What are some of the greatest American children's literature of all time?

Question

There's lot of great children's literature over the past century or three, but mostly from the British. I just want to know about the greatest American children's literature of all time. It doesn't matter if you name one or ten or even twenty, just the greatest would do.

Answer 1

You're right, a lot of what we consider GREAT classic literature does come from Britain. (Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Peter Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, Chronicles of Narnia, Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, etc.)

American greats I would probably consider Louisa May Alcott (particularly Little Women) and Mark Twain of course has contributed many including Tom Sawyer. Most books (classics) now considered 'children's literature' weren't considered that when published. It wasn't until several decades into the twentieth century (1920s, 1930s) that children's publishing really took off and became a business of its own.

Picture books
Millions of Cats (1928)
The Story of Babar (1933)
The Story of Ferdinand (1936)
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street (1937)
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1939)
Madeline (1939)
Pat the Bunny (1940)
Curious George (1941)
The Runaway Bunny (1942)
Goodnight Moon (1947)
Make Way for Ducklings (1947)
Cat in the Hat (1954)
(the list goes on and on...)

http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/using/timeline.html
http://www.rif.org/art/timeline.mspx

http://www.merrycoz.org/kids.htm
http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/exhibits/childrenslit/index.html

Answer 2

how old are your kids? I'll assume they're youngish. Anything by Shel Silverstein; some books of childrens poetry include Where the Sidewalk Ends, A light in the Attic, and the Giving Tree.
Raffi is great. Dennis Lee is great (read Alligtor Pie). the last 2 are Canadian. Bob Munsch wrote a lot of fun books for young kids like the Mud Puddle, the Paperbag Princess, Mortimer, Jonathan Cleaned Up, and many more. Where the WIld Things Are by Maurice Sendak from Brooklyn is mainly for young kids but I still believe it is truly one of the greatest books of all time. Another one of my favourites is an older one by Norman Lindsay called the Magic Pudding but it's Australian not American.
Now that I think about it you are right, why haven't more Americans written great kids lit?
Oh well, a couple of more British ones you might not have considred but that are great are Rudyard Kiplings Just So Stories, numerous young childrens novles by Roald Dahl including James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the BFG. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie is wonderful. Good luck in your search for more American stuff.

Answer 3

Great American children's authors:
L. Frank Baum
Judy Blume
E. B. White
Lois Lowry
Beverly Cleary
A. A. Milne
Hugh Lofting
Betty MacDonald
Michael Bond
Vivian Vande Velde
Kathryn Lasky

Answer 4

Anything by Dr. Seuss -- the way he plays with language and his marvelously inventive illustrations make his books classics for adults too!
I predict that the Phillip Pullman series His Dark Chronicles (Northern Lights, Amber Spyglass, The Subtle Knife) for older children (10? and up, as well as for adults!) will become as classic as The Lord of the Rings or the Narnia books.
Madeleine l'Engle's "Time Quartet" -- A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Many Waters -- is also bound to become a classic.

Answer 5

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
all the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink
The Boxcar Children (sorry don't remember author)
Pollyanna by E. Porter
The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingallas Wilder
The Great Green Turkey Creek Monster by James Flora
The Ginnie series by Catherine Woolley
Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene
Berenstein Bears series by Stan and Jan Berenstein
The Moffats (sorry, don't recall author)
Hail, Hail Camp Timberwood by Ellen Conford
My Side of the Mountain (sorry don't recall author )
Henry Reed, Inc. (don't recall author)
No Promises in the Wind by Irene Hunt
I Want To Go Home by Gordon Korman
Blue Willow by Doris Gates
Little Women by Lousia May Alcott
Because of Wynn Dixie by Kate DeCamillo
Buzz, Buzz, Buzz by Byron Barton
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
anything by Bill Peet or Richard Scary
Betsy series by Carolyn Haywood
Sugar Creek Gang series
anything by Lois Lenski
Make way For Duckings by Robert McCloskey
Good Night, Moon
The Best-Loved Doll
Hope this list helps :)

Answer 6

Here are some of the best authors: Doctor Seuss, Chris Van Allsburg, Gregory Maguire, Judy Blume, Neil Gaiman ( writer) and Dave McKean ( writer and illustrator), Thomas Rockwell, Luise Fitzhugh

Answer 7

Lassie, Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Robinson Crusoe, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Treasure Island These are for older children, say 9-12. I did not know what age group you were interested in.

Answer 8

that's easy, Dr. Seuss... my favorite book by him was One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.


here's a link to some info on him
http://www.catinthehat.org/history.htm


i decided to come back and add in Stan Berenstain, author of the berenstain bears also.. it's a great series for kids.

Answer 9

I've always loved E.B. White. He wrote Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little.

Answer 10

The Chronicle of Narnia
Grandfather Twilight
The Witches
My brother Sam is Dead