I’m writing a book “500 best books originally written in
English for Japanese audience”, and this is a tentative list of 135 children’s
books(139 at the moment). I have lists for fiction
books,nonfiction
books,and classics
separately.
This list is not completed and I would like your input. Some of the book’s
audience are beginning readers of English and some are native level, so I need
a mix of books that would appeal to these various levels that I believe
are enjoyable for the Japanese readers. Some are entertaining, and some
are mind stimulating, and some of them are informative. The most
important thing is that the book gives a Japanese reader a good reading
experience. If that experience encourages the reader to pick up another English
book, it will be a success.
The following are the criteria I used for the tentative list.
1) The reader feels “ I’m glad I have read this book”.
2) The book has a reasonably wide range of audience.
3) The book must be reasonably well written.
4) The book must be still in print and available in Japan.
I’m including some books I personally do not like very much, because I believe
there are many Japanese readers who can learn to enjoy English books from
them. Because of the limited number I can list for the book, I decided to
chose only one book by each author(for each category).
I separated into several genres, but please keep in mind that some of them are
mixture of different genres.
詩と絵本(poems & picture books for wide
audience)
Green Eggs and Ham (1960) and other books by Dr. Seuss
Where the Wild Things Are (1963) by Maurice Sendak
Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book (1963)and other books by
Richard Scarry
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969) by Eric Carle
Corduroy(1976) by Don Freeman
Clifford the Big Red Dog (1978) by Norman Bridwell
A Bear Called Paddington (1958) by Michael Bond, Peggy
Fortnum
Eloise (1955)by Kay Thompson, Hilary Knight
Guess How Much I Love You
by Sam McBratney
Where the Sidewalk Ends
by Shel Silverstein
Tales From Outer Suburbia
by Shaun Tan
幼稚園／小学校低学年
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) by Roald Dahl
Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
by William Steig
Toot & Puddle
by Holly Hobbie
Henry and Mudge(early readers) by Cynthia Rylant
Nate the
Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne
The Adventures Of The Bailey School Kids by Debbie Dadey
How I Learned Geography
by Uri Shulevitz
Classic Goosebumps by R. L. Stine
Judy Moody(小学校1〜4年生向け）
by Megan McDonald, Peter H. Reynolds
The Absent Author (A to Z Mysteries) by Ron Roy
CAM Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds by David
A. Adler
The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy (Book 1) by Dori
Hillestad Butler
Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective by Carolyn Keene
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Frindle by Andrew Clements
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine
Applegate (Author), Patricia
Castelao (Illustrator)
Poppy(The Poppy Stories) by Avi
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
The Capture (Guardians of Ga’hoole, Book 1) by Kathryn Lasky
Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror
by Chris Priestley
A Series of Unfortunate Events
by Lemony Snicket
Charlotte’s Web (1952) by E. B. White
小学校高学年以上
SF, ファンタジー
The Hobbit(1937) by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia (1948) by C. S. Lewis
A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L’Engle
The Last Unicorn(1968) by Peter S. Beagle
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Phantom Tollbooth (1961) by Norton Juster, Jules Feiffer
Watership Down (1972) by Richard Adams
A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle) by Ursula K. Le Guin
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book
1) by Rick Riordan
The Ruins of Gorlan (The Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 1) by
John Flanagan
Princess Academy
(Books of Bayern) by Shannon Hale
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Hoot
by Carl Hiaasen
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Princess Bride
by William Goldman
The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Warriors #1: Into the Wild
(Warriors, Book 1) by Erin Hunter
Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suznne Collins
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
Shadowland (The Mediator #1) by Meg Cabot
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
City of Bones (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare
Vampire Accademy by Richelle Mead
Marked: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy) by
Libba Bray
The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
How We Live Now by Meg Rosoff
The Maze Runner (Book 1) by James Dashner
The Wee Free Men (Discworld series) by Terry Pratchett
冒険、アクション、ミステリー、ホラー
Swallows and Amazons (1930)
The Children of Green Knowe(1954) by L.M. Boston
Old Yeller (1956) by Fred Gipson
Where the Red Fern Grows (1961) by Wilson Rawls
Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man by Wendelin Van Draanen
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L.
Konigsburg
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
Holes by Louis Sachar
Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
Stormbreaker (Alex Rider)
by Anthony Horowitz
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O’Dell
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
London Eye by Siobhan Dowd
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark
Haddon
学校、家庭
The Baby-Sitters Club
by Ann M. Martin
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Bad Girls by Jacqueline Wilson
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman
Alexie
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
歴史小説
Heart of Samurai by Margi Preus
Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
Best Friends Forever by Beverly Patt
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
A Northern Light
by Jennifer Donnelly
青春小説、ラブストーリー
I Capture the Castle (1948) by Dodie Smith
The Bell Jar (1963) by Sylvia Plath
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You
(Gallagher Girls) by Ally Carter
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
The Truth About Forever
by Sarah Dessen
The Sky Is Everywhere
by Jandy Nelson
It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
The Sea of Tranquility by Ketja Millay
Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Wings of the Falcon
by Barbara Michaels
Perfect Chemistry
ノンフィクション（nonfiction)
Grandfather’s Journey
by Allen Say
A Smart Girl’s Guide to Manners by Nancy Holyoke
Charles and Emma by Deborah Helligman
Titanic: Voices From the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
The Omnivore’s Dilemma (for Children) by Michael Pollan
Bomb by Steve shelkin
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
Amelia Lost by Candance Flemming
Mission Control,This is Apollo by Alan Bean and Michael Chaikin
コミック、グラフィックノベル Comic, graphic novel
Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz
Garfield by Jim Davis
The Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
The Sandman (for teens and adults only) by Neil Gaiman and
many illustrators
V for Vendetta
by Alan Moore
*****The following books are also considered.*****
500冊にするためにリストから落としたもの
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
A Separate Peace (1951) by John Knowles(好き嫌いが非常に分かれる）
My Side of the Mountain (1959) by Jean Craighead George
Tom’s Midnight Garden (1958) by Philippa Pearce
The Eleventh Hour
by Graeme Base
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
by Judi Barrett
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
by Bill Martin, Jr.
The Little House
by Virginia Lee Burton
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
by Helen Oxenbury
I Spy
series by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
the Bus! by Mo Willems
GOING-TO-BED BOOK
by Sandra Boynton
The Hat
by Jan Brett
Extra Yarn
by Jon Klassen
The Jolly Postman
by Allen and Janet Ahlberg
Interrupting Chicken
by David Ezra Stein
How to Catch a Star
by Oliver Jeffers
Library Lion
by MIchelle Knudsen, Kevin Hawkes
Alanna: The First Adventure (The Song of the Lioness, Book
1) by Tamora Pierce(女子中学生に人気がある作品で、推薦されたものだが、あまり魅力的に感じなかった。また、Book2から適正年齢がぐっと上がるのも問題かもしれない）
The Ink Drinker by Eric Sanvoisin
The American Girls series by Valerie Tripp and other authors
Flotsam by David Wiesner
Are You My Mother? By P.D. Eastman
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? By Steve Jenkins
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Miss Spider’s Tea Party by David Kirk
Olivia by Ian Falconer
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall
Is your Mama a Llama? – Deborah Guarino
Mama, Do You Love Me – Barbara M. Joosee
Picture books by Bill Peet
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Wayside School series (I chose Holes)
The Wind Boy
Tatsinda
Andrew Lang Fairy Books
Red Sails to Capri
Esther
Max and Ruby series
Each Peach Pear Plum
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke（この本から洋書を読み続けるようになるほどの魅力はない）
Leon and the Spitting Image by Allen Kerzweil
Monster
Z for Zachariah – Robert C. O’Brien
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett, Ruth Chrisman
Gannett
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds
Forever . . . by Judy Blume(Blumeは、小学生用の本を選択したので）
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Anna and French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Feed by M. T. Anderson
***
Interrupting Chicken
by David Ezra Stein
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs(素晴らしいクラシックだが、絵のみで文章がないので、この本には不適切と判断）
Ella Enchanted
by Cail Carson Levine
The Maggie B by Irene Haas（絵本）
Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler, S.D. Schindler
Dav Pilkey（Captain Underpants シリーズ）
The Thief (The Queen’s Thief, Book 1)
Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
Big Red by Jim Kjeilgaard
Emily Windsnap series by Liz Kessler