List of children's classic books explained

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			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.[1]
Aesop's Fables			[2]
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	[3]
Orbis Pictus	John Amos Comenius	1658	Earliest picture book specifically for children.[4] [5]
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.[6]

18th century

Title	Author	Year published	References
Robinson Crusoe		1719	[7] [8]
Gulliver's Travels		1726	[9] A satirical novel; a children's classic in expurgated form only.[10]
Tales of Mother Goose		1729 (English)	[11]
Little Pretty Pocket-book		1744	[12]
Little Goody Two Shoes		1765	[13]
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.[14]
The History of Sandford and Merton		1783-9	A bestseller for over a century, it embodied Rousseau's educational ideals.[15]

19th century

Title	Author	Year published	References
The Swiss Family Robinson		1812-3
Grimm's Fairy Tales		1823 (English)	[16]
A Visit From St. Nicholas		1823
Tales of Peter Parley About America		1827
The Three Musketeers		1844
Fairy Tales		1846 (English)
The Children of the New Forest		1847
Slovenly Peter		1848 (English)
The Wide, Wide World		1850
The King of the Golden River		1851
The Coral Island		1857
Tom Brown's Schooldays		1857
The Water Babies		1863
A Journey to the Center of the Earth		1864
Little Prudy	Rebecca Sophia Clarke	1864	[17]
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland		1865
Max and Moritz		1865
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates		1865
Little Women		1868
Ragged Dick		1868
Lorna Doone		1869
Mrs. Overtheway's Remembrances		1869	[18]
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas		1870
At the Back of the North Wind		1871
The Brownies and other Tales		1871
The Princess and the Goblin		1871
Through the Looking-Glass		1871
Around the World in Eighty Days		1872
A Dog of Flanders		1872
What Katy Did		1873
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer		1876
Black Beauty		1877
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew		1881
The Prince and the Pauper		1881
The Adventures of Pinocchio		1883
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood		1883
Nights with Uncle Remus		1883
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn		1884
Heidi		1884 (English)
King Solomon's Mines		1885
Kidnapped		1886
Little Lord Fauntleroy		1886
The Happy Prince and Other Tales		1888
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court		1889
The Blue Fairy Book		1889
The Jungle Book		1894
Seven Little Australians		1894
Tom Sawyer Abroad		1894
The Second Jungle Book		1895
Moonfleet		1898
The Black Corsair		1898
The Reluctant Dragon		1898
The Story of the Treasure Seekers		1899
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz		1900
The Tigers of Mompracem		1900

20th century

Title	Author	Year published	References
Five Children and It		1902
Just So Stories		1902
The Tale of Peter Rabbit		1902
King Arthur and His Knights		1902-3
The Call of the Wild		1903
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm		1903
A Little Princess		1905
The Railway Children		1906
White Fang		1906
Queen Silver-Bell		1906
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils		1906
Anne of Green Gables		1908
The Wind in the Willows		1908	[19]
The Secret Garden		1909/1911
Peter and Wendy		1911	Based on the author's play Peter Pan (1904)
Tarzan		1912
The Lost World		1912
Pollyanna		1913
The Magic Pudding		1918
Raggedy Ann		1918
Lad: A Dog		1919
The Story of Doctor Dolittle		1920
Juan Bobo		1921	[20]
The Velveteen Rabbit		1922
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle		1922
The Dark Frigate		1923
When We Were Very Young		1924
Smoky the Cowhorse		1926
Winnie-the-Pooh		1926
Now We Are Six		1927
The House at Pooh Corner		1928
Bambi		1928
The Trumpeter of Krakow		1928
Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories	Joyce Lankester Brisley	1928
Emil and the Detectives		1929
Swallows and Amazons		1930–1931
Babar		1931
Little House in the Big Woods		1932
Mary Poppins		1934
Ballet Shoes		1936
The Story of Ferdinand	Munro Leaf	1936
The Hobbit		1937
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street		1937
The Sword in the Stone		1938
Madeline	Ludwig Bemelmans	1939
My Name Is Aram		1940	Children's immigrant experience in the US
Curious George		1941
Five on a Treasure Island		1942
Johnny Tremain		1943
The Little Prince		1943
Pippi Longstocking		1945
Stuart Little	E. B. White	1945
The Little White Horse		1946
Mistress Masham's Repose	T. H. White	1946
Thomas the Tank Engine	Wilbert Awdry	1946
Goodnight Moon		1947
I Capture the Castle	Dodie Smith	1948
Space Cadet		1948	One of the first modern SF novels written expressly for young people
Finn Family Moomintroll		1949
Noddy Goes to Toyland	Enid Blyton	1949	The first of the Noddy books
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe		1950
Charlotte's Web		1952	[21] [22]
The Borrowers		1952
The Children of Green Knowe		1954
Horton Hears a Who!	Dr. Seuss	1954
Beezus and Ramona	Beverly Cleary	1955
Tunnel in the Sky		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		1956
Harry the Dirty Dog		1956
The Silver Sword	Ian Serraillier	1956	Known in the US as Escape from Warsaw.
The Cat in the Hat		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		1958
A Bear Called Paddington		1958
The Rescuers		1959
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen		1960
James and the Giant Peach		1961
The Phantom Tollbooth		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		1963
Clifford the Big Red Dog	Norman Bridwell	1963
Amelia Bedelia	Peggy Parish	1963
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory		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		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		1972
A Taste of Blackberries		1973	Taboo-breaking children's book concerning a child's first grief experience.[23] [24]
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		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		1981	Film adaptation released in 1997
Goodnight Mister Tom	Michelle Magorian	1981
The BFG	Roald Dahl	1982
Dear Zoo	Rod Campbell	1982
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾		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	1997-2007
Skellig	David Almond	1998
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

Further reading

• Web site: Traditional Classics in Children's Literature . Kay E. Vandergrift. Rutgers University . 2011-12-02.
• Book: A bibliography of children's reading . Franklin Thomas . Baker . Allan . Abbot . Teachers College . 1908 . 2008 . digitized .
• Book: Cullinan. Bernice E.. Diane G. . Person. The Continuum encyclopedia of children's literature. 2003. Continuum. New York, NY. 978-0-8264-1516-5. Reprinted.
• Book: Hunt, Peter. Children's literature. 2001. Blackwell. Oxford. 978-0-631-21141-9. 1st .
• Book: Hunt. Peter. International companion encyclopedia of children's literature. 1996. Routledge. London. 9780203168127.
• Book: Lundin, Anne. Constructing the canon of children's literature : beyond library walls and ivory towers. 2004. Routledge. New York. 0-8153-3841-4. A scholarly examination of canons of children's literature.
• Book: Silvey. Anita. Children's books and their creators. 1995. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 978-0-395-65380-7. registration. Includes a basic reading list on pp. xi - xvi.
• Book: Spitz, Ellen Handler. Inside picture books. 2000. Yale University Press. New Haven. 9780300084764.
• Book: Thwaite, Mary F.. From primer to pleasure in reading : an introduction to the history of children's books in England from the invention of printing to 1914 with an outline of some developments in other countries. 1972. The Horn book. Boston. 978-0-87675-275-3. 1st American.
• Book: Zipes. Jack. The Oxford encyclopedia of children's literature. 2006. Oxford Univ. Press. Oxford. 0195146565. registration.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Seminar on 'Suhbashita, Panchatantra & Gnomic Literature in Ancient & Medieval India' . Institute for Oriental Study, Thane . Vijay Bedekar . 27 December 2008 . 24 July 2012.
2. Book: . 1998 . Aesop, The Complete Fables . New York . Penguin Classics . 0-14-044649-4 .
3. Book: Lyons. Three tales from the Arabian nights. 2008. Penguin. London. 978-1-84614-158-4. translated by Malcolm C. Lyons, Robert Irwin, and Ursula Lyons ; with an introduction by Robert Irwin.
4. Book: Epstein, Connie C.. The Art of Writing for Children. 1991. Archon Books. 0-208-02297-X. 2.
5. Book: Comenius, John Amos. Orbis Pictus : [Orbis Sensualium Pictus. A world of things obvious to the scenes drawn in pictures]. 1999. Kessinger. 978-0-7661-0825-7. [Faks.Repr.].
6. Book: Janeway, James. A token for children : being an exact account of the conversion, holy and exemplary lives and joyful deaths of several young children in two parts. 1994. Soli Deo Gloria Publications. Pittsburgh, PA. 978-1-877611-76-6. To which is added, A token for the children of New England / by Cotton Mather.
7. Encyclopedia: Nesbit . Eva Marie . Classic novels . . 171 - 175.
8. Book: Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. 2001. The Modern Library. New York. 978-0-375-75732-7. Modern Library paperback.
9. Book: Swift, Jonathan. Albert J. . Rivero . Gulliver's travels . Based on the 1726 text : contexts, criticism. 2002. Norton. New York. 978-0-393-95724-2. 1st.
10. Web site: Gulliver's Travels Wasn't Meant to Be a Children's Book And More Things You Didn't Know About the Literary Classic. Daniel. Cook. The Smithsonian Magazine. 2017-11-28. 2024-08-27.
11. Book: Illustrated by Sally Holmes ; newly translated by Neil Philip and Nicoletta Simborowski ; with an introduction and notes on the story by Neil Philip. Charles . Perrault . The complete fairy tales of Charles Perrault. 1963. Clarion Books. New York. 978-0-395-57002-9.
12. Book: Newbery. John. A Little pretty pocket-book. 2009. Dodo Press. 978-1-4099-4974-9.
13. Book: Welsh, Charles. Goody Two Shoes. 2010. Kessinger Publishing. 978-1-162-75622-6. reprint.
14. Pickering, Samuel F., Jr. John Locke and Children's Books in Eighteenth-Century England. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1981. .
15. Darton, F. J. Harvey. Children's Books in England: Five Centuries of Social Life. 3rd ed. Rev. Brian Alderson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1982), 146.
16. Book: Jacob. Grimm . Wilhelm . Grimm . Lily . Owens . The complete Brothers Grimm fairy tales. 2006. Gramercy Books. New York. 978-0-517-22925-5. Deluxe.
17. Web site: Little Prudy. Library of Congress. 2019-08-29.
18. Secret Gardens: A Study of the Golden Age of Children's Literature by Humphrey Carpenter, 1985, Part II, Chapter 1: "It seemed to open the door to a new way of writing for, and about, children"
19. Encyclopedia: Baskin . Barbara H. . Harris . Karen . Classics . .
20. https://books.google.com/books?id=B_4oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA192 Journal of American Folklore, Vol.34, p. 143; by J. Alden Mason & Aurelio M. Espinosa, ed.; 1921
21. Introducing Children's Literature: From Romanticism to Postmodernism by Deborah Cogan Thacker, Routledge, 2002, page 123
22. 100 Best Books for Children by Anita Silvey, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004, page 131
23. Web site: Doris Buchanan Smith. St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers. Gale Biography In Contex. 29 April 2011.
24. Book: Trelease, Jim. The Read-Aloud Handbook. 2006. Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated. New York. 978-0-14-303739-2. 236.