David Walliams presenting Britain’s Favourite Children’s Books for Channel 4. Image: Channel 4

One smashing show screened over the Christmas break was on Channel 4, with author and comedian David Walliams presenting Britain’s Favourite Children’s Books chosen by author, critic and broadcaster and Sunday Times  Children’s Books Reviewer Nicolette Jones.

You can watch the programme here on the Channel 4 web site (for a couple of weeks, at least, anyway), which saw Winnie the Pooh (especially The House at Pooh Corner)
by A.A. Milne (illustrated by E H Shepard) beating off all comers for the top spot, followed by The Chronicles of Narnia (especially The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) by C.S. Lewis (illustrated by Pauline Baynes), Harry Potter (especially Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) by J.K. Rowling, Where the Wild Things are  by Maurice Sendak and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (illustrated by Quentin Blake).

Art from The Arrival by Shaun Tan

The Sunday Times actually selected 100 books, which meant that although a number of comic heroes featured in their list, and great picture books such as Raymond Briggs The Snowman made it into the Top 50, only one “true” graphic novel – Shaun Tan’s The Arrival – made it into the show.

The delightful programme also included readings from some books by Martin Freeman and Julie Walters and fascinating interviews with author Allan Ahlberg, artist Quentin Blake, The Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson and the creator of Mog the Cat Judith Kerr, who is best known for The Tiger Who Came to Tea, which made it into the Top 20.

One of the best aspects of the show was that it didn’t stint on ensuring illustrators of best-loved children’s books received deserved mentions, thanks in no small part, author Sarah McIntyre tells us, to list compiler Nicollete “who knows here illustrators”. If only some publishers gave artists such status…

How many of these have you read?

The Top 100 Britain’s Favourite Children’s Books

1. Winnie the Pooh (especially The House at Pooh Corner)
   A.A. Milne (illustrated by E H Shepard)
2. The Chronicles of Narnia (especially The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
   C.S. Lewis (illustrated by Pauline Baynes)
3. Harry Potter (especially Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone)
   J.K. Rowling
4. Where the Wild Things are
   Maurice Sendak
5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
   Roald Dahl (illustrated by Quentin Blake)
6. The Wind in the Willows
   Kenneth Grahame (illustrated by E H Shepard)
7. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
   Eric Carle
8. A Bear Called Paddington
   Michael Bond (illustrated by Peggy Fortnum)
9. The Gruffalo
   Julia Donaldson (illustrated by Axel Scheffler)
10. The Hobbit
    J.R.R. Tolkien
11. The Cat in the Hat
    Dr Seuss
12. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
    Lewis Carroll (illustrated by John Tenniel)
13. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
    Michael Rosen (illustrated by Helen Oxenbury)
14. Little Women
    Louisa May Alcott
15. Alfie and Annie Rose (especially Dogger)
    Shirley Hughes
16. Pippi Longstocking
    Astrid Lingren (illustrated by Lauren Child)
17. The Tiger Who Came to Tea
    Judith Kerr
18. Finn Family Moomintroll
    Tove Jansson
19. The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter (especially The Tale of Peter Rabbit)
    Beatrix Potter
20. Journey to the River Sea
    Eva Ibbotson
21. The Story of Tracy Beaker
    Jacqueline Wilson (illustrated by Nick Sharratt)
22. Kensuke’s Kingdom
    Michael Morpurgo
23. Goodnight Mr Tom
    Michelle Magorian
24. Rooftoppers
    Katherine Rundell
25. A Monster Calls
    Patrick Ness (illustrated by Jim Kay)
26. The Railway Children
    E. Nesbitt
27. Millions
    Frank Cottrell Boyce
28. The Snowman
    Raymond Briggs
29. The Arrival
    Shaun Tan
30. The Snow Queen
    Hans Christian Andersen
31. Black Beauty
    Anna Sewell
32. Famous Five (especially Five on a Treasure Island)
    Enid Blyton
33. Just William (especially Just William)
    Richmal Crompton
34. Holes
    Louis Sachar
35. Stig of the Dump
    Clive King
36. The Boy in the Dress
    David Walliams (illustrated by Quentin Blake)
37. Charlie and Lola (especially I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato)
    Lauren Child
38. The Jolly Postman
    Allan and Janet Ahlberg
39. Horrid Henry (especially Horrid Henry Strikes it Rich)
    Francesca Simon (illustrated by Tony Ross)
40. How to Train your Dragon
    Cressida Cowell
41. The Wee Free Men
    Terry Pratchett
42. Alex Rider (especially Stormbreaker)
    Anthony Horowitz
43. Mortal Engines (especially Mortal Engines)
    Philip Reeve
44. The Secret Garden
    Francis Hodgson Burnett (illustrated by Inga Moore)
45. Just So Stories
    Rudyard Kipling
46. This is Not my Hat
    Jon Klassen
47. Fortunately, the Milk
    Neil Gaiman (illustrated by Chris Riddell)
48. Charlotte’s Web
    E B White (illustrated by Garth Williams)
49. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
    Jeff Kinney
50. Treasure Island
    Robert Louis Stevenson
51. The Borrowers
    Mary Norton
52. Gorilla
    Anthony Browne
53. The Poems of Edward Lear (especially Owl and the Pussycat)
    Edward Lear
54. Pig-Heart Boy
    Malorie Blackman
55. Orlando the Marmalade Cat
    Kathleen Hale
56. The Silver Sword
    Ian Serraillier
57. Elmer (especially Elmer the Patchwork Elephant)
    David McKee
58. Anne of Green Gables
    L.M. Montgomery
59. Guess How Much I Love You
    Sam McBratney (illustrated by Anita Jeram)
60. The Little White Horse
    Elizabeth Goodge
61. Tom’s Midnight Garden
    Philippa Pearce (illustrated by Susan Einzig)
62. The Phantom Tolbooth
    Norton Juster (illustrated by Jules Feiffer)
63. Flour Babies
    Anne Fine
64. Centrally Heated Knickers
    Michael Rosen (illustrated by Harry Horse)
65. The Way Home
    Oliver Jeffers
66. Peter Pan
    J. M. Barrie
67. Asterix
    Uderzo and Goscinny
68. The Family from One End Street
    Eve Garnett
69. Mr Gum
    Andy Stanton (illustrated by David Tazzyman)
70. Fairy Tales
    Berlie Doherty (illustrated by Jane Ray)
71. Wolves
    Emily Gravett
72. The Worst Witch
    Jill Murphy
73. The Blue Kangaroo (especially I Love You, Blue Kangaroo)
    Emma Chichester Clark
74. The Velveteen Rabbit
    Margery Williams (illustrated by William Nicholson)
75. Ballet Shoes
    Noel Streatfeild
76. The London Eye Mystery
    Siobhan Dowd
77. The Sheep-Pig
    Dick King-Smith
78. Chrestomanci (especially The Lives of Christopher Chant)
    Diana Wynne Jones
79. The Little Prince
    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
80. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
    T S Eliot (illustrated by Nicholas Bentley)
81. 101 Dalmations
    Dodie Smith
82. Emil and the Detectives
    Erich Kästner
83. A Series of Unfortunate Events
    Lemony Snicket
84. Handa’s Surprise
    Eileen Browne
85. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
    Joan Aiken
86. Babar
    Jean de Brunhoff
87. Carrie’s War
    Nina Bawden
88. Captain Underpants
    Dav Pilkey
89. Mary Poppins
    P.L. Travers
90. The Tom Gates (especially The Brilliant World of Tom Gates)
    Liz Pichon
91. The Casson family (especially Saffy’s Angel)
    Hilary McKay
92. The Percy Jackson (especially Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief)
    Rick Riordan
93. Thomas the Tank Engine
    Rev W Awdry (illustrated by Peter Sam)
94. The Wizard of Earthsea
    Ursula Le Guin
95. The Inkworld (especially Inkheart)
    Cornelia Funke
96. War Boy
    Michael Foreman
97. The Wizard of Oz
    L Frank Baum
98. Goosebumps
    R L Stine
99. Swallows and Amazons
    Arthur Ransome
100. Tintin
     Hergé (Georges Remi)

• You can read the full list and an interview with David Walliams on The Sunday Times website (please note, article behind subscription wall).

• About the Author
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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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Categories: Art and Illustration, Comic Art, downthetubes News, Other Worlds

Tags: A.A. Milne, Allan Ahlberg, Book Covers, Britain's Favourite Children's Books, Channel 4, CS Lewis, David Walliams, downthetubes News, EH Shepard, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Judith Kerr, Julia Donaldson, Julie Walters, Martin Freeman, Maurice Sendak, Nicolette Jones, Pauline Baynes, Quentin Blake, Roald Dahl, Shaun Tan, Winnie the Pooh