Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG and Matilda top new poll.
Three books by Roald Dahl have scooped the top places in a new survey detailing children’s favourite reads from the past 80 years.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, originally published in 1964, topped the list of 20th century children’s books which are still being read today. This was followed by The BFG at number two and Matilda at three.
The poll was commissioned by the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals, the book awards for children and young people which celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, to see which books from the past 80 years had made the most impact on British families.
The top 15 were selected from a list of books that were at least 20 years old and published after 1936, the year the Medals began. The oldest book on the list, at number ten, is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, first published in 1937.
Other titles in the top 15 included A Bear Called Paddington (4), The Very Hungry Caterpillar (5), Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (6), Dear Zoo (11), The Tiger Who Came to Tea (12) and The Snowman (13).
Other reading habits were revealed through the poll, with the majority of parents only reading to their kids an average of two hours per week, but overwhelmingly (over 80%) preferring print books to ebooks.
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