The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe tops children's books poll

Fascinating poll result from The Daily mail.

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, CS Lewis's fantasy novel first published 58 years ago, has been crowned the ultimate children's book.

Despite making its author JK Rowling richer than the Queen and sparking a worldwide publishing phenomenon, Harry Potter came a relatively lowly sixth place in the survey.
CS Lewis's 1950 tale of four children who enter the fantastical world of Narnia through a wardrobe beat contemporary favourites such as Harry Potter and The Gruffalo.

The top 50 children's books included much-loved classics such as the Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, the Secret Garden and the Railway Children.
But second place in the poll was taken by a picture book said to have sold a copy every minute since it was published in 1969, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Timeless classics, including the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Enid Blyton's Famous Five adventure books made up the top five
Third place was claimed by Enid Blyton's Famous Five Series, begun in 1942 and consisting of 21 books, but counting as one entry for the purposes of the poll, followed by A A Milne's Winnie the Pooh.
The best-loved author emerged as Roald Dahl, who boasts six books in the top 50. His most popular was The BFG, in fifth place.
The single JK Rowling title in the list, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, was sixth.
The remainder of the top ten was The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton; The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame; Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll; and The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson.
The poll of 4,000 respondents was conducted by the charity Booktrust, which runs the Governmentbacked Bookstart initiative giving free packs of books to children.
Viv Bird, director of Booktrust, said: "It's wonderful to see the enduring popularity of these books which are loved by generation after generation."

:: Top 50 Best Children's Books

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

2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle

3. Famous Five, Enid Blyton

4. Winnie the Pooh, A.A. 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 Seuss

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 Proysen

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

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. Clare's series, Enid Blyton

50. Captain Underpants, Dav Pilkey