I recently saw a list of the 20 best-selling children’s books of all time.
The list included some familiar names, but I was quite surprised by the top-selling book and the differential:
| 1. The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey | 14,898,341 |
| 2. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White | 9,899,696 |
| 3. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton | 9,695,159 |
| 4. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter | 9,380,274 |
| 5. Tootle by Gertrude Crampton | 8,560,277 |
| 6. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss | 8,143,088 |
| 7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling | 7,913,765 |
| 8. Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt | 7,562,710 |
| 9. Saggy Baggy Elephant by Kathryn and Byron Jackson | 7,476,395 |
| 10. Scuffy the Tugboat by Gertrude Crampton | 7,366,073 |
| 11. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss | 7,220,982 |
| 12. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume | 7,131,648 |
| 13. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch | 6,970,000 |
| 14. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls | 6,754,308 |
| 15. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell | 6,636,267 |
| 16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling | 6,631,807 |
| 17. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume | 6,478,427 |
| 18. Shane by Jack Schaeffer | 6,397,270 |
| 19. The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks | 6,394,587 |
| 20. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle | 6,393,523 |
The source cited by the post is Publishers Weekly from 2001, so the data is a bit dated. However, I still thought the results were interesting.
