A Century of Children's Books Part III

Part III — 1943-56

This annotated list of classics and favorites was compiled by Sally Epp, children's librarian at the Belle Isle Library (part of the Metropolitan Library System).

Every book listed is still in print and available for check out through Interlibrary Loan.

Please choose books for your children thoughtfully, as books for a wide range of ages, interests, and developmental levels have been included.

Key— E=Easy Reader - T=Tween - JF=Juvenile Fiction - YA=Young Adult - TNF=Tween Nonfiction - JNF=Juvenile Nonfiction

1949	Krauss, Ruth	Happy Day	E
	Spring is coming and all the animals in the forest are getting ready for it as they race to see the first bright flower emerge from the snow.
	Brown, Margaret Wise	The Important Book	E
	Margaret Wise Brown some of the important things about the everyday objects in a toddler’s world in this book that invites readers to look at the world from a different angle.
	DeAngeli, Marguerite	The Door in the Wall	JF
	In this Medieval tale, Robin’s life changes when he loses the use of his legs, but he regains his confidence when he proves that there is more than one way to save a king.
1950	Cleary, Beverly	Henry Huggins	JF
	In Beverly Cleary’s first novel, Henry Huggins is unhappy with his boring life until the arrival of Ribsy, a scruffy dog with a mischievous heart, and then all sorts of misadventures begin.
	Lewis, C. S.	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	JF
	This fantasy and Christian allegory is the first title in the Chronicles of Narnia, in which Lucy and her brothers travel to the magical land of Narnia for a battle between good and evil.
1951	Estes, Eleanor	Ginger Pye	JF
	The Pye children are caught up in a mystery when their dog Ginger disappears at about the same time as the arrival of a mysterious man in a yellow hat.
	Holling, Holling C.	Minn of the Mississippi	JF
	Minn is a three-legged snapping turtle who travels the entire length of the Mississippi river.
1952	White, E. B.	Charlotte's Web	JF
	Wilbur, a lovable young pig, becomes famous across the county and is saved from an unhappy fate by the amazing web-writings of a clever spider named Charlotte.
	Norton, Mary	The Borrowers	JF
	Pod, Homily and Arrietty are Borrowers, tiny people who borrow everything they need from "human beans", but trouble begins when Arrietty is discovered by a boy.
1953	Bemelemans, Ludwig	Madeline's Rescue	E
	The lively French Madeline falls into the Seine river and is rescued by a heroic dog whom she and her friends take home and name Genevieve … but will they get to keep her?
1954	Dalgliesh, Alice	The Courage of Sarah Noble	JF
	In 1707, eight-year-old Sarah Noble goes with her father to build a new home in the wilds of Connecticut where she befriends their Indian neighbors and finds her own courage.
	Cameron, Eleanor	The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet	JF
	One of the first true science fiction books written for children, this book tells how David and Chuck go to the previously unexplored Mushroom Planet and help its inhabitants.
1955	Ets, Marie Hall	Play With Me	E
	When a little girl goes looking for someone to play with she finds that all the animals she tries to catch run away from her, but when she sits very quietly they all come back.
	Johnson, Crockett	Harold and the Purple Crayon	E
	Imagination can take you anywhere, and it certainly gives Harold some lovely adventures… with the help of a large purple crayon.
	Latham, Jean Lee	Carry On, Mr. Bowditch	JF
	Nat dreams of mastering navigation and becoming a ship’s captain, and all his dreams come true in this fictionalized biography of the famous mathematician and astronomer.
1956	Zion, Gene	Harry the Dirty Dog	E
	Harry, a white dog with black spots, discovers after a day of very messy adventures that his family doesn’t recognize him because he now looks like a black dog with white spots.
	Gipson, Fred	Old Yeller	JF
	Be prepared to cry when you read this touching story set in Texas in the 1860’s about the love shared by a fourteen-year-old boy and his faithful dog, Old Yeller.

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