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Following large-scale international expert surveys in the film and TV sector, the BBC has now asked for the best children's books in history. In the end, »Where the Wild Guys Live« (originally published in 1963) by the American author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, who died in 2012, received the most votes.
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Second place goes to an English classic from the Victorian era: "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) was first published in 1865. Since then, Alice's miraculous experiences have been quoted many times and have also been made into films. English-language books make up the majority of the BBC's list of 100 titles.
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The second most widely spoken original language is Swedish – and this is due in no small part to Astrid Lindgren. »Pippi Longstocking« (originally from 1945) is the best-placed book by the author, who died in 2002, in third place. Also among the top 100: "The Lionheart Brothers" (27th place), "Ronja the Robber's Daughter" (47th place) and "Karlsson from the Roof" (65th place).
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The mysterious death of its author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, has certainly increased the fame of this little book. But to this day, and even without this backstory, »The Little Prince« (1943) appeals to young and old alike: number four.
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The fact that Peter Jackson's theatrical version is released from the age of twelve surprised some. But the literary model is indisputably suitable as a children's book: J.R.R. Tolkien's »The Little Hobbit«, fifth place on the new list, was originally published in 1937 and 1957 for the first time on German. Tolkien's »Lord of the Rings« is ranked 45th.
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In Germany, word of the quality of Philip Pullman's novels has only gradually spread – in his British homeland, his fantasy series »His Dark Materials« has long been considered a classic. The first volume, originally published under the title »Northern Lights« in 1995, is called »The Golden Compass« in German and ranks sixth. This makes the 76-year-old Pullman the best-placed living author.
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Seventh place in the BBC poll goes to another title from a fantasy series: "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was published in 1950 and is known in German as "The King of Narnia". The Irish writer C. S. Lewis owes his fame above all to the series »The Chronicles of Narnia«.
Another famous fantasy series, on the other hand, did not make it into the top ten: "Harry Potter" is represented in the list with the first (13th place) and the third volume (28th place).
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A favorite book that could not be broken even by its Disney series adaptation: Alan A. Milne's »Pooh the Bear«, originally published in 1926, is in eighth place in the survey.
Another bear, "A Bear Named Paddington," reached rank 62.
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In Germany, the book is far less well known in ninth place in the BBC ranking: »Charlotte's Web« by US author Elwyn Brooks White was published in 1952, it was White's second children's book success after »Stuart Little«. Initially, the translation focused less on the spider Charlotte and more on "Piggy Wilbur and his friends". The most recent title variant compensates: »Wilbur and Charlotte«.
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No other children's book author has been the subject of so much discussion in 2023 – and Roald Dahl is also the most frequently placed author on the BBC list. A total of six books by the writer, who died in 1990, are among the top 100. »Matilda«, originally published in 1988, received the most points.
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The first original German-language book in the ranking can be found in 19th place: In 1880 and 1881, the Swiss Johanna Spyri published two volumes about the orphan girl »Heidi«.
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The best-represented group of characters are the Moomins by Tove Jansson: five novels by the Swedish-speaking author from Finland are among the top 100. The most popular book is »Winter in Moomin Valley«, originally published in 1957, at number 23.
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The German illustrator Wolf Erlbruch, who died in 2022, won many awards. In 2007, with »Duck, Death and Tulip«, he brought the delicate topic of the end of life closer to children in an impressive way. For the BBC expert jury 26th place.
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Tomi Ungerer grew up in Alsace with german, French and the Alsatian dialect. But as a children's book author, he began working in the United States. For this reason, the two books represented in the list by the illustrator and author, who died in 2019, were initially published in English. »The Three Robbers« (1961) is at number 30 and »No Kiss for Mother« (1973) at number 79.
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The Brothers Grimm are represented in 1812th place with their collection of fairy tales published in 37. Also included: Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales (twelfth place), Charles Perrault's French collection of fairy tales from 1697 (83rd place), the Indian collection of fables "Panschatantra" (49th place) and the Tales of the Arabian Nights (70th place).
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Michael Ende has placed twice among the top 50. There were a few more votes for »Momo« (number 43) than for »The Neverending Story« (rank 48).
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A kind of modern kindergarten classic is »Der Grüffelo« by German illustrator Axel Scheffler and British author Julia Donaldson. The picture book published in 1999 at number 57 is not the youngest title in the list.
This honor goes to »A Kind of Spark« by British actress Elle McNicoll in 75th place, originally released in 2020. The German version, »Wie unsichtbare Funken«, has been available from Atrium Verlag since March 2023.
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The last original German-language book on the list is at number 95: »The Black Brothers« about chimney sweep boys from Ticino was begun by the author Lisa Tetzner, who was born in Zittau in 1894, and completed together with her husband Kurt Held (»Die rote Zora und ihre Bande«). Because he was not allowed to publish in Switzerland as a political refugee, the book was published in 1940/41 in two volumes under Tetzner's name.
See the full list at the BBC.