This is a list of children's classic books published no later than 1990 and still available in the English language.
Before 18th century
| Title |
Author |
Year published |
References and Brief Introduction |
| Panchatantra |
Vishnu Sharma |
c. 800 BC |
Ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. Similar stories are found in later works including Aesop's Fables and the Sindbad tales in Arabian Nights. |
| Aesop's Fables |
Aesop |
c. 600 BC |
|
| Kathasaritsagara |
Somadeva |
11th Century AD |
Collection of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales as retold by a Saivite Brahmin named Somadeva. Generally believed to derive from Gunadhya's Brhat-katha, written in Paisachi dialect from the south of India. |
| Arabian Nights |
unknown |
before 8th century AD |
|
| Orbis Pictus |
John Amos Comenius |
1658 |
Earliest picture book specifically for children. |
| A Token for Children. Being An Exact Account of the Conversion, Holy and Exemplary Lives, and Joyful Deaths of several Young Children |
James Janeway |
1672 |
One of the first books specifically written for children which shaped much eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century writing for children. |
18th century
19th century
20th century
| Title |
Author |
Year published |
References |
| The Wonderful Wizard of Oz |
L. Frank Baum |
1900 |
|
| The Tigers of Mompracem |
Emilio Salgari |
1900 |
|
| Five Children and It |
E. Nesbit |
1902 |
|
| Just So Stories |
Rudyard Kipling |
1902 |
|
| The Tale of Peter Rabbit |
Beatrix Potter |
1902 |
|
| King Arthur and His Knights |
Howard Pyle |
1902-3 |
|
| The Call of the Wild |
Jack London |
1903 |
|
| Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm |
Kate Douglas Wiggin |
1903 |
|
| A Little Princess |
Frances Hodgson Burnett |
1905 |
|
| The Railway Children |
E. Nesbit |
1906 |
|
| White Fang |
Jack London |
1906 |
|
| Anne of Green Gables |
Lucy Maud Montgomery |
1908 |
|
| The Wind in the Willows |
Kenneth Grahame |
1908 |
|
| The Secret Garden |
Frances Hodgson Burnett |
1909/1911 |
|
| Peter and Wendy |
J. M. Barrie |
1911 |
Based on the author's play Peter Pan (1904) |
| The Lost World |
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
1912 |
|
| Pollyanna |
Eleanor H. Porter |
1913 |
|
| The Magic Pudding |
Norman Lindsay |
1918 |
|
| Raggedy Ann |
Johnny Gruelle |
1918 |
|
| The Story of Doctor Dolittle |
Hugh Lofting |
1920 |
|
| The Heart of a Dog |
Albert Payson Terhune |
1921 |
|
| Juan Bobo |
Puerto Rican school children |
1921 |
|
| The Velveteen Rabbit |
Margery Williams |
1922 |
|
| The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle |
Hugh Lofting |
1922 |
|
| The Dark Frigate |
Charles Boardman Hawes |
1923 |
|
| Smoky the Cowhorse |
Will James |
1926 |
|
| Winnie-the-Pooh |
A. A. Milne |
1926 |
|
| The House at Pooh Corner |
A. A. Milne |
1928 |
|
| Bambi |
Felix Salten |
1928 |
|
| The Trumpeter of Krakow |
Eric P. Kelly |
1928 |
|
| Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories |
Joyce Lankester Brisley |
1928 |
|
| Emil and the Detectives |
Erich Kästner |
1929 |
|
| Swallows and Amazons |
Arthur Ransome |
1930–1931 |
|
| Little House in the Big Woods |
Laura Ingalls Wilder |
1932 |
|
| Mary Poppins |
P. L. Travers |
1934 |
|
| Ballet Shoes |
Noel Streatfeild |
1936 |
|
| The Story of Ferdinand |
Munro Leaf |
1936 |
|
| The Hobbit |
J. R. R. Tolkien |
1937 |
|
| The Sword in the Stone |
T. H. White |
1938 |
|
| Madeline |
Ludwig Bemelmans |
1939 |
|
| My Name Is Aram |
William Saroyan |
1940 |
Children's immigrant experience in the US |
| Curious George |
H. A. Rey |
1941 |
|
| Five on a Treasure Island |
Enid Blyton |
1942 |
|
| Johnny Tremain |
Esther Forbes |
1943 |
|
| The Little Prince |
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
1943 |
|
| Pippi Longstocking |
Astrid Lindgren |
1945 |
|
| The Little White Horse |
Elizabeth Goudge |
1946 |
|
| Thomas the Tank Engine |
Wilbert Awdry |
1946 |
|
| Goodnight Moon |
Margaret Wise Brown |
1947 |
|
| I Capture the Castle |
Dodie Smith |
1948 |
|
| Finn Family Moomintroll |
Tove Jansson |
1949 |
|
| Noddy Goes To Toyland |
Enid Blyton |
1949 |
|
| The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe |
C.S. Lewis |
1950 |
|
| Charlotte's Web |
E. B. White |
1952 |
|
| The Borrowers |
Mary Norton |
1952 |
|
| The Children of Green Knowe |
Lucy M. Boston |
1954 |
|
| Beezus and Ramona |
Beverly Cleary |
1955 |
|
| Eloise |
Kay Thompson |
1955 |
It was first published in 1955, but was aimed at adults. It was re-published in 1969, this time marketed to children. |
| The Hundred and One Dalmatians |
Dodie Smith |
1956 |
|
| Harry the Dirty Dog |
Gene Zion |
1956 |
|
| The Silver Sword |
Ian Serraillier |
1956 |
Known in the US as Escape From Warsaw. |
| The Cat in the Hat |
Dr. Seuss |
1957 |
First high quality limited-vocabulary book, written for early readers |
| Little Bear |
Else Holmelund Minarik |
1957 |
|
| Tom's Midnight Garden |
Philippa Pearce |
1958 |
|
| A Bear Called Paddington |
Michael Bond |
1958 |
|
| The Rescuers |
Margery Sharp |
1959 |
|
| The Weirdstone of Brisingamen |
Alan Garner |
1960 |
|
| James and the Giant Peach |
Roald Dahl |
1961 |
|
| The Phantom Tollbooth |
Norton Juster |
1961 |
|
| The Big Honey Hunt |
Stan and Jan Berenstain |
1962 |
|
| A Wrinkle in Time |
Madeleine L'Engle |
1962 |
|
| The Wolves of Willoughby Chase |
Joan Aiken |
1962 |
|
| Stig of the Dump |
Clive King |
1963 |
|
| Where the Wild Things Are |
Maurice Sendak |
1963 |
|
| Clifford the Big Red Dog |
Norman Bridwell |
1963 |
|
| Amelia Bedelia |
Peggy Parish |
1963 |
|
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
Roald Dahl |
1964 |
|
| Flat Stanley |
Jeff Brown |
1964 |
|
| The Giving Tree |
Shel Silverstein |
1964 |
|
| Harriet the Spy |
Louise Fitzhugh |
1964 |
|
| Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car |
Ian Fleming |
1964 |
|
| The Owl Service |
Alan Garner |
1967 |
|
| A Wizard of Earthsea |
Ursula K. Le Guin |
1968 |
With its sequels, it broke ground for epic fantasy in several ways: the first book had a non-white hero, the later books explored the role of gender in fantasy and power, and the quest structure is not good vs. evil but balance. |
| The Iron Man |
Ted Hughes |
1968 |
|
| The Tiger Who Came to Tea |
Judith Kerr |
1968 |
|
| The Very Hungry Caterpillar |
Eric Carle |
1969 |
|
| Charlotte Sometimes |
Penelope Farmer |
1969 |
|
| Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret |
Judy Blume |
1970 |
Approached puberty more openly than children's books had in the past. |
| When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit |
Judith Kerr |
1971 |
|
| The Lorax |
Dr Seuss |
1971 |
|
| Watership Down |
Richard Adams |
1972 |
|
| A Taste of Blackberries |
Doris Buchanan Smith |
1973 |
Taboo-breaking children's book (Grades 4-6) concerning a child's first grief experience. HarperCollins. 19th edition published 2005. |
| The Worst Witch |
Jill Murphy |
1974 |
|
| Bridge to Terabithia |
Katherine Paterson |
1977 |
|
| Each Peach Pear Plum |
Janet and Allan Ahlberg |
1978 |
|
| The Snowman |
Raymond Briggs |
1978 |
|
| The Neverending Story |
Michael Ende |
1979 |
|
| The Indian in the Cupboard |
Lynne Reid Banks |
1980 |
|
| The Paper Bag Princess |
Robert Munsch |
1980 |
|
| Jumanji |
Chris Van Allsburg |
1981 |
|
| Goodnight Mister Tom |
Michelle Magorian |
1981 |
|
| The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ |
Sue Townsend |
1982 |
|
| War Horse |
Michael Morpurgo |
1982 |
|
| The Sheep-Pig |
Dick King-Smith |
1983 |
Filmed as Babe in 1995. Known as Babe, the Gallant Pig in the US. |
| The Castle in the Attic |
Elizabeth Winthrop |
1985 |
|
| Howl's Moving Castle |
Diana Wynne Jones |
1986 |
Made famous because of the Studio Ghibli movie. |
| Madame Doubtfire |
Anne Fine |
1987 |
Published as Alias Madame Doubtfire in the US. Made famous because of the film adaptation (Mrs Doubtfire) starring Robin Williams. |
| Matilda |
Roald Dahl |
1988 |
|
