#Huge shout out to the children's librarian at my local library when I was growing up. She was amazing.

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My Twelve Favorite (Children’s) (Chapter) Books (in no particular order and without regard for genre or intended age) and then some

Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones. If you are looking for perfection (and if you love fantasy), you will find it here. This also serves as a placeholder for the rest of Diana Wynne Jones’s body of work. You can’t go wrong with anything she wrote, although I do have my favorites. The audiobooks read by Gerard Doyle are fabulous.

Tashi and the Big Stinker by Anna Fienberg and Barbara Fienberg . It was like this… (The whole series is phenomenal; picked this particular one because it’s my kids’ favorite of the lot). Probably written for children on the younger side (quite a bit younger, lol) but that’s never stopped me…

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes.     If you want your heart torn out in less than a hundred pages.

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, by Nancy Farmer. Each time I read this I find it just as thrilling as the last time.

The Grey King, by Susan Cooper.   While each book in this series is spectacularly written, this one is particularly haunting.  Again, be prepared to have your heart torn out by the roots.

Is Underground by Joan Aiken. An absolute gem by one of the most wildly inventive and fantastic authors to ever write for children (which obviously is saying a lot).

Lionboy by Zizou Corder.   A favorite in this household. The audiobook is – chef’s kiss.

Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl.    This book also serves as a placeholder for Roald Dahl, whose mastery goes without saying. The audiobook read by Peter Serafinowicz is terrific.

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope.   Perfectly crafted. (lol cw: quite sweet heterosexual romance)

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Every time I read it, I love it all over again.

The Superlative Horse, by Jean Merrill. What is the price, and what is the value?

Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey. One of my kids' favorites, and mine too. The later books get a bit convoluted, but this one is so much fun.

Runners up (again, in no particular order): Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes, The Moon in the Cloud by Rosemary Harris, The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by L. Pichon, Dorrie's Magic by Patricia Coombs, The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy, The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, Holes by Louis Sachar, Jack Holborn by Leon Garfield, Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Merlin’s Mistake by Robert Newman, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary, Grandpa’s Great Escape by David Walliams, The Changeover by Margaret Mahy, Sabriel by Garth Nix, An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden, The Kidnapping of Suzie Q by Martin Waddell, The Adventures of Odysseus by Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden, You're a Bad Man Mr. Gum by Andy Stanton (the audiobook read by the author is wildly hilarious), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, Knight's Castle by Edward Eager, The Book of Dragons by E. Nesbit.

I consider all the stories listed above to be treasures.

#children's fic list #mostly fantasy #my favorite authors #diana wynne jones #nancy farmer #susan cooper #joan aiken #margaret mahy #dav pilkey #zizou corder #roald dahl #I keep adding more #Huge shout out to the children's librarian at my local library when I was growing up. She was amazing. #edward eager #e. nesbit