WHAT DO HARRY POTTER, LITTLE GOLDEN BOOKS AND DR. SEUSS HAVE IN COMMON?

How about the TOP 100 BESTSELLING CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF ALL TIME! (compiled by Publisher's Weekly: based on sales in the U.S., the list only includes books published before the end of 2000, when the list was compiled.)

Lists are fun! Below, I've included the Top 20 Bestsellers (and their date of publishing) for hardcovers and paperbacks, but you will find a link to the complete Top 100 lists at the bottom of this post. Where do your favorites fall on the lists?



The #1 Bestsellers from each category are two of my all-time favorites: The Poky Little Puppy (a "Little Golden" picture book by Janette Sebring Lowrey, illustrated by Gustuf Tenggren - #1 hardcover)


and Charlotte's Web (a chapter book by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams - #1 paperback).


HARDCOVER TOP 20

1. THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY (1942)
2. THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT (1902)
3. TOOTLE (1945)
4. GREEN EGGS AND HAM (1960)
5. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (2000)
6. PAT THE BUNNY (1940)
7. SAGGY BAGGY ELEPHANT (1947)
8. SCUFFY THE TUGBOAT (1955)
9. THE CAT IN THE HAT (1957)
10. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (1999)
11. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (1999)
12. WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (1974)
13. ONE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH, BLUE FISH (1960)
14. THE GIVING TREE (1964)
15. THE LITTLEST ANGEL (1946)
16. HOP ON POP (1963)
17. OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO! (1990)
18. DR. SEUSS'S ABC (1960)
19. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE (1998)
20. THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR (1969)

PAPERBACK TOP 20
1. CHARLOTTE'S WEB (1974)
2. THE OUTSIDERS (1968)
3. TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE NOTHING (1976)
4. LOVE YOU FOREVER (1986)
5. WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS (1973)
6. ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS (1971)
7. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE (1999)
8. ARE YOU THERE, GOD?  IT'S ME, MARGARET (1972)
9. SHANE (1972)
10. THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD (1982)
11. A WRINKLE IN TIME (1974)
12. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE (1971)
13. LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS (1971)
14. THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY (1984)
15. THE LITTLE PRINCE (1968)
16. JOHNNY TREMAIN (1969)
17. JUST ME AND MY DAD (1977)
18. GO ASK ALICE (1976; 1998)
19. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (2000)
20. OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SHELIA THE GREAT (1976)

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY FULL LISTS: HARDCOVER and PAPERBACK books and their authors, publishers and how many of each book have been sold. (Lists edited by Diane Roback and Jason Britton; compiled by Debbie Hochman Turvey)

A SWEDISH ILLUSTRATOR: FROM DISNEY TO GOLDEN BOOKS

Being half Swedish myself, it's not a surprise that my parents took me to the Swedish Art Institute, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when I was young.  But it was a surprise to see an exhibit about an illustrator of one of my favorite childhood books, THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY.  The illustrator was Gustaf Tenggren, a Swedish immigrant to the United States who began his career with Disney studios, working on the film SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS.  He also contributed to BAMBI, THE UGLY DUCKLING, HIAWATHA, AND FANTASIA.  But his greatest influence is seen in PINOCCHIO, where his contributions include the design and detail of the backgrounds and overall look of the movie.

He left Disney in 1939 to illustrate books for children.  He worked for The Golden Press during the '40's and '50's and illustrated the world's most printed book ever, written by Janette Sebring Lowry:  which one?  Yes! THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY (it has sold nearly 50 million copies since 1942)!!  He did several others that I also read and loved as a child:  THE SAGGY BAGGY ELEPHANT, THE TAWNY SCRAWNY LION, THUMBELINA, SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED, and many more that you can see if you CLICK HERE.

Anyone who has read the POKY LITTLE PUPPY will smile at the first sentence:  "Five little puppies dug a hole in the fence and went for a walk in the wide, wide, world."  Four of the puppies return, except Poky, who, instead of following his siblings home, lags behind to see the creatures that are on the hill - which Tenggren draws in beautiful detail:  flowers, a brown hop-toad, a big black spider.  "Now where in the world is that Poky Little Puppy?"

At first, his mother doesn't realize he hasn't come home, so he doesn't receive the punishment that his siblings do.  But in the end, after several escapes, fate catches up to him, and the Poky Little Puppy is sent to bed with no strawberry shortcake.

"No desserts ever unless puppies never dig holes under this fence again!"