Children's Books Around the World

June 24, 2016 11:15 AM

What is your country's top children's book?

I love this question and now with our baby on the way, I'd like to ask the children's book version. What are the most cherished children's books (ages 0-10, lets say) of your country?

Thanks!

posted by xicana63 to Grab Bag (12 answers total)

Canada: Robert Munsch is probably the undisputed king of the picture books here, and you can't go wrong with any of them :-)

New Zealand: The 'Harry Maclary' series was very popular when I was there. It's about a spotted dog and his many friends.
posted by JoannaC at 11:44 AM on June 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

I also came to say Robert Munsch for Canada.

For older kids the Anne of Green Gables series and anything by Gordon Kormon.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:09 PM on June 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

USA - Harold and the Purple Crayon (Ages 4-8)
posted by Room 641-A at 12:15 PM on June 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Canada's most iconic children's picture book is probably The Hockey Sweater, by Roch Carrier, illustrated by Sheldon Cohen.

I'd agree anything by Robert Munsch is tops too. Probably The Paperbag Princess and Love You Forever are the favorites.

Alligator Pie (Dennis Lee) and Red is Best (Kathy Stinson) are two other classics that come to mind.
posted by Kabanos at 12:41 PM on June 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Finland - the first ones that come to mind are The Moomins series by Tove Jansson and the bestist books for little groovy details everywhere - Goodnight Mr Clutterbuck by Mauri Kunnas
posted by speakeasy at 1:33 PM on June 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

One of my good friends is Australian. I asked her, and this is what she said.

Modern books: Possum Magic, Diary of a Wombat, Where is the Green Sheep?

Older books: The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, Blinky Bill, Hairy Mclary from Donaldson's Dairy, and Seven Little Australians
posted by colfax at 2:36 PM on June 24, 2016

Nijntje, or Miffy as her name is in English, is iconic here in the Netherlands. There are various picture books for the diaper wearing crow (also many featuring other protagonists by Dick Bruna), as well as an endless array of baby paraphernalia etc. This is the character you'll see printed on stuff in all the souvenir shops on Schiphol airport. They were good first books for babies, anyway.

Another golden oldie that at least my kids read a lot (both at home and at school) is Jip and Janneke, along with other Annie M. G. Scmidt books. These are stories for primary school-aged children, and mine really loved them.

But my personal Dutch favourite was definitely the Frog (Kikker) series by Max Velthuijs. Lovely books: simple, quirky and moving. They're more recent so not quite as iconic as the first two, but very popular nonetheless.
posted by sively at 3:19 PM on June 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Pinocchio for Italy
posted by bq at 4:51 PM on June 24, 2016

Oh, and weirdly, Anne of Green Gables is apparently also huge in Japan. I am not Japanese, so I have no direct knowledge. That's just what I keep hearing.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:06 PM on June 24, 2016

Jon Klassen lives in the US now, but was born in Canada and did his schooling here. His book This Is Not My Hat always goes over well during storytimes.

Canadian author and illustrator Marie Louise Gay has a bunch of wonderful books - with her Stella and Sam series getting a lot of rotation at our library.
posted by eisforcool at 7:34 PM on June 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

I grew up in the UK in the 90's, and I'd say the following are the most iconic to me and I know are still read to kids now:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Each Peach Pear Plum
The Jolly Postman
The Paddington Bear Series
The Spot Series
posted by littlepeeo at 8:01 PM on June 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Certainly all of the above for the UK, but the one that's been ubiquitous for the last decade is The Gruffalo. He even got involved in the Brexit campaign.
posted by cardinalandcrow at 1:07 PM on June 26, 2016