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As everything else has been cancelled this year I’ve been running a World Cup of Children’s Books on Twitter. Classic titles from the 19th century to the present day have been fighting it out in a series of themed matches.

The first round has now finished and it’s been a fun and occasionally brutal contest. Some early casualties have included Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, A Wizard of Earthsea and Peter Pan. But despite these high profile losses the 96 remaining titles represent as comprehensive a survey of (English language) children’s literature as you are likely to find.

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The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clark Moore (1823)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (1877)
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1882)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (1901)
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1905)
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit (1906)
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy M Montgomery (1908)
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)
The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911)
Just William by Richmal Crompton (1922 – 1970)
When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard (1924)
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard (1926 – 1928)
Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson (1927)
Tintin by Hergé (1929 – 1976)
Emil and the Detectives Erich Kastner (1929)
Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers (1934 – 1988)
The Box of Delightsby John Masefield (1935)
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield (1936)
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (1937)
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton (1939- 1951)
Thomas the Tank Engine by the Rev. W. Awdry (1945 – 1972)
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (1945)
Malorie Towers by aEnid Blyton (1946 – 1951)
Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson (1946)
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (1948)
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis and Pauline Baynes (1950)
The Borrowers by Mary Norton (1952)
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White and Garth Williams (1952)
My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards (1952)
Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff (1954)
The Children of Green Knoweby Lucy M. Boston and Peter Boston (1954)
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (1956)
101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith (1956)
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (1958)
Paddington by Michael Bond (1958 – 2018)
Asterix by Goscinny and Uderzo (1959 – 2009)
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (1960)
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster and Jules Feiffer (1961)
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (1964)
Elidor by Alan Garner (1965)
The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr (1968)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1969)
Mog the Forgetful Cat by Judith Kerr (1970)
Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret by Judy Blume (1970)
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien (1971)
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbitby Judith Kerr (1971)
Mr Men by Roger Hargreaves (1971 – 1990)
Watership Down by Richard Adams (1972)
Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pieńkowski (1972 -)
Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden (1973)
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973)
Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs (1973)
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973)
The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy (1974 – )
Forever by Judy Blume (1975)
Dogger by Shirley Hughes (1977)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979)
Not Now, Bernard by David McKee (1980)
Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake (1980)
Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian (1981)
Fighting Fantasyby Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone (1982 – )
When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs (1982)
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend (1982)
Gorilla by Anthony Browne (1983)
The Sheep-Pig by Dick King Smith (1983)
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson (1985 – 1995)
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (1986)
Matilda by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake (1988)
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury (1989)
The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson and and Nick Sharratt (1991)
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (1995 – 2000)
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling (1997 – 2007)
Holes by Louis Sachar (1998)
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and Brett Helquist (1999 -2006)
The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson and and Nick Sharratt (1999)
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (1999)
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve (2001 – 2006)
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (2001)
Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman (2001 – )
Varjak Paw by SF Said and Dave McKean (2003)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon (2003)
You Choose! By Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt (2003)
Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce (2004)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2005)
The Arrival by Shaun Tan (2006)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2008)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008 – 2010)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Jim Kay (2011)
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (2011)
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (2015)
The Journey by Francesca Sanna (2016)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (2017)

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The second round is about to commence, with half of the titles above going through to the next stage. Whether you’re #TeamDahl, #TeamTolkien or #TeamKerr, follow the competition on Twitter to keep them in contention!