Narnia beats Harry Potter to claim Kids' Ultimate Book title

London, Feb 22 : 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' by CS Lewis has been crowned the ultimate kids' book, beating one of the books of Harry Potter series.

'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe', 'Winnie the Pooh' and the 'Famous Five' all finished above the only Harry Potter book to make the top 50.

The poll was conducted among 4,000 parents.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was first published in 1950. The novel, the most famous in the Narnia collection, has been made into several TV series, theatrical performances and films with the recent Disney adaptation in 2005.

The second spot was grabbed by the picture book 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle which is said to have sold an average of one copy every minute since it was first published in 1960.

Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five series', first written in 1942, came third in the poll,' Winnie the Pooh' by A A Milne was fourth and 'The BFG' by Roald Dahl was fifth.

By contrast, the only one of J K Rowling's Harry Potter books on the list - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - came in at sixth. Another modern bestseller, 'The Gruffalo', by Julia Donaldson, came 10th.

The survey was carried out by Booktrust, an independent charity set up in 1921 to encourage people of all ages to read.

"It's wonderful to see the enduring popularity of these books which are loved by generation after generation," the Telegraph quoted Viv Bird, director of Booktrust, as saying.

"At Booktrust we want everyone to enjoy reading, whether it be returning to old favourites or encouraging people to try something new.

"The final 50 are a fascinating mix of classic and contemporary titles which offers something for everyone," he added.

The poll cited that four out of five parents read their children a bedtime story every night, for an average of 22 minutes.

Just over half of parents questioned said they started reading books to their children when the child was six months old - while 18 per cent read stories to their baby bump. The top 50 children's books are:

1 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, C S Lewis

2 The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle

3 Famous Five series, Enid Blyton

4 Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne

5 The BFG, Roald Dahl

6 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J K Rowling

7 The Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

8 The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

9 Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

10 The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson

11 The Tales of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter

12 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

13 Matilda, Roald Dahl

14 The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

15 The Cat in the Hat, Dr Suess

16 The Twits, Roald Dahl

17 Mr Men, Roger Hargreaves

18 A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

19 The Malory Towers Series, Enid Blyton

20 Peter Pan, J M Barrie

21 The Railway Children, E. Nesbit

22 Hans Christian Fairy Tales, H C Andersen

23 The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum

24 The Witches, Roald Dahl

25 Stig of the Dump, Clive King

26 The Wishing Chair, Enid Blyton

27 Dear Zoo, Rod Campbell

28 The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr

29 Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jan Brett

30 James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl

31 A Bear Called Paddington, Michael Bond

32 Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

33 Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

34 Aesop's Fables, Jerry Pinkney

35 The Borrowers, Mary Norton

36 Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling

37 Meg and Mog, Jan Pienkowski

38 Mrs Pepperpot, Alf Proyson

39 We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen 4

40 The Gruffalo's Child, Julia Donaldson

41 Room on a Broom, Julia Donaldson

42 The Worst Witch, Jill Murphy

43 Miffy, Dick Bruna

44 The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery

45 Flat Stanley, Jeff Brown

46 The Snail and the Whale, Julia Donaldson

47 Ten Little Ladybirds, Melanie Gerth

48 Six Dinners Sid, Inga Moore

49 The St. Clares Series, Enid Blyton

50 Captain Underpants, Dav Pilke

ANI