The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children: 3rd Edition Revised and Updated

Now in its third edition, revised and updated, The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children by Eden Ross Lipson cites the top 1,001 children's books of the 20th century. In her introduction, the children's book editor of the Times describes the Harry Potter phenomenon and its impact on adult and child readers as well as the blurring lines between books for young adults versus adults. The titles, divided by age range into six sections, progress from wordless books to ""middle reading books"" classics such as E.B. White's Charlotte's Web and Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (as well as J.K. Rowling's British boy wizard), through young adult books such as S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders and Walter Dean Myers's Scorpions. Plenty of white space allows room for artwork in the margins, such as a fabulous view of a certain lovable elephant riding down an elevator, from Jean de Brunhoff's The Story of Babar. (Crown/Three Rivers, $18 paper all ages ISBN 0-8129-3018-5; Nov.)