If you’re not looking for specific writers, going by decade is another option. This list is designed to show me my own weaknesses as I hope eventually to have reviewed books for every year of children’s literature.
Since I already have an alphabetical list going, I’ve decided to order the books within each year by personal preference, best to worst. Comments are welcome!
1865
Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates – Mary Mapes Dodge
1872
Around the World in Eighty Days – Jules Verne
1876
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain
1884
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
1894
Tom Sawyer Abroad – Mark Twain
1896
Tom Sawyer, Detective – Mark Twain
1902
The Cruise of the Dazzler – Jack London
‘To Repel Boarders’ – Jack London
1905
The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Orczy
1908
Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery
1909
Anne of Avonlea – L.M. Montgomery
1915
Anne of the Island – L.M. Montgomery
1917
Anne’s House of Dreams – L.M. Montgomery
1923
Flower Fairies of the Spring – Cicely Mary Barker
1936
Anne of Windy Poplars – L.M. Montgomery
1939
Anne of Ingleside – L.M. Montgomery
1944
The Hundred Dresses – Eleanor Estes
1945
Stuart Little – E.B. White
1947
Misty of Chincoteague – Marguerite Henry
Wolf Story – William McCleery
1949
Shane – Jack Schaefer
Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague – Marguerite Henry
1952
Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
1957
Afraid to Ride – C.W. Anderson
1962
The Black Joke – Farley Mowat
1963
Stormy, Misty’s Foal – Marguerite Henry
Time Cat – Lloyd Alexander
1968
The Midnight Fox – Betsy Byars
1970
The Trumpet of the Swan – E.B. White
1973
The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man – Lloyd Alexander
The Court of the Stone Children – Eleanor Cameron
1986
Time Enough for Drums – Ann Rinaldi
1988
In the Beginning – Virginia Hamilton
1989
The Magic Snow Bird and Other Stories – Enid Blyton
1992
Misty’s Twilight – Marguerite Henry
1997
Wanted! – Caroline B. Cooney
1999
The Stones are Hatching – Geraldine McCaughrean
2005
Seven Tears Into the Sea – Terri Farley
The Western Corner of the Castle 