1900

Baum, L. Frank

The Wizard of Oz

JF

Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow set off for the capitol city of the magical land of Oz to ask the wonderful Wizard for their hearts’ desires.

1902

Kipling, Rudyard

Just So Stories

JF

The stories in this light-hearted collection of original fables explain how the different animals came to be the way they are.

Nesbit, Edith

Five Children and It

JF

Five children find a grumpy and odd-looking Sand-Fairy who will grant them wishes, but his answers to their wishes tend to be quite different than what they expect.

1903

London, Jack

Call of the Wild

JF

This survival story tells of a family’s pet dog that is stolen from his California home and made to work as a sled dog during the Alaskan gold rush.

Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

JF

Life is turned upside down for Aunt Miranda, Aunt Jane and the entire town when spirited and mischievous, but completely loveable, Rebecca arrives at Sunnybrooke Farm.

Potter, Beatrix

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

E

Naughty Peter Rabbit disobeys his mother and finds himself in a dangerous adventure in Mr. McGregor's garden.

1904

Field, Eugene

Poems of Childhood

JNF

The glorious paintings of Maxfield Parrish illustrate this collection of poetry for children.

1905

Potter, Beatrix

The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle

E

Lucie’s search for her lost handkerchiefs takes her to the laundry of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, a hedgehog.

1906

London, Jack

White Fang

JF

White Fang, part wolf and part dog, goes from sled dog to fighting dog at the hands of a cruel man, and then is rescued by a kind owner who tries to teach him the meaning of love.

1907

Nesbit, Edith

The Enchanted Castle

JF

Reality and fantasy intertwine in this tale of four children who discover an enchanted castle, a magic ring and a sleeping princess who is really just a girl pretending to be a princess.

1908

Montgomery, L. M.

Anne of Green Gables

JF

Anne Shirley, a spirited, talkative, redheaded orphan, is a surprising addition to a small Canadian town when the elderly siblings, Marilla and Matthew, agree to adopt her.

Grahame, Kenneth

The Wind in the Willows

JF

Adventures abound when cautious, agreeable Mole meets the boat-loving Water Rat, the boastfully wild Toad of Toad Hall, and the reclusive, curmudgeonly Badger.

1909

Burnett, Francis Hodgeson

The Secret Garden

JF

Sullen Mary and Sickly Colin are transformed by their secret efforts to restore to life a neglected English garden with the help of the spirited Dickon and his family.

Ivimey, John

The Complete Story of the Three Blind Mice

E

John Ivimey relates the events leading up to the Mice’s terrible encounter with the farmer’s wife, and what happens afterwards.

1911

Barrie, J. M.

Peter Pan

JF

The Darling Children, Wendy, John and Michael travel to Neverland with Peter Pan and the fairy Tinkerbell where they encounter the Lost Boys, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.

1912

Potter, Beatrix

The Tale of Mr. Tod

E

Peter Rabbit rescues the family of Flopsy and Benjamin Bunny, and starts a battle between two disagreeable characters, Mr. Tod, a fox, and Tommy Brock, a badger.

Le Mair, H. Willebeek

Little Songs of Long Ago

TNF

H. Willebeek Le Mair illustrated and gathered together this collection of nursery rhymes, which includes well known favorites and some that may be unfamiliar to children today.

1913

Porter, Eleanor Hodgson

Pollyanna

JF

Pollyanna brings sunshine and love to her Aunt Polly, a strict and sour spinster, by seeing the good in all situations.

1914

Burgess, Thornton

Old Mother West Wind

T

Join Old Mother West Wind and her gentle breezes in these imaginative and gentle stories of nature and animals.

1918

Gruelle, Johnny

Raggedy Ann Stories

JF

When the doll Raggedy Ann arrives at Marcella's nursery she leads the other dolls in many adventures, while always trying to become "good".

1919

Terhune, Albert Payson

Lad: A Dog

JF

This is a collection of popular magazine stories about Lad, a courageous and dignified collie, who heroically saves the day each time there is trouble.

1920

Lofting, Hugh

The Story of Doctor Dolittle

JF

Having mastered the animal language with the help of his parrot Polynesia, Doctor Dolittle, the world’s greatest animal doctor, heads off to Africa to cure a terrible monkey epidemic.

1922

Bianco, Margery Williams

The Velveteen Rabbit

T

The Velveteen Rabbit learns that toys become real only when a child loves them.

Sandburg, Carl

Rootabaga Stories

JF

These fanciful stories told by famed poet Carl Sandburg are set in an imaginary land that resembles the American Midwest and are influenced by nonsense verse and folktales.

1923

Salten, Felix

Bambi

JF

Bambi, a deer born in a woodland thicket, learns about nature’s way, survival, and the joys and sorrows of life as he grows from fawn to prince of the forest.

Hawes, Charles Boardman

The Dark Frigate

JF

Philip is forced to become a pirate when buccaneers seize the dark frigate on which he is sailing in this seafaring adventure filled with bloody battles and rousing action.

1924

Milne, A.A.

When We Were Very Young

TNF

Classic children’s poems written by A.A. Milne for his young son Christopher Robin.

1925

Chrisman, Arthur Bowie

Shen of the Sea

JF

Shen is one character in this collection of original stories that are modeled after Chinese folklore and rich with wisdom and humor.

1926

James, Will

Smoky the Cowhorse

JF

Smoky is a wild horse running free on the plains, but then he is captured by humans, becomes a famous rodeo star, works on the range as a cowhorse, and finally retires.

Milne, A.A.

Winnie the Pooh

JF

Eyore, Piglet, Owl, Tigger, Kanga and Roo and Winnie the Pooh, that silly old bear, first appear in these gentle stories for young children set in the Hundred Acre Woods.

1927

Dixon, Franklin W.

The Tower Treasure (Hardy Boys #1)

JF

Frank and Joe Hardy make an amazing discovery after a dying criminal reveals that his loot is in "the tower" in this first ever Hardy Boys mystery.

1928

Gag, Wanda

Millions of Cats

E

An old man and his wife decide to get a cat, but when the old man must choose between "hundreds, thousands, millions and billions and trillions of cats," he takes all of them home.

1929

Field, Rachel

Hitty, Her First Hundred Years

JF

Hitty is a very special doll who has experienced one hundred years of history as she travels over land and sea in the arms of one little girl after another.

1930

Keene, Carolyn

Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew #1)

JF

Nancy Drew is challenged by a mystery surrounding a missing will and an old clock in the first Nancy Drew book ever written.

Piper, Watty

The Little Engine That Could

E

The phrase "I think I can, I think I can" was coined in this story of a little train engine whose positive thinking made the impossible possible.