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Some of the Best Selling Childrens Books From the Last 100 Years

Some of the Best Selling Childrens Books From the Last 100 Years

April 2nd celebrates International Children's Day (it's Hans Christan Anderson's birthday too). To mark this annual literary event, we thought we'd share some of the best selling children's books from the last one hundred years. We'd love to know what you think of it and if there are any others that you would add to the list!

1920

The Story of Dr Dolittle - Hugh Lofting (1920)

"I like the animals better than the best people."

Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams (1922)

"You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

1930

Mary Poppins - P.L Travers (1934)

"Don't you know that everybody's got a Fairyland of their own?"

The Hobbit - J.R.R Tolkien (1937)

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

1940

The Little Prince - Antoine du Saint-Exupery (1943)

 "In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh!"

Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown (1947)

“Goodnight stars, Goodnight air, Goodnight noises everywhere/”

1950

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S Lewis (1950)

"Courage, dear heart."

Charlotte's Webb - E.B White (1952)

"You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing."

1960

Where The Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak (1963)

“Max stepped into his private boat and waved goodbye and sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him - and it was still hot.”

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle (1969)

"On Saturday, he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.
That night he had a stomach ache."

1970

Danny, the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl (1975)

"I will not pretend I wasn't petrified. I was. But mixed in with the awful fear was a glorious feeling of excitement. Most of the really exciting things we do in our lives scare us to death. They wouldn't be exciting if they didn't."

Bridge to Teribithia - Katherina Patherson (1977)

"I know" – she was getting excited – "it could be a magic country like Narnia, and the only way you can get in is by swinging across on this enchanted rope." Her eyes were bright. She grabbed the rope. "Come on," she said. "Let's find a place to build our castle stronghold.

1980

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 - Beverly Cleary (1981)

"The Quimbys’ house seemed to have grown smaller during the day until it was no longer big enough to hold her family and all its problems."

The Jolly Postman - Janet & Allen Ahlberg (1986)

"Once upon a bicycle so they say, a Jolly Postman came one day."

1990

Oh, The Places You'll Go - Dr Seuss (1990)

"Kid, you’ll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!"

Holes - Louis Sachar (1998)

"I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. Nothing in life is easy. But that’s no reason to give up. You’ll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it. After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it."

2000

Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney (2007)

“If there’s one thing I learned from Rodrick, it’s to set people’s expectations real low so you end up surprising them by practically doing nothing at all.”

Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman (2001)

“The news lies all the time. They tell us what they think we would want to hear.”

2010

Truth Pixie - Matt Haig (2018)

"Your life is like a voice, how you use it is really your choice. You can live life as a mumble or sing it clear."

How to Train Your Dragon - Cressida Cowell (2003)

"The most important day of your life is not the day you were born but the day you learn why."

 

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