If you’re a reader, the start of a new year always brings with it reading challenges for the next 365 (or, this year, 366) days. Girlxoxo.com is compiling a list of them, so if you’re looking for ideas, that’s a good place to start. The New York Public Library also just released a list of the 10 most-circulated books in its collection, so if some of those other challenges seem a bit daunting, perhaps working your way through this list will be easier. It took librarians and analysts six months to compile this:
“There was a little bit of art to the science of doing this,” said Andrew Medlar, who runs the library’s book-buying operation and led the team that worked on the list.
Because the library’s central circulation system only goes back several decades, the team used recent circulation data, best-seller lists, archives from the National Book Awards and Newbery Medals, and the library’s best-of lists to figure out what books were most beloved by patrons.
“The idea was to see what has been generally popular out in the world,” Medlar said. “We wanted to start from the love of books and the love of reading rather than the numbers.”
Here’s the list:
1. “The Snowy Day,” by Ezra Jack Keats (485,583 checkouts)
2. “The Cat in the Hat,” by Dr. Seuss (469,650)
3. “1984,” by George Orwell (441,770)
4. “Where the Wild Things Are,” by Maurice Sendak (436,016)
5. “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee (422,912)
6. “Charlotte’s Web,” by E.B. White (337,948)
7. “Fahrenheit 451,” by Ray Bradbury (316,404)
8. “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie (284,524)
9. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” by J.K. Rowling (231,022)
10. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” by Eric Carle (189,550)
Unsurprisingly, most of the books on the list are children’s books. Margaret Wise Brown’s Good Night Moon got an honorable mention because the NYPL’s children’s librarian at the time the book was published (1947) wasn’t a fan. The library didn’t get a copy until 25 years later. That is ironic considering that librarians are among the most stalwart champions of the freedom to read. I wonder what the book’s circulation numbers would have been. I think that it would have either surpassed The Snowy Day or come very close.
I’ve read all of the children’s books on this list, and some are among my favorites. This list gives me a chance to share one of my favorite interviews, the last one that Maurice Sendak gave before he died, to Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report. (It is NSFW.) In a bittersweet follow-up, Maurice died the day that Stephen’s book, I Am a Pole (And So Can You!) (which Stephen shared with him during that interview and he blurbed) was released. Stephen aired a trIbute to Maurice and included some unaired portions of their interview (also NSFW). For a slightly different tone, Maurice’s last interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air is also worth a listen. Right now, I’m eagerly awaiting the final book in Maureen Johnson’s young-adult Truly Devious trilogy, which comes out next week. I hope that at some point during the year, if you love to read, you find a book that surprises you that you might not have initially thought would be worth a read, but that becomes one of your new favorites.
I can relate to parts of this list. When I first moved to the UK and was still learning English, the following two books were among my favourite books;
“Where the Wild Things Are,” by Maurice Sendak
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” by Eric Carle
I loved the illustrations in both, but in particular the page colours and cut outs in the Very Hungry Caterpillar were amazing.
Where the Wild Things are is one of my favorites. Reading it to my boys gets me every time – and they’re getting too old for it which makes me sad. But the line – “and it was still hot” – gets me right by the heartstrings.
Also, Quimby – this line – “I hope that at some point during the year, if you love to read, you find a book that surprises you that you might not have initially thought would be worth a read, but that becomes one of your new favorites. ” What a nice thought for the new year! I love when you read a book that should be “okay” and you love it.
Can’t believe they waited 25 years to get Goodnight Moon! That would surely be number 1 otherwise. I didn’t know snowy day was so popular. That was a surprise.
omg, I get choked up just seeing “The Snowy Day.” It was one of my daughter’s favorites. I’d push board books between the mattress and slats in her crib, and when she’d wake up, she’d pull it out, and I’d hear her reciting it over the monitor in her crib when she was two ( we read A LOT of books.)
Every winter I buy stamps with Peter’s snow play, and think of baby days.
When my daughter was two my husband lost his job and I signed up for Dolly Parton’s free book program and we received “A snowy day”. That book(and others) got us through some hard times and I’m still so grateful for that program.
So nice to hear, thanks for sharing. I love Dolly Parton, and that book too!
It seldom snows where I live. The last time it did, my middle child saved a snowball in the freezer as The Snowy Day had taught him not to save it in his pocket. A beloved book at our house and also introduced to us through Dolly Parton’s Book program.
I cannot wait until my daughter is old enough for us to read Charlotte’s Web and Harry Potter together. My husband and I will likely fight over who gets to do it.
I bought my 6yr old niece Charlotte’s web for xmas and wrote a note to her inside as it was my fave book at that age.
I’ve also clearly stated to all my siblings that it will be me buying my nieces the potter series and will also read along with them.
I’ve passed my love of reading to all of them and look forward to sharing books with them as they grow up.
I loved The Snowy Day as a kid and now the animated one on Amazon is a favorite of my kids during the holidays.
oh, i love this topic! 🙂 my brother’s about to become an elementary school teacher, so i bet he’d totally share that fact about ‘goodnight moon’ with his class next semester!
I have been a children’s librarian with NYPL for going on 15 years. I also have read this website every day on my lunch break for so many years now that I have forgotten quite how many. Thanks so much for the shout out to books and reading and acknowledging the important (and at times what seems undervalued) work that we librarians do. The Snowy Day is absolutely one of my favorites, as well as the other books Keats wrote about Peter’s Neighborhood. The story behind the book’s creation is also very moving; Keats was revolutionary because of his portrayal of African Americans and urban settings at a time when neither were well represented in children’s publishing. It gets me choked up whenever I think about this. Thank you so much to all of the writers and commenters here at Celebitchy for making my lunchbreak a little bit more enjoyable each day. If you haven’t read any of these books, I promise you won’t be disappointed. And if you happen to be a frequent library user, please thank your librarian. They would so appreciate the love.
Thank You for this post! that’s why I come here! Sometimes I wish to stop reading all the gossips, yet all the valuable stuff I get from commenters and writers make me come back ( and procrastination) The Colbert- Sendak interviews are fantastic!
The library is the first place we go when we move to a new town and the children’s librarian is always the best person to know. When my daughter, an avid reader, was ready for books with high reading levels and age-appropriate content, the children’s librarian helped. When I was unsure how to navigate the new world of YA lit, the children’s librarian helped.
My library had a ‘top 100 books’ to read to children. That book was on the list and I’m so glad it was. I had a blast tearing through that list with my now 12-year-old. I’m pregnant again and this reminds me to contact the library to get another list (we’ve moved out of state).
I love libraries, I love books. I love the feel of a REAL book in my hand (vs. electronic).
I suspect that much of those big numbers are because a lot of those books are required summer reading for school (I recognize many titles from my own lists decades ago), so hundreds if not thousands of kids per year are *required* to check them out and read them. I’d be more interested in the ones people are choosing to read for pleasure and see if the lists are the same.
Actually here in NYC none of those books frequent required summer reading lists for school. They just continue to be hugely popular and strike a nerve with people. That says a lot for the power of books.
My son is in 5th grade and we have been reading some beautiful books. Here are some I highly recommend!!
“Where the mountain meets the moon” is so lovely.
Wild Robot
Where the red fern grows *sob*
The Giver