The Hundred Best Books for Children ~ Complete Series

The Hundred Best Books for Children ~ Introduction

The Book-Lover by James Baldwin was published in the late 1800s proposing to offer a guide to reading. This reading guide included “The Hundred Best Books for Children.”

His list of books for children include those from science, literature, geography, and active life.

I can but close this chapter of book-lists by complying with the wishes of many parents and educators who desire a more extended catalogue of works suitable for a young person’s library than I have yet given. The following list, although by no means including all that are really praiseworthy, embraces one hundred volumes that can be recommended without hesitation.

You’ll find that the list includes books from fairy tales to Ivanhoe, so there is something for children of a variety of ages.

We have not read every book on the list, but we are familiar with most of them. Like us, you’ll want to pick and choose those books that fit your family. Take the best and leave the rest!

You’ll find new additions here as they are posted.

The Hundred Best Books for Children ~ Introduction

The purpose of The Book-Lover was to offer a guide to reading — including The Hundred Best Books for Children.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Andersen

Up first on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover by James Baldwin is Andersen’s fairy tales.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Carroll

Our next addition to The Hundred Best Books for Children list is Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Defoe

Third on The Hundred Best Books for Children list is Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Wyss

Number four on The Hundred Best Books for Children list is The Swiss Family Robinson by Wyss.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Hawthorne

Number five and six on The Hundred Best Books for Children list are classic retellings of the Greek myths by Hawthorne.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Kingsley

Numbers 7, 8, and 9 on Baldwin’s The Hundred Best Books for Children are classics by Charles Kingsley: The Heroes, The Water-Babies, and Madame How and Lady Why.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Lanier

Numbers 10 and 11 on Baldwin’s The Hundred Best Books for Children are adaptions of King Arthur and Percy’s ballads.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Scott

Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe is number 12 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Abbott Histories

Abbott’s histories are numbers 13-42 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Dickens

Dickens’s A Child’s History of England is #43 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Yonge

Numbers 44-49 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover are Young Folks’ Histories by Yonge.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Edgeworth

Number 50 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover is The Parent’s Assistant by Edgeworth.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Aikin

Number 51 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover is stories from Evenings at Home by Aikin.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Scudder

The Bodley Books by Scudder are Numbers 52-60 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Church

Stories from Homer by Church is number 61 The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Dodge

The children’s classic Hans Brinker; or the Silver Skates is number 62 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Andrews

The Seven Little Sisters Who Live on the Round Ball that Floats in the Air is number 63 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Hunt Jackson

Bits of Talk for Young People by Helen Hunt Jackson is number 64 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, number 65 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Lamb

Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare is number 66 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Coffin

Numbers 67-70 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list found in The Book-lover are histories by Charles C. Coffin.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Higginson

Number 71 on The Hundred Best Books for Children is Higginson’s Young Folks’ History of the United States.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Thaxter

Number 72 on The Hundred Best Books for Children is Celia Thaxter’s Among the Isles of Shoals.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Whittier

Snow-bound is Number 73 on The Hundred Best Books for Children, written by John Greenleaf Whittier, a mostly self-taught Quaker poet.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie is Number 74 on The Hundred Best Books for Children.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Starrett

Two titles from Helen Ekin Starrett are Numbers 75 and 76 on The Hundred Best Books for Children.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Old Boy

Notes for Boys (and Their Fathers) on Morals, Mind, and Manners is number 77 on The Hundred Best Books for Children.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Buckley

Oats or Wild Oats by James Monroe Buckley is number 78 on The Hundred Best Books for Children by Baldwin.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Collyer

Talks to Young Men by Robert Collyer is number 79 on The Hundred Best Books for Children by Baldwin.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Munger

Lamps and Paths by Theodore Munger is number 80 on The Hundred Best Books for Children by Baldwin.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Butcher & Lang

Butcher & Lang’s Odyssey, along with Lang’s Iliad are numbers 81 and 82 on The Hundred Best Books for Children by Baldwin.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Alcott

Little Women by Alcott is number 83 on The Hundred Best Books for Children list.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Cary

Number 84 on the The Hundred Best Books for Children found in The Book-Lover by Baldwin is The Clovernook Children by Alice Cary.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Burnett

Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgeson Burnett is Number 85 on the The Hundred Best Books for Children found in The Book-Lover by Baldwin.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Beard

The Beard’s handy books are numbers 86 and 87 on The Hundred Best Books for Children found in The Book-Lover by Baldwin.

100 Best Books for Children ~ Holder

Charles Frederick Holder’s Marvels of Animal Life and Living Lights are numbers 88 and 89 on the Hundred Best Books for Children found in The Book-Lover by Baldwin.