Some Potentially Overlooked Good Children's/Young Adult Fiction Reads

OK, So I haven't made good on my promise to create our own "Top 100 Children's Books" list yet , but We'll be working on it. In the meantime, in honor of "Works For Me Wednesday", here are some books that I pulled out from the library bookshelves for RJP to read in the past few months , that subsequently received good reviews from her...(Although they aren't written for the most part... sorry)
       Christopher Mouse, the Tale of a Small Traveler by William Wise  ~  The story of a mouse who begins his life in the home of a woman who breeds mice for scientific research and pet stores. His adventures range from a pet store to being a pet to running loose at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is probably a great read-aloud for boys or girls aged 7 and on up to "Filler" for your pre-teen/voracious reading teen.



Hope these work  for you this Wednesday, to give you some new ideas for good wholesome  tween/teen reading... I'll add more as I get to it~

Blessings~

Note: I used affiliate Amazon images because it was super easy to add the books this way. I appreciate any purchases made through the links, but please note that at least one of the books is not available for purchase... Check out your public LIBRARY! :)

Top 100 Children's books from the School Library Journal

With Summer-time upon us, and lazy reading days ahead, I thought that this was an appropriate time to post this~   A few friends have posted this list on their blogs, and I thought I'd join the fun~ 

I'm going to list them  with this "code"

*****Read 1st time as a Kid and Loved it

****Read 1st time as an Adult and Loved it

***Read 1st time as a Kid ~ Bleh

**Read 1st Time as an Adult~ Bleh

*Started, but never finished 
*****(Children read and loved) **(Child did not care for)


**********#1 Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
*****#2 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
#3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
**********#4 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
*********#5 From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
**#6 Holes by Louis Sachar
*****#7 The Giver by Lois Lowry
**********#8 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
*********#9 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
*********#10 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
#11 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
*#12 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
***#13 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#14 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
#15 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
#16 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
#17 Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
#18 Matilda by Roald Dahl
****#19 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
*********#20 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
#21 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riodan
****-****#22 The Tale of Despereaux: by Kate DiCamillo
**********#23 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
**********#25 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
#26 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
**********#27 A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
**********#28 Winnie-the Pooh by A.A. Milne
**********#29 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland /Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
*****#30 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
#31 Half Magic by Edward Eager
*********#32 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
#33 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#34 Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
#35 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling
**#36 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
*********#37 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
#38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
#39 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
**********#40 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
*****#41 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
**********#42 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
**********#43 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
***#44 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
#45 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
***#46 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
#47 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
*********#48 The Penderwicks:  by Jeanne Birdsall
#49 Frindle by Andrew Clements
***#50 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
*********#51 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
*****#52 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
**********#53 Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
#54 The BFG by Roald Dahl
#55 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
****#56 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
**********#57 Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
#58 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
#59 Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
**-****#60 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
#61 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
#62 The Secret of the Old Clock (The Nancy Drew mysteries) by Caroline Keene
*********#63 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
#64 A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
*********#65 Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
*********#66 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
#67 Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
**-****#68 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
*****#69 The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
*********#70 Betsy Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
****#71 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
**********#72 My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
*********#73 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
*********#74 The Borrowers by Mary Norton
#75 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
#76 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
#77 City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
**********#78 Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
*********#79 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
#80 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
#81 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
*****#82 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
#83 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
#84 Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
**********#85 On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#86 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
#87 The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg
*****#88 The High King by Lloyd Alexander
**********#89 Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
****#90 Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
#91 Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
**-****#92 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
****#93 Caddie Woodlawn by C. R. Brink
*********#94 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
**********#95 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
#96 The Witches by Roald Dahl
*****#97: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

#98 Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
*********#99 The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
#100 The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder 

Hmmmm... not too bad~ Out of 100 I have read 56. There also needs to be an extra single * on one of the Harry Potter books, but I don't recall the name of the 1st one. I just know that I started it as an adult, but had no desire to finish it ~ so that would be 6 books that I wouldn't include on MY top 100, and I think I would add to that "The Golden Compass".  By that token, I've read 56/93. ;) And at least my eldest has read 39 of the 93... not too shabby! :)


Some books I would add to the list... (to make up for the ones that I didn't care for ^)


Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
Redwall by Brian Jacques
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
Rascal by Sterling North 
The Wheel On the School by Meindert DeJong


Ok... so this makes me think that I need to write up another post with my own list of MY top 100 Children's Books, and then possibly my top 100 Picture Books as well! :) 


I hope you enjoyed reading this, and maybe you'll be inspired to go pick up a book, and READ! :) 


Blessings~