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List of children's classic books facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
See also: Children's literature

This is a list of classic children's books published no later than 2008 and still available in the English language.

Books specifically for children existed by the 17th century. Before that, books were written mainly for adults – although some later became popular with children. In Europe, Gutenberg's invention of the printing press around 1440 made possible mass production of books, though the first printed books were quite expensive and remained so for a long time. Gradually, however, improvements in printing technology lowered the costs of publishing and made books more affordable to the working classes, who were also likely to buy smaller and cheaper broadsides, chapbooks, pamphlets, tracts, and early newspapers, all of which were widely available before 1800. In the 19th century, improvements in paper production, as well as the invention of cast-iron, steam-powered printing presses, enabled book publishing on a very large scale, and made books of all kinds affordable by all.

Scholarship on children's literature includes professional organizations, dedicated publications, and university courses.

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

Title Author Year published References
Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe 1719
Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift 1726
Tales of Mother Goose Charles Perrault 1729 (English)
Little Pretty Pocket-book John Newbery 1744
Little Goody Two Shoes Oliver Goldsmith 1765
Lessons for Children Anna Laetitia Barbauld 1778-9 The first series of age-adapted reading primers for children printed with large text and wide margins; in print for over a century.
The History of Sandford and Merton Thomas Day 1783-9 A bestseller for over a century, it embodied Rousseau's educational ideals.

19th century

Title Author Year published References
The Swiss Family Robinson Johann David Wyss 1812-3
Grimm's Fairy Tales Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm 1823 (English)
A Visit From St. Nicholas Clement Clarke Moore 1823
Tales of Peter Parley About America Peter Parley (pseudonym) 1827
The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas, père 1844
Fairy Tales Hans Christian Andersen 1846 (English)
The Children of the New Forest Frederick Marryat 1847
Slovenly Peter Heinrich Hoffmann 1848 (English)
The Wide, Wide World Elizabeth Wetherell (pseudonym) 1850
The King of the Golden River John Ruskin 1851
The Coral Island R. M. Ballantyne 1857
Tom Brown's Schooldays Thomas Hughes 1857
The Water Babies Charles Kingsley 1863
A Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne 1864
Little Prudy Rebecca Sophia Clarke 1864
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll 1865
Max and Moritz Wilhelm Busch 1865
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates Mary Mapes Dodge 1865
Little Women Louisa May Alcott 1868
Ragged Dick Horatio Alger, Jr. 1868
Lorna Doone R. D. Blackmore 1869
Mrs. Overtheway's Remembrances Juliana Horatia Ewing 1869
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea Jules Verne 1870
At the Back of the North Wind George MacDonald 1871
The Brownies and other Tales Juliana Horatia Ewing 1871
The Princess and the Goblin George MacDonald 1871
Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carroll 1871
Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne 1872
A Dog of Flanders Ouida 1872
What Katy Did Susan Coolidge 1873
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain 1876
Black Beauty Anna Sewell 1877
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew Margaret Sidney 1881
The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain 1881
The Adventures of Pinocchio Carlo Collodi 1883
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Howard Pyle 1883
Nights with Uncle Remus Joel Chandler Harris 1883
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain 1884
Heidi Johanna Spyri 1884 (English)
King Solomon's Mines H. Rider Haggard 1885
Kidnapped Robert Louis Stevenson 1886
Little Lord Fauntleroy Frances Hodgson Burnett 1886
The Happy Prince and Other Tales Oscar Wilde 1888
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Mark Twain 1889
The Blue Fairy Book Andrew Lang 1889
The Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling 1894
Seven Little Australians Ethel Turner 1894
Tom Sawyer Abroad Mark Twain 1894
The Second Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling 1895
Moonfleet J. Meade Falkner 1898
The Black Corsair Emilio Salgari 1898
The Reluctant Dragon Kenneth Grahame 1898
The Story of the Treasure Seekers E. Nesbit 1899
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum 1900
The Tigers of Mompracem Emilio Salgari 1900

20th century

Title Author Year published References
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
Queen Silver-Bell Frances Hodgson Burnett 1906
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Selma Lagerlöf 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)
Tarzan Edgar Rice Burroughs 1912
The Lost World Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1912
Pollyanna Eleanor H. Porter 1913
The Magic Pudding Norman Lindsay 1918
Raggedy Ann Johnny Gruelle 1918
Lad: A Dog Albert Payson Terhune 1919
The Story of Doctor Dolittle Hugh Lofting 1920
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
When We Were Very Young A.A. Milne 1924
Smoky the Cowhorse Will James 1926
Winnie-the-Pooh A. A. Milne 1926
Now We Are Six A. A. Milne 1927
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
Babar Jean de Brunhoff 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
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street Dr. Seuss 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
Stuart Little E.B. White 1945
The Little White Horse Elizabeth Goudge 1946
Mistress Masham's Repose T. H. White 1946
Thomas the Tank Engine Wilbert Awdry 1946
Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown 1947
I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith 1948
Space Cadet Robert Anson Heinlein 1948 One of the first modern SF novels written expressly for young people
Finn Family Moomintroll Tove Jansson 1949
Noddy Goes to Toyland Enid Blyton 1949 The first of the Noddy books
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
Horton Hears a Who! Dr. Seuss 1954
Beezus and Ramona Beverly Cleary 1955
Tunnel in the Sky Robert Anson Heinlein 1955 One of the first instances of mainstream SF for young people featuring a black protagonist
Eloise Kay Thompson 1955 First published in 1955, it was aimed at adults. When re-published in 1969, it was 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
How the Grinch Stole Christmas Dr. Seuss 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 Fox and the Hound Daniel P. Mannix and John Schoenherr 1967
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
Summer of the Swans Betsy Byars 1971
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
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH Robert C. O'Brien 1971
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Judy Blume 1972
Watership Down Richard Adams 1972
A Taste of Blackberries Doris Buchanan Smith 1973 Taboo-breaking children's book concerning a child's first grief experience.
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
Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade Barthe DeClements 1981
Jumanji Chris Van Allsburg 1981
Goodnight Mister Tom Michelle Magorian 1981
The BFG Roald Dahl 1982
Dear Zoo Rod Campbell 1982
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ Sue Townsend 1982
War Horse Michael Morpurgo 1982
The Sheep-Pig Dick King-Smith 1983 Published as Babe, the Gallant Pig in the US. Filmed as Babe in 1995.
Angelina Ballerina Katharine Holabird 1983
Sarah Plain and Tall Patricia MacLachlan 1985
The Castle in the Attic Elizabeth Winthrop 1985
Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne Jones 1986 Animated film adaptation by Studio Ghibli
Love You Forever Robert Munsch 1986
Franklin Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark 1986
The Little Polar Bear Hans de Beer 1987
Madame Doubtfire Anne Fine 1987 Published as Alias Madame Doubtfire in the US. Filmed as Mrs. Doubtfire starring Robin Williams.
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story Hudson Talbott 1987
Matilda Roald Dahl 1988
We're Going on a Bear Hunt Michael Rosen 1989
Shrek! William Steig 1990
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle Avi 1990
Owl Babies Martin Waddell 1992
Guess How Much I Love You Sam McBratney 1994
The Golden Compass Philip Pullman 1995
Tales from Watership Down Richard Adams 1996
The Subtle Knife Philip Pullman 1997
Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling 1997
Holes Louis Sachar 1998
The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson 1999
The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman 2000

21st century

Title Author Year published References
Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer 2001
Room on the Broom Julia Donaldson 2002
Coraline Neil Gaiman 2002
The Gruffalo's Child Julia Donaldson 2004
Al Capone Does My Shirts Gennifer Choldenko 2004
The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan 2005 First of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series
Fancy Nancy Jane O'Connor 2005
The True Meaning of Smekday Adam Rex 2007
Stick Man Julia Donaldson 2008
The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman 2008 The first book to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal
The Boy in the Dress David Walliams 2008

See also

  • List of children's literature authors
  • List of fairy tales
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List of children's classic books Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.