What are Your Favorite Children’s Books?

I recently found a list of a hundred top fiction books today’s elementary students should read. Many are relatively new on the book shelf; a few are old enough that I read them as a child, decades ago. The list includes:

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Alice in Wonderland
• Matilda
• The Chronicles of Narnia
• We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
• Where the Wild Things Are
• Black Beauty
• Flat Stanley
• Winnie the Pooh
• Funnybones
• The Hobbit
• Green Eggs and Ham
• Grimm’s Fairy Tales
• Artemis Fowl
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid
• The Secret Garden
• The Borrowers
• Coraline
• Cinderella
• Kidnapped
• The Wind in the Willows
• The Velveteen Rabbit
• Pinocchio
• The Day the Crayons Quit
• The Giving Tree
• The Phantom Toll Booth
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Question#1: Which newer titles have you read and were able to identify with?

Question #2: Which newer titles left you wondering what the appeal was for young readers?

Question #3: Do you think the fiction books you read as a child influenced your adult reading? If so, how and why?

I’m surprised by my reaction when I think about those questions. After you share your ideas, I’ll share mine.