The nation's favourite children's book?

Last month, I wrote about my choices for Booktrust's vote on 100 books to read before you're 14. The winners were announced today - and the most popular title is probably not a surprise: JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Read the full top 10 and more information about the books on Booktrust's site. How did I do? Well, only one of my choices made it onto the list, Philip Pullman's Northern Lights at number 9.

There's a short, but sweet, video of the choices on Youtube:

100 books to read before you're 14

In honour of Children's Book Week, Booktrust has announced its Ultimate List - 100 books every child should read before he / she is 14. It's split into four age-groups and covers the last 100 years. Until 15th November you can cast a vote in each category and the top books will be announced on the 25th. Instead of the normal Friday roundup, I thought I'd spend time thinking about this and my choices are below. I have to say, many of the books on the list were published long after my childhood (and I'm nowhere near 100 before you even think about asking), but I did know most of them through having worked in libraries for the last 30+ years.

0-5 years

David McKee: Not now, Bernard. (Andersen).

Poor Bernard tries to tell his parents about the monster in the garden, but will they listen? No! They fob him off with "Not now, Bernard" until it's too late - the monster eats him.

I've chosen this because it's great to read aloud - I remember using it in story-times when it was first published in the 1980s. The illustrations are clear and easy to see, even for those at the back of the group, it has plenty of repetition for the children to join in with, and it builds up their anticipation with an agreeable shudder.

6-8 years

Michael Bond: A bear called Paddington. (HapperCollins).

For this age-group, I was torn between two books from my own childhood. I loved the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories about a little girl growing up in the 1920s but I'm not sure they would appeal to children of today, whereas I think Paddington is timeless. The eccentric bear who comes from "Darkest Peru", and keeps a marmalade sandwich in his hat, gets into all sorts of scrapes that reassure a naughty child that he or she is not alone.

 

9-11 years

David Almond: Skellig. (Hodder).

The choice is becoming increasingly difficult as I move through the age-groups. Here, I am again torn between childhood favourites (Swallows and Amazons and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to name just two) and books that impressed me later (Private Peaceful, Flour Babies and Goodnight Mr Tom could all have made the cut.) I finally decided on Skellig, currently celebrating its 15th anniversary, because it is so different. Who is Skellig? Is he an angel?  If he is, he's a contender to be the most cantankerous one in literature. Does he, as Michael appears to think, help save his little sister? This story packs a real emotional punch.

12-14 years and beyond

Philip Pullman: Northern Lights.

Tough choices again. There are three titles on the list which start off trilogies which I greatly admire: The Hunger Games, The Knife of Never Letting Go and Northern Lights. I've gone for the latter mainly because of the book's heroine, Lyra, who is funny, courageous and fiercely intelligent. The cast of supporting characters is varied and equally lovable  - or loathable in the case of Mrs Coulter and her cronies - and the concept of daemons (a sort of external soul) allows an extra level of commentary as they and their humans consider events. I also liked the alternative, rather steampunk, world that Lyra lives in. I can't read this in public though; there's a scene towards the end that makes me cry every time.

So those are my choices and I've now voted. What will you choose? And can you spot a pattern in my choices? When I looked them over at the end I realised that all the authors were men. So here is my alternative all-female list which I could just as easily have chosen:

0-5 Judith Kerr. The tiger who came to tea. HarperCollins.
6-8 Joyce Lankester Brisley. The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook. Macmillan.
9-11 Anne Fine. Flour Babies. Puffin.
12-14 Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games. Scholastic.



A sense of self - books for kids to learn about "me"

We've been working very hard recently updating our page of children's booklists, adding a few extra book titles to those already there, and creating some completely new lists. Two of these are aimed at helping children to identify and develop their sense of self. Thanks to my colleague Iain Riley for creating these.

All about me Many children want to know “All about me” and there are picture books to encourage the youngest children to explore their sense of self - the "Charlie and Lola" book shown, for example, in which Lola likes to think she’s independent. Big brother Charlie knows that being all on your own isn’t always much fun, but Lola has to work that out for herself. There are also poetry books for older children and, moving from the philosophical to the anatomical, a section on looking at the human body in novel ways.

Dear diary Get students to write about their own lives, perhaps in a diary format. This list has some books we hope will inspire them. For younger children, there are picture books such as Jackie French's  Diary of a wombat. The wombat sleeps, eats and scratches. She trains humans to be better pets. It's the diary of a wombat with attitude! For older children, the Jacqueline Wilson title shown is included. It's an exciting account of her teenage years, full of revealing diary extracts – perfect for her many thousands of fans.

Library staff hope you find these suggestions helpful - we are always interested to hear about titles we could add to these, or any of our lists, or suggestions for new themes we could cover. Just let us know!

A book lover's guide to building a brilliant children's library

Book corner: A book lover's guide to building a brilliant children's library, by Lucy Mangan in the Guardian, has reached its final round up. Her top 52 are listed below and the attached article considers some of the titles that nearly made it and had to be left out.

No 1 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster(1961)
No 2 Enid Blyton (1897-1968)
No 3 The Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories by Joyce Lankester Brisley (1928)
No 4 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1909)
No 5 The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1935)
No 6 Just William by Richmal Crompton (1922)
No 7 Private - Keep Out! by Gwen Grant (1978)
No 8 The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett (1937)
No 9 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868-69)
No 10 The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (1950-56)
No 11 King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green (1953)
No 12 Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (1958)
No 13 Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary (1955)
No 14 Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (1936)
No 15 Dimsie Goes to School by Dorita Fairlie Bruce (1921)
No 16 Autumn Term by Antonia Forest (1948)
No 17 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (1964)
No 18 The One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (1956)
No 19 The Wombles by Elizabeth Beresford (1968)
No 20 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (1963)
No 21 The Six Bullerby Children by Astrid Lindgren (1947)
No 22 A Little History of the World by EH Gombrich (1935)
No 23 What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge (1872)
No 24 Life with Lisa by Sybil Burr (1958)
No 25 Charlotte's Web by EB White (1952)
No 26 The Children of the New Forest by Captain Marryat (1847)
No 27 The Borrowers by Mary Norton (1952)
No 28 Dear Teddy Robinson by Joan G Robinson (1953)
No 29 Tottie: the Story of a Doll's House by Rumer Godden (1947)
No 30 The Borribles by Michael de Larrabeiti (1976)
No 31 The Railway Children by E Nesbit (1906)
No 32 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (1876)
No 33 Grow up, Cupid by June Oldham (1988)
No 34 Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian (1981)
No 35 Fireweed by Jill Paton Walsh (1970)
No 36 The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson (1968)
No 37 Grinny by Nicholas Fisk (1973)
No 38 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (1951)
No 39 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (1941)
No 40 Alison Uttley's A Traveller in Time (1939)
No 41 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847)
No 42 Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster (1912)
No 43 My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards (1952)
No 44 The Code of the Woosters by PG Wodehouse (1938)
No 45 The Trouble with Donovan Croft by Bernard Ashley (1974)
No 46 Ladybird books
No 47 Alices Adventures in Wonderland: by Lewis Carroll (1865)
No 48 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret: by Judy Blume (1970)
No 49 The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy (1974)
No 50 Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery (1908)
No 51 Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C O'Brien (1971)
No 52 Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson (1948)

Word Pool

Word Pool is a great site with lots of children's literature ides. You can sign up for their newsletter - the latest one has new books added to their First and Second World War and Refugees lists (see our Refugees list too), and lists of books with a disabled main character. Plus there are tips for potential writers and on organising authors visits to schools, and news of Usborne's writing competition for children.

World Book Day

Take part in this year's World Book Day Short Stories competition and you could see your students' stories published in the next World Book Day anthologies. 10 famous authors and 1 famous poet have provided opening lines, so primary and secondary school children from all around the UK and Ireland can take part in the World Book Day Short Stories competition 2009-2010. Register with sponsors, Evans.

Find our own Read Around the World list on this page, made up for the last World Book Day. We'll update it in time for the next one.

World Book Day

World Book Day is next week, the 5th March. To mark it, we've updated our Read Around the World booklist, featuring picture books and stories set in a variety of countries. You can find it in the library, or on our Children's Booklists page.