Top Read Alouds
2009 marks 150 years of Christchurch City Libraries (in its various incarnations) and we’ve been reading aloud to the children of Christchurch since 1925. In honour of that, the Children’s Library Team has created a list of the Top 5 Read Alouds for every decade the Library has been open.
Now, looking at the list, you might notice a few inconsistencies. The years 1859 to 1929 are all lumped together, and a few lists have five entries and a few lists have ten, but you can’t read aloud to kids for 84 years and not learn that sometimes you need to read more books, sometimes less and always with enthusiasm and a love of the book you are sharing. The list is also limited to books in the Library collection and ones that have a reasonable number of books available to be borrowed.
Read more about Christchurch City Libraries fine history of serving the children of Christchurch at our Library 150 website.
Pre 1930
- The tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, 1902
- Johnny Crow's Garden: A Picture Book by L. Leslie Brooke, 1903
- Ameliaranne and the green umbrella by Constance Heward, 1920
- Millions of cats by Wanda Gag, 1928
- Angus and the ducks by Marjorie Flack, 1930
1931 – 1940
- The story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, 1933
- The story about Ping by Marjorie Flack, 1933
- Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, 1939
- Horton hatches the egg by Dr Seuss, 1940
- Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, 1936
1941 – 1950
- Make way for Ducklings by Robert Mccloskey, 1941
- Curious George by H A Rey, 1941
- The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, 1942
- The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, 1945
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, 1947
1951 – 1960
- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, 1955
- The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss, 1957
- A Fly Went By by Marshall McClintock, 1958
- Are you my Mother? by PD Eastman, 1960
- Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, 1960
1961 – 1970
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, 1962
- Miffy by Dick Bruna, 1963
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, 1963
- Frederick by Leo Lionni, 1967
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr., 1967
- Corduroy by Donald Freeman, 1968
- Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins, 1968
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, 1969
- Lion in the Meadow by Margaret Mahy, 1969
- Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett, 1970
1971 – 1980
- The Lorax by Dr Seuss, 1971
- The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord, 1972
- Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll, 1972
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, 1972
- Mr Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham, 1973
- Don’t Forget the Bacon by Pat Hutchins, 1976
- The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch by David and Ronda Armitage, 1977
- Dogger by Shirley Hughes, 1977
- Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill, 1980
- The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, 1980
- Not Now Bernard by David McKee, 1980
1981 – 1990
- Mister Magnolia by Quentin Blake, 1980
- Mrs McGinty and The Bizarre Plant by Gavin Bishop, 1981
- Who Sank The Boat? by Pamela Allen, 1982
- Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, 1982
- How Maui Slowed the Sun by Peter Gossage, 1982
- Hairy Maclary From Donaldsons Dairy by Lynley Dodd, 1983
- Willy the Wimp by Anthony Browne, 1984
- The Great White Man-eating Shark by Margaret Mahy, 1989
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, 1989
- Grandpa's Slippers by Joy Watson, 1989
1991 – 2000
- Kipper by Mick Inkpen, 1991
- Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell, 1991
- Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, 1992
- Paikea by Robyn Kahukiwa, 1993
- Three-Legged Cat by Margaret Mahy, 1993
- Bears in the Park by Gwenda Turner, 1995
- No, David! by David Shannon, 1998
- Come on Daisy! by Jane Simmons, 1998
- The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, 1999
- Olivia by Ian Falconer, 2000
2001 – 2009
- Cock-A-Moo-Moo by Juliet Dallas-Conté, 2001
- Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus! by Mo Willems, 2003
- Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett, 2006
- Roar! by Margaret Mayo, 2006
- Rats! by Gavin Bishop, 2007
- I’m The Biggest Thing In The Ocean by Kevin Sherry, 2007
- Kei Te Pēhēa Koe? How Do You Feel? by Tracy Duncan, 2008
- Wild Boars Cook by Meg Rosoff, 2008
- Dinosaur vs Bedtime by Bob Shea, 2008
- Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy, 2009
