Top 100 Children's Books

 Oh, good. I'm so glad someone (Teacherninja!) made this into a meme. And thanks to MotherReader for the link.

Here are the Top 100 Children's Novels, as determined by Betsy's poll. I put the ones I've read in bold. I've read 80/100 and it's pretty obvious that I'm lacking in the classics. How many have you read?

100. The Egypt Game - Snyder (1967)
99. The Indian in the Cupboard - Banks (1980)
98. Children of Green Knowe - Boston (1954)
97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - DiCamillo (2006)
96. The Witches - Dahl (1983)
95. Pippi Longstocking - Lindgren (1950)
94. Swallows and Amazons - Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn - Brink (1935)
92. Ella Enchanted - Levine (1997)
91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Sachar (1978)
90. Sarah, Plain and Tall - MacLachlan (1985)
89. Ramona and Her Father - Cleary (1977)
88. The High King - Alexander (1968)
87. The View from Saturday - Konigsburg (1996)
86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Rowling (1999)
85. On the Banks of Plum Creek - Wilder (1937)
84. The Little White Horse - Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief - Turner (1997)
82. The Book of Three - Alexander (1964)
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Lin (2009)
80. The Graveyard Book - Gaiman (2008)
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family - Taylor (1951)
78. Johnny Tremain - Forbes (1943)
77. The City of Ember - DuPrau (2003)
76. Out of the Dust - Hesse (1997)
75. Love That Dog - Creech (2001)
74. The Borrowers - Norton (1953)
73. My Side of the Mountain - George (1959)
72. My Father's Dragon - Gannett (1948)
71. The Bad Beginning - Snicket (1999)
70. Betsy-Tacy - Lovelae (1940)
69. The Mysterious Benedict Society - Stewart ( 2007)
68. Walk Two Moons - Creech (1994)
67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher - Coville (1991)
66. Henry Huggins - Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes - Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago - Peck (1998)
63. Gone-Away Lake - Enright (1957)
62. The Secret of the Old Clock - Keene (1959)
61. Stargirl - Spinelli (2000)
60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart - Funke (2003)
58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Aiken (1962)
57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 - Cleary (1981)
56. Number the Stars - Lowry (1989)
55. The Great Gilly Hopkins - Paterson (1978)
54. The BFG - Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows - Grahame (1908)
52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
51. The Saturdays - Enright (1941)
50. Island of the Blue Dolphins - O'Dell (1960)
49. Frindle - Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks - Birdsall (2005)
47. Bud, Not Buddy - Curtis (1999)
46. Where the Red Fern Grows - Rawls (1961)
45. The Golden Compass - Pullman (1995)
44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Blume (1972)
43. Ramona the Pest - Cleary (1968)
42. Little House on the Prairie - Wilder (1935)
41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Speare (1958)
40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Baum (1900)
39. When You Reach Me - Stead (2009)
38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix - Rowling (2003)
37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Taylor (1976)
36. Are You there, God? It's Me, Margaret - Blume (1970)
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire - Rowling (2000)
34. The Watson's Go to Birmingham - Curtis (1995)
33. James and the Giant Peach - Dahl (1961)
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - O'Brian (1971)
31. Half Magic - Eager (1954)
30. Winnie-the-Pooh - Milne (1926)
29. The Dark Is Rising - Cooper (1973)
28. A Little Princess - Burnett (1905)
27. Alice I and II - Carroll (1865/72)
26. Hatchet - Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women - Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling (2007)
23. Little House in the Big Woods - Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux - DiCamillo (2003)
21. The Lightening Thief - Riordan (2005)
20. Tuck Everlasting - Babbitt (1975)
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dahl (1964)
18. Matilda - Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee - Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy - Fitzhugh (1964)
15. Because of Winn-Dixie - DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Rowling (1999)
13. Bridge to Terabithia - Paterson (1977)
12. The Hobbit - Tolkien (1938)
11. The Westing Game - Raskin (1978)
10. The Phantom Tollbooth - Juster (1961)
9. Anne of Green Gables - Montgomery (1908)
8. The Secret Garden - Burnett (1911)
7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)
6. Holes - Sachar (1998)
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - Koningsburg (1967)
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Lewis (1950)
3. Harry Potter #1 - Rowling (1997)
2. A Wrinkle in Time - L'Engle (1962)
1. Charlotte's Web - White (1952)

My Debut YA Cover

Travis over at 100 Scope Notes invites us to create our own debut YA book cover. Check out his post to find out how.

And here's mine:



Blurb: After Anita's best friend Rayleigh suddenly grows boobs, starts getting attention from cute boys, and ditches Anita to hang out with the cool kids, Anita's parents send her to summer cooking school. Anita knows her parents are only sending her away because they're getting a divorce and she's determined not to enjoy a minute of it, especially when she finds out her roommate is Joanie, the school nerd. But when the smoldering Dexter becomes her cooking partner and Anita learns to look beyond first appearances, this summer might turn out to be her best yet! Bon appetit!

Tagline: This summer romance will WHISK you away!

What do you think? Should I write this story for my novel in November? ;)

Addicted to...?

Trisha tagged me for the five things I'm addicted to meme. So, without further ado...

1. America's Next Top Model. It is true! I am not ashamed! I really started watching this show about a year ago when my best friend came up here to visit me and now we're both obsessed. They've been rerunning past seasons of it on Oxygen and I've been recording them. In the past few weeks I've watched 3 or 4 seasons in their entirety and portions of other seasons. I love hate love it when they cry over their haircuts. :)

2. Books about medical issues. Maybe it's because my mom's a doctor, but I've always been interested in novels about diseases, surgery, psych hospitals... you name it! (Anyone have recommendations? Amanda and I already bonded over our shared childhood love of A Night Without Stars!)

3. Gag reels on DVDs. They are my favorite extra and I get really disappointed when they're not included.

4. Musicals. Ohhh how I love them! My all-time favorite is Miss Saigon. Runner up is Phantom. My sophomore year at IU, I was an usher at the IU Auditorium and got to see a whole bunch of shows for free. Ahhh, how I miss that perk... Since I moved to Chicagoland (just over two years ago), I've seen Wicked (twice), The Color Purple, Jersey Boys, and Sweeney Todd.

5. Shopping at Trader Joe's. Before I moved up here, I'd never lived in a place that had Trader Joe's. I love their tomato soup, their tomato-broccoli pesto frozen pizza, and pretty much every kind of cookie they have. Every time my friends or parents come up to visit, we have to stop at Trader Joe's. One time when a group of friends came up, we went three separate times over one weekend.

I'm not so into the tagging, so if you wanna do it or you're looking for something to do this weekend, consider yourself tagged!

I've been nominated!

Does this mean I'm one of the cool kids? The lovely Miss Print nominated me for this blog award! Thank you, thank you! :)

The rules are simple

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

Okay, I'm not going to nominate seven blogs because I'm contrary like that, but I would like to nominate the following:

Wizards Wireless - Because I love getting her bookseller's point of view and because she was instrumental in getting my blog off the ground. She made a post with tips for new bloggers that was in one of the Carnivals and the rest is history!

Jen Robinson's Book Page - Because she posts about so many different interesting topics and always features what's going on in the blogosphere. I love reading her reviews!

The YA YA YAs - Because they not only post great, interesting reviews, but they post about crafts sometimes, too! Useful crafts that I am going to try out at my library!

A couple of memes...

My brain is still blog-xhausted from the 48 Hour Book Challenge, so I thought it'd be the perfect time to do a couple memes I've been tagged for.

The first is the Meme of Five, for which I was tagged by the lovely Sarah Miller (like, forever ago... I didn't forget! I've been saving it for the perfect time!).

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the player's blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?

Five years ago was the summer between my junior and senior years of college. I was working at Barnes & Noble, staying up until the wee hours of the night, and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the Rest of My Life. (I didn't figure it out then and being a librarian hadn't ever even occurred to me...)

What are five things on your to-do list for today?

Since today's almost over, I'll give you tomorrow's to-do list:

1. Give my cat his medicine
2. Read one of the non-fiction books I checked out today
3. Work on a couple of school loan bags
4. Check on some graphics stuff with our graphic artist
5. Sign lots of kids up for the Summer Reading Club

What are five snacks you enjoy?

1. Carrots & hummus (er... hummus and pretty much anything)
2. Doritos
3. Grapes
4. Any kind of cookie from Trader Joe's
5. M&Ms

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Pay off my student loans and the loans/mortgages/bills of all my family and friends.
2. Travel. A lot. With friends.
3. Buy a house. Maybe several houses in different cities.
4. Give money to Alzheimer's research.
5. Give money to some literacy-related charity.

What are five of your bad habits?

1. Letting the dishes pile up (and I have a dishwasher, so no excuse!)
2. Over-thinking things
3. Forgetting to be positive and open-minded
4. Buying books and not reading them
5. Going too long without getting my oil changed

What are five places you've lived?

1. Louisville, KY (born and raised!)
2. Bloomington, IN (college and grad school)
3. Palatine, IL
4. And that's all.
5. (So far!)

What are five jobs you've had?

1. Bookseller at Barnes & Noble
2. Student intern at a psychology lab
3. Library assistant at a disability library
4. Library assistant in library adult services department
5. Children's librarian

Thanks for tagging me, Sarah! I know it's dorky, but it still makes me feel special. :)

And Mindy just tagged me for the Favorite Authors Meme:

Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your blog, answer the questions, and tag people in your post. Don’t forget to let the tagees know they were tagged, so leave a comment on their blog! And remember to let your tagger know that your entry is posted.

1. Who’s your favorite all-time author, and why?
I swear I'm not copying Mindy, but I have to say John Steinbeck. The Grapes of Wrath was the first adult book that really resonated with me. Whenever I think about his books, it feels like coming home to a friend.

2.Who was your first favorite author, and why?
I suppose my first favorite author was Beverly Cleary. I loved all the Ramona books as well as Otis Spofford, Ellen Tebbits, Mitch & Amy, and Emily's Runaway Imagination.

3. Who’s the most recent edition to your list of favorite authors, and why?
Sarah Addison Allen because I loved Garden Spells so very much and I can't wait to dig into her newest...!

4. If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, what would pop out of your mouth?
Sarah Dessen, Andrew Clements, Michael Crichton, Scott Westerfeld, Maureen Johnson, John Green, Michelle Paver, Shannon Hale

Thanks for tagging me! I still feel awkward about tagging people, so I maintain that if you want to do one of these memes, consider yourself tagged!

Summer Blog Blast Tour

Today's the kick-off for the 2008 Summer Blog Blast Tour and you won't want to miss it. Colleen over at Chasing Ray is organizing and it looks to be fabulous. Already I've learned about R.L. LaFevers's new Theodosia book due out in November (yay!) and Adam Rex's sequel to Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich: Frankenstein Takes the Cake (also yay!). (And I know one coworker's daughter who will be Very Happy to hear about the new Adam Rex.) Different interviews will be up all week long, so make sure you stop by.

Annnd to flesh out this post, I'm doing a meme that Melissa tagged me for awhile ago. I will present 6 incredibly random things about myself:

1. I started my first website when I was in high school. It was on Angelfire and it was called Abby's Place. A guy from the local newspaper wrote an article about kids with websites and he interviewed me for it, but the day the article came out Angelfire crashed and I lost my entire site. It was a bummer.

2. I wrote my first book in Kindergarten for the Young Author's contest. It was about an owl and my teacher helped me cut out pages in the shape of an owl's head.

3. When I worked for a major corporate bookstore chain, I got to dress up in the book character costumes that came to the store. I was Spot, Miss Spider, Froggy, and Clifford. It's not that it's so hot in there, really, but more that it's hard to breathe and it smells bad. It's worth it, though, for how excited the kids get.

4. When my brother and I were little, the whole family would read Richard Scarry books at bedtime and we'd all try to find Lowly Worm and Goldbug on the pages.

5. I totally had a literary crush on Johnny Tremain in the fifth grade.

6. When I was in middle school, I had over 70 pen pals from all around the world. I had a map in my room with pins that showed each pal's location and I would get up to 10 letters a day. It was awesome getting so much mail, but somewhere along the line I lost touch with every single one of them. I think I still have folders full of their letters at my parents' house, though.

There. Now you know some incredibly random things about me. I'm not so into the tagging people thing, so if you want to do this meme, consider yourself tagged. If not, no harm, no foul.

Kids Lit on a Water Bottle

I was inspired tonight by a post on ShelfTalker. In it, she talks about her water bottle, which she got at Powell's and which is kid-lit themed. On the lines marking the ounces, it gives a children's author that would typically be appropriate for the corresponding age.

To quote:

"At the 4 ounce mark = Seuss
At the 6 ounce mark = Sendak
At the 8 ounce mark = Lobel
At the 10 ounce mark = Pilkey
At the 12 ounce mark = Cleary
At the 14 ounce mark = L'Engle
At the 16 ounce mark = Hinton"

Then she calls for our lists. What would be on YOUR water bottle? And it made me think. I think if I based my bottle on what's popular at my library, it would go a little something like this:

4 ounce = Numeroff
6 ounce = Wick (as in Walter, author of the I Spy books)
8 ounce = Gutman (My Weird School, specifically)
10 ounce = Horowitz
12 ounce = Harrison (as in Lisi)
14 ounce = Meyer (as in Stephenie)*
16 ounce = Westerfeld*

Now. If I based my list on the books I loved as a child, it would go a little something like this:

4 ounce = Harris (as in Joel Chandler... yes, I loved the Disney Uncle Remus stories!)
6 ounce = Van Allsburg (Polar Express and Two Bad Ants)
8 ounce = Cleary
10 ounce = Lowry
12 ounce = Pike (as in Christopher)
14 ounce = Mazer (Norma Fox)
16 ounce = Steinbeck (I read The Grapes of Wrath my junior year and I was hooked...)

Now. If I based my list on the children's/YA books I've read as an adult (say, since I started the process of library school), it would go a little something like this:

4 ounce = Willems
6 ounce = Lester
8 ounce = Pennypacker
10 ounce = Clements
12 ounce = Oppel
14 ounce = Dessen
16 ounce = McCafferty

(Oh my goodness, that was incredibly hard to keep it to one author per line... I could make many, many more lists with all different authors, I know...)

What would be on YOUR list?

*I don't actually work with kids this age, so I can't be certain, but here are my best guesses.

Meme

I've been tagged by Melissa for the nonfiction meme started by Gautami.

• a) What issues/topic interests you most–non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that has nothing to do with novels? I am partial to books about animals, medical science, cold places (Alaska, Antarctica, etc.), and memoirs of all sorts. I really enjoy any non-fiction book that has a great story.
  

• b) Would you like to review books concerning those? One of my New Year's resolutions was to read more non-fiction. I write small "reviews" on LibraryThing and Goodreads for every book I read. If it's a book I particularly liked, I'll review it on my blog.
  

• c) Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby? Tell reasons for what ever you choose. At the moment, I review books as a hobby and as practice. Sure, I'd love to be paid for them someday, but I'm just starting out here, so I don't have solid aspirations at the moment.
  

• d) Would you recommend those to your friends and how? I share reviews on my blog, I post reviews on Goodreads (which many of my friends and coworkers are on).
  

• e) If you have already done something like this, link it to your post. Here's a link to the nonfiction reviews on my blog.
  

• f) Please don’t forget to link back here or whoever tags you.
  

I feel uncomfortable tagging anyone, so consider yourself tagged if you'd like to fill it out!

Seven things about me

I was tagged for this blog's first meme by the wonderful and fabulous Wizards Wireless (she's got an awesome compilation of Best of 2007 Lists over there, by the way... go check it out).

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I went to library school on a whim. Long story short, I had finished undergrad and moved back home and I desperately wanted to move back to my college town where my friends and boyfriend were. My undergrad university offered an LIS program, so I took the GRE's, applied, and the rest was history. I had never worked in a library before. I am seriously so lucky that it turned out to be the right choice.

2. Before entering the world of library jobs, I worked at Barnes & Noble for 6 years. I still kinda miss it sometimes. But I'm way too soft now... no way would I survive those 8 hour shifts on your feet...

3. I have two cats. Howie and Ava. I guess maybe that qualifies me as a Cat Lady. But I don't mind because I like them and they like me (most of the time).

4. I won first place in my school's Young Author's contest when I was in the first grade. I wrote my first book when I was in kindergarten (with the help of my teacher). It was about an owl. The book I wrote in first grade was about my cats. They went on adventures and solved a mystery. There was also a whale named Big Body Whale. Heheheh.

5. I won NaNoWriMo for the fourth year in a row this year. My story was about a girl who sees faeries and then is transported to the faerie world to fulfill a lost prophecy and defeat an ancient evil that's slowly taking over the faerie kingdom.

6. I love doing laundry. This stems from finally having a washer and dryer in my apartment after several years of having to trek laundry across a parking lot and use all my quarters to get it done. In fact, the washer is going right now. :)

7. One of the first books I remember loving as a child is Chris Van Allsburg's Two Bad Ants. I think it's so awesome that now I can share this book with kids at my library.

Now, here's the thing about tagging... I'm just not sure that seven people really look at this thing regularly, SO if you're reading this and want to do the meme, drop me a line and I will link to you. I know, I know, it's kind of a cop-out.