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 100 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!
Start with the Introduction to for more information, thoughts, and resources.
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.
100 Best Books for Children ~ White
John Stuart White’s selections from Plutarch’s Lives is number 90 on the Hundred Best Books for Children found in The Book-Lover by Baldwin.
100 Best Books for Children ~ Hale
The four books in the Hales’ Family Flight travelogue series are numbers 91-94 on the Hundred Best Books for Children found in The Book-Lover by Baldwin.
100 Best Books for Children ~ Nordhoff
Politics for Young Americans by Charles Nortdhoff is number 95 on the Hundred Best Books for Children found in The Book-Lover by Baldwin.
100 Best Books for Children ~ Bolton
The Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous by Sarah Knowles Bolton is number 96 on the Hundred Best Books for Children found in The Book-Lover by Baldwin.
100 Best Books for Children ~ Ruskin
The King of the Golden River is a treasured fairy tale by prolific Victorian writer John Ruskin and is number 97 on the Hundred Best Books for Children found in The Book-Lover by Baldwin.
100 Best Books for Children ~ Peck, Kipling, Lang, Mulock, Sewall, Baldwin
Additional books from a later edition of the 100 Best Books for Children list in Baldwin’s The Book Lover to bring the total over 100: Peck, Kipling, Lang, Mulock, Sewall, Baldwin.
100 Best Books for Children ~ Ouida, Martineau, Seton
Additional books from a later edition of the100 Best Books for Children list in Baldwin’s The Book Lover to bring the total over 100: Ouida, Martineau, Seton