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