             (Michelson)

33.       Children of the New Forest (1847), Marryat, Frederick                     (MacEachron)

34.       The Water Babies (1863), Kingsley, Charles                                                  (Lilly)

35.       Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), [Dodgson, Charles]         (Anonymous)

36.       Hans Brinker (1866), Dodge, Mary Elizabeth (Mapes)                         (Michelson)

37.       Jessica’s First Prayer (1867), [Smith, Sarah]                                           (Osborne)

38.       Little Women (1868), Alcott, Louisa May                                              (Michelson)

39.       At the Back of the North Wind (1871), MacDonald, George                       (Cotsen)

40.       Little Red Riding Hood (1875), illustrated by Walter Crane                     (Osborne)

41.       Tom Sawyer (1876), [Clemens, Samuel Langhorne]                                       (Lilly)

42.       Black Beauty (1877), Sewell, Anna                                                           (Morgan)

43.       The House that Jack Built (1878), Caldecott, Randolph                               (Harer)

44.       Heidi (1880), Spyri, Johanna Louise                                                      (Penn State)

45.       Uncle Remus (1881), Harris, Joel Chandler                                           (Michelson)

46.       Pinocchio (1883), [Lorenzini, Carlo]                                                           (Cotsen)

47.       Robin Hood (1883), Pyle, Howard                                                               (UCLA)

48.       Treasure Island (1883), Stevenson, Robert Louis                                 (Michelson)

49.       Child’s Garden of Verses (1885), Stevenson, Robert Louis                  (Michelson)

50.       A Apple Pie (1886), Greenaway, Kate                                                        (Hodges)

51.       The Blue Fairy Book (1889), Lang, Andrew                                                   (Lilly)

52.       The Jungle Book (1894), Kipling, Rudyard                                             (Beinecke)

53.       Little Black Sambo (1899), Bannerman, Helen                                      (Michelson)

54.       Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), Baum, Lyman Frank                                  (Hanff)

55.       Peter Rabbit (1901), Potter, Beatrix                                                       (Michelson)

56.       Five Children and It (1902), Nesbit, Edith                                                      (Lilly)

57.       Just So Stories (1902), Kipling, Rudyard                                                 (Beinecke)

58.       Anne of Green Gables (1908), Montgomery, Lucy Maud                              (Rose)

59.       The Hole Book (1908), Newell, Peter                                                            (Harer)

60.       Scouting for Boys (1908), Baden-Powell                                                     (Cotsen)

61.      Wind in the Willows (1908), Grahame, Kenneth                                         (Hodges)

62.       Sleeping Beauty (1910), Quiller-Couch / Edmund Dulac                         (Osborne)

63.       Peter and Wendy (1911), Barrie, J. M.                                                   (Michelson)

64.       Secret Garden (1911), Burnett, Frances                                                 (Michelson)

65.       Pollyanna (1913), Porter, Eleanor                                                                (UCLA)

66.       East of the Sun, West of the Moon (1914), [Asbjornsen, Peter]             (Michelson)

67.       Magic Pudding (1918), Lindsay, Norman                                                     (Harer)

68.       Raggedy Ann (1918), Gruelle, Johnny                                                         (Cotsen)

69.       Cinderella (1919), Evans, Charles / Arthur Rackham                               (Osborne)

70.       Velveteen Rabbit (1922), Williams, Margery                                         (Michelson)

71.       Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), Milne, A. A.                                                   (Michelson)

72.       Millions of Cats (1928), Gag, Wanda                                                         (Lapides)

73.       Dick and Jane (1930), Elson, William Harris                                           (Osborne)

74.       Little Engine that Could (1930), [Munk, Arnold]                               (Anonymous)

75.       Secret of the Old Clock (1930), Stratemeyer, Edward]                                 (Hanff)

76.       Mickey Mouse (1931), Walt Disney Productions                                       (Lapides)

77.       Babar (1931), Brunhoff, Jean de                                                            (Michelson)

78.       Mary Poppins (1934), Travers, P. L.                                                          (Lapides)

79.       Little House on the Prairie (1935), Wilder, Laura Ingalls                              (Lilly)

80.       Ferdinand (1936), Leaf, Wilbur Munro                                                 (Michelson)

81.       The Hobbit (1937), Tolkien, J. R. R.                                                               (Lilly)

82.       Madeline (1939), Bemelmans, Ludwig                                                  (Michelson)

83.       Pat the Bunny (1940), Kunhardt, Dorothy                                                 (Lapides)

84.       Curious George (1941), Rey, H. A.                                                       (Michelson)

85.       Make Way for Ducklings (1941), McCluskey, John                              (Michelson)

86.       The Little House (1942), Burton, Virginia Lee                                      (Michelson)

87.       Poky Little Puppy (1942), Lowrey, Janette Sebring                               (Michelson)

88.       Le Petit Prince (1943), Saint-Exupery, Antione (1943)                             (Lapides)

89.       Goodnight Moon (1947), Brown, Margaret Wise                                  (Michelson)

90.       Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), Lewis, C. S.                              (UCLA)

91.       The Borrowers (1952), Norton, Mary                                                        (Osborne)

92.       Charlotte’s Web (1952), White, E. B.                                                    (Michelson)

93.       How Columbus Discovered America (1954), [Kubasta, Vojtech]       (Anonymous)

94.       Eloise (1955), Thompson, Kay                                                               (Michelson)

95.       The Cat in the Hat (1957), Seuss, Dr.                                                    (Michelson)

96.       The Snowy Day (1962), Keats, Ezra Jack                                               (Michelson)

97.       Where the Wild Things Are (1963), Sendak, Maurice                            (Michelson)

98.       Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), Dahl, Roald                       (Michelson)

99.       Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969), Carle, Eric                           (Eric Carle Museum)

100.     Harry Potter (1997), Rowling, J. K.                                                            (Cotsen)