Did you know that Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world? There are five titles published for every 1,000 Icelanders! We think that’s quite an achievement to be the reading capital of the world, but what’s also interesting is the timing. In Iceland most books are sold from late September to early November and the time is known as ‘Jolabokaflod’, the ‘Christmas Book Flood‘.
The culture of giving books is so big it’s a tradition and on Christmas Eve when presents are exchanged, it’s considered traditional to spend the whole night reading. It’s such a big industry it’s considered to be the backbone of the publishing sector, and with that in mind it should come as no surprise to find that the country has some of the highest literacy rates in the world!
We believe that this is a traditional to aspire to, we also believe that you should ‘start ‘em young’, so with that in mind, we asked you to suggest books for small children that you think should be in every Christmas stocking! I’ve added up all your results and now we have 53 books worth starting an Icelandic Tradition with.
Where the Wild Things are – Maurice Sendak
A children’s classic and popular through the ages, it was Where the Wild Things are that topped our vote.
Goodnight Moon – Margaret Wise Brown
Goodnight Moon isn’t one I’m familiar with, but it always gets suggested in our reading lists and comes second in this poll.
The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson
In third place is the Gruffalo, and shout out to all the people who answered ‘anything by Julia Donaldson’ too. The follow on book, The Gruffalo’s Child also got a couple of mentions.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is a hugely popular book, and hugely popular in song version too. My 12-year loves Michael Rosen, even still now.
The Giving Tree – Shiel Silverstein
This isn’t really big in the UK, but clearly the American market always loves it as it does incredibly well in all of our suggestions lists.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar must be the only book suggestion we’ve ever had in several different languages! This is clearly popular around the world and takes 6th place in our list.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar US
The Very Hungry Caterpillar UK
Love you Forever – Robert Munsch
I’m going to buck tradition and say I must be the only person who gets totally creeped out by this book! I’m sorry, I know many of you love it but I refuse to have a copy in the house.
The Velveteen Rabbit – Margery Williams
Ah, the children’s timeless classic, the Velveteen Rabbit just had to find a place in our list!
If you Give a Mouse a Cookie – Laura Numeroff
Coming ninth in our list is another that both children and grown ups love with If you Give a Mouse a Cookie.
If you Give a Mouse a Cookie US
If you Give a Mouse a Cookie UK
The Book With No Pictures – B. J Novak
I’ve bought this for my friend’s 3 year old for Christmas, I hope he loves hearing it as much as I love reading it!
11. Green Eggs and Ham – Dr Seuss
12. Rainbow Fish – Marcus Pfister
13. The Polar Express – Chris Van Allsburg
14. The Day the Crayons Quit – Oliver Jeffers
15. Are you my Mother – P. D Eastman
16. The Poky Little Puppy – Janette Sebring Lowrey
17. The Littlest Angel – Charles Tazewell
18. Llama Llama Red Pajama – Anna Dewdney
19. Owl Babies – Martin Waddell
20. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very bad day – Judith Viorst
And after the featured top 20, here we take the list to the full 53 books:
Paper Bag Princess – Robert Munsch
Stellaluna – Janell Cannon
The Magic Faraway Tree – Enid Blyton
The Monster at the end of this Book – Jon Stone
The Jolly Christmas Postman – Allan Ahlberg
The Mitten – Jan Brett
Corduroy – Don Freeman
Winnie the Pooh – A. A Milne
The Tiger that Came to Tea – Judith Kerr
Curious George – H. A. Rey
The Foot Book – Dr Seuss
Brown bear, Brown bear what do you see- Bill Martin Jr
Elephant and Piggie – Mo Willems
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – Bill Martin
How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Dr Seuss
Beatrix Potter Collection – Beatrix Potter
Berenstain Bears – Stan and Jan Berenstain
Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs – Judi Barrett
Fox in socks – Dr Seuss
Caps for Sale – Esphyr Slobodkina
The Pigeon Books – Mo Willems
Little Quack – Lauren Thompson
Room on the Broom – Julia Donaldson
Peace at Last – Jill Murphy
Guess How Much I Love You – Sam McBratney
Make Way for Ducklings – Robert McCloskey
Tacky the Penguin – Helen Lester
Ferdinand the Bull – Munro Leaf
Zombie in the Basement – Brian Parker
Just So Stories – Rudyard Kipling
Hairy McLairy – Dame Lynley Dodd
Not Now Bernard – David McKee
The Pirate Cruncher – Johnny Duddle
We hope the list helps you start a brand new Christmas reading tradition and if you have any more suggestions, we’d love to hear them in the comments!
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I love “Farmer Brown shears his sheep…a yarn about wool” by Terri Sloat. I worked in a school library and this was a favourite.
Dragons Love Tacos should be on this list!