List of important Children's literature authors and their most famous works. For a discussion of the criteria for a children's book, see Children's literature.

A

• Verna Aardema (B. 1911) - Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears and others
• Richard Adams (born 1920) - Watership Down
• Aesop - Fables
• Joan Aiken (1924-2004) - Nightbirds on Nantucket , The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
• Louisa May Alcott - (1832-1888), Little Women
• Lloyd Alexander - The Black Cauldron, The High King (1969 Newbery Medal)
• David Almond - Skellig, Kit's Wilderness
• Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) - Fairy Tales and Stories
• V. C. Andrews (1918-1986) - Flowers in the Attic et sequels
• K.A. Applegate - Animorphs (series) (1996)
• Victor Appleton, Jr. - Tom Swift
• Edward Ardizzone - Tim All Alone, Tim and the Brave Sea Captain, etc.
• Laura Adams Armer - Waterless Mountain (1932 Newbery Medal)
• William H. Armstrong - Sounder

B

• Natalie Babbit - Tuck Everlasting, The Search for Delicious
• Enid Bagnold - National Velvet
• Lynne Reid Banks - Indian in the Cupboard series
• Helen Bannerman - Little Black Sambo (published in 1899)
• J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) - Peter Pan
• Graham Base - Animalia
• L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz et seq
• Nina Bawden - Carrie's War
• "BB" (D. J. Watkins-Pitchford ) - Little Grey Men , Down The Bright Stream etc.
• John Bellairs (1938-1991)
• Berechiah ha-Nakdan - Mishle Shualim, Fables of a Jewish Aesop
• Jan and Stan Berenstain - The Berenstain Bears series
• Elisabeth Beresford - The Wombles
• Carol Biberstein - Great Grandma's Rocking Chair
• Judy Blume (born 1938) - Are You There God, It's Me Margaret
• Enid Blyton (1896-1968) - Noddy, Secret Seven and Famous Five series
• Michael Bond - Paddington Bear series
• Frank Bonham (1914-1988)
• Lucy M. Boston - Green Knowe series
• Jan Brett (1949-) - Trouble with Trolls
• Thomas Brezina (born 1963) - The Knickerbocker Gang
• Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (1874-1938)
• Walter R. Brooks - the Freddy the Pig series
• Marcia Brown - Puss in Boots
• Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952) - Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny
• Jean de Brunhoff - The Story of Babar
• Jan Brzechwa (1900-1966) - one of the two most famous authors of Polish poems for children
• Anthony Buckeridge - Jennings school stories
• John Bunyan (1628-1688) - Pilgrim's Progress
• Doris Burn - Andrew Henry's Meadow, The Summerfolk
• Sheila Burnford - The Incredible Journey
• Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) - A Little Princess, Little Lord Fauntleroy, The Secret Garden
• Virginia Lee Burton - The Little House, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
• Betsy Byars - Cracker Jackson , The Summer of the Swans

C

• Dorothy Canfield Fisher - Understood Betsy
• Eric Carle - The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider
• Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) (1832-1898) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass
• Geoffrey Chaucer (ca.1343-1400) - Chanticleer the Fox (extract from Canterbury Tales)
• John Christopher (born 1922) - (Psedonym of Samuel Youd) - The Prince in Waiting series, The Tripods series
• Beverly Cleary - Ramona Quimby series
• Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl series
• Carlo "Collodi" Lorenzini - The Adventures of Pinocchio
• John Amos Comenus - Orbis Sesualim Pictis Picture Book
• Jane Leslie Conly - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
• Susan Cooper - The Dark is Rising series
• John Cotton - Milk for Babes
• Bruce Coville - Space Brat
• Palmer Cox - The Brownies series
• Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
• Richmal Crompton - Just William

D

• Roald Dahl (1916-1990) - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The Witches
• Paula Danziger
• Edmondo De Amicis - Cuore (Heart)
• Walter de la Mare
• Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) - Robinson Crusoe
• Charles Dickens (1812-1870) - A Christmas Carol
• Peter Dickinson - The Changes trilogy.
• Thomas M. Disch - The Brave Little Toaster, The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
• Franklin W. Dixon - The Hardy Boys series
• Mary Mapes Dodge - Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates
• Crescent Dragonwagon
• Diane Duane - So You Want to be a Wizard
• William Pène du Bois - The Twenty-One Balloons
• Lois Duncan - I Know What You Did Last Summer; A Gift of Magic

E

• Edward Eager - Half Magic; Magic by the Lake; Knight's Castle; The Time Garden; The Well-Wishers; Magic or Not; Seven-Day Magic (in suggested reading order, not publication date order)
• Martin Ebbertz - Little Mr. Jaromir
• Dorothy Edwards - The Magician Who Kept A Pub and other stories
• Julie Andrews Edwards - The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
• Michael Ende - The Neverending Story, Momo
• Juliana Horatia Ewing - A Flat Iron for a Farthing , The Story of a Short Life

F

• Walter Farley-The Black Stallion series
• Eleanor Farjeon
• Eugene Field - Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
• Anne Fine - Goggle Eyes , Madame Doubtfire, The Flour Babies
• John D. Fitzgerald - The Great Brain series
• Louise Fitzhugh - Harriet the Spy
• Marjorie Flack (1897-1958) - The Story of Ping, Angus and the Ducks
• Ian Fleming (1908-1964) - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Esther Forbes - Johny Tremain
• Antonia Forest - Marlow series
• Anne Frank (1929-1945) - The Diary of a Young Girl
• Fynn - Mr. God, This is Anna

G

• Neil Gaiman - Coraline
• Paul Gallico - Jenny
• Alan Garner - The Owl Service, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Moon of Gomrath, Elidor, Red Shift etc.
• Jean George - My Side of the Mountain
• Fred Gipson - Old Yeller
• Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774) - The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (see also Goody)
• Elizabeth Goudge - The Little White Horse
• Harry Graham (1874-1936) - Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes
• Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932) - The Wind in the Willows
• Hardie Gramatky - Little Toot
• Kate Greenaway
• Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm - Grimm's Fairy Tales
• Maria Gripe
• Johnny Gruelle - Raggedy Ann series

H

• Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2003 Whitbread Awards)
• Virginia Hamilton - M. C. Higgins, the Great (1975 Newbery Medal)
• Daniel Handler - pen name Lemony Snicket - A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Roger Hargreaves (1935-1988) - the Mr. Men and Little Miss series
• Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908) - Uncle Remus
• Charles Hawes - The Dark Frigate (1924 Newbery Medal)
• Annie Helm (born 1938)
• Marguerite Henry - King of the Wind (1949 Newbery Medal), Misty of Chincoteague
• James Herriot (1916-1995) - All Things Bright and Beautiful
• Karen Hesse (born 1952) - Out of the Dust (1998 Newbery Medal)
• E.W. Hildick
• S.E. Hinton - The Outsiders
• Russell Hoban - The Mouse and His Child
• Anthony Horowitz - Gruesome Grange
• Irene Hunt - Up a Pond Slowly (1967 Newbery Medal)
• Norman Hunter - Professor Branestawm series

I

• Eva Ibbotson - Which Witch?
• Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little House on the Prairie series

J

• Joseph Jacobs - English Fairy Tales, Favorite Celtic Fairy Tales
• Brian Jacques - The Redwall series
• Tove Jansson - The Moomin books
• Diana Wynne Jones (born 1934) - the Chrestomanci Novels
• Norton Juster - The Phantom Tollbooth

K

• Ulrich Karger (born 1957)
• Jan Karon (born 1937)
• Erich Kästner - Emil and the Detectives , Lisa and Lottie (filmed as The Parent Trap)
• Ezra Jack Keats - The Snowy Day (1963 Caldecott Medal)
• Carolyn Keene - The Nancy Drew mystery series
• Charles Keping
• Harold Keith - Rifles for Watie (1958 Newbery Medal)
• Eric P. Kelly - The Trumpeter of Krakow (1929 Newbery Medal)
• Judith Kerr - When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
• Noor Inyat Khan
• Clive King - Stig of the Dump
• Charles Kingsley - The Water Babies
• Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) - Just So Stories, The Jungle Book, Puck of Pook's Hill
• Annette Curtis Klause - Alien Secrets
• E. L. Konigsburg - From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1968 Newbery Medal), The View from Saturday (1997 Newbery Medal)
• Joseph Krumgold - And Now Miguel (1954 Newbery Medal), Onion John (1960 Newbery Medal)

L

• Andrew Lang, (1844-1912), fairy tale collections
• Robert Lawson - Rabbit Hill , Ben and Me
• Munro Leaf - The Story of Ferdinand
• Edward Lear (1812-1888) - A Book of Nonsense
• Dennis Lee - Alligator Pie
• Ursula K. Le Guin (born 1929) - A Wizard of Earthsea
• Madeleine L'Engle (born 1918) - A Wrinkle in Time
• Gail Carson Levine - Ella Enchanted
• C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) - The Chronicles of Narnia
• Suzanne Lieurance - Shoelaces (with Patrick Girouard )
• Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002) - Pippi Longstocking
• Hugh Lofting (1886-1947) - The Voyage of Dr. Doolittle etc.
• Lois Lowry - The Giver

M

• Betty MacDonald - the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series
• Margaret Mahy - The Changeover
• Hector Malot - Nobody's Boy (Sans Famille)
• John Marsden - the Tomorrow series
• Edward Marshall - Fox series (Fox in Love, Fox and His Friends, etc.)
• James Marshall - Fox series (Fox in Love, Fox and His Friends, etc.)
• Ann Martin - The Baby-Sitters Club series
• J.P. Martin (1880-1966) - Uncle series
• André Maurois - Fattypuffs and Thinifers (Patapoufs et Filifers)
• Julian May
• William Mayne
• Robert McCloskey - Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal
• Robin McKinley - The Hero and the Crown , The Blue Sword
• Milton Meltzer history book author
• A. A. Milne (1882-1956) - Winnie-the-Pooh
• Walter Moers
• Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) - Anne of Green Gables
• Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) - A Visit From St. Nicholas
• Keith Moreau (born 1951) - ABC Fun Things Book
• Robert Munsch - Love You Forever
• Jill Murphy - The Worst Witch
• Susan Musgrave

N

• Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) - The Railway Children, Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, The Story of the Amulet
• John Newbery - A Little Pretty Pocket Book Intended for the Instruction and Amusement of Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Molly
• Garth Nix - Sabriel and sequels
• Joan Lowery Nixon - many mystery stories; the Orphan Train series
• Mary Norton - The Borrowers books

O

• Robert C. O'Brien - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Z for Zachariah
• Scott O'Dell - Island of the Blue Dolphins
• Timothy Olsen - The Teenage Investor
• Pat O'Shea - The Hounds of the Morrigan
• Uri Orlev
• Mary Pope Osbourne - Magic Treehouse series

P

• Barbara Park
• Korky Paul
• Ethel Pedley - Dot and the Kangaroo
• Bill Peet (1915-2002) - Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure
• Daniel Pennac
• Charles Perrault (1628-1703) - Tales of Mother Goose
• Tamora Pierce (born 1954) - Tortall books, Circle of Magic books
• Dav Pilkey - Captain Underpants series
• Daniel Pinkwater
• Peter Pohl (1940-)
• Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) - The Tale of Peter Rabbit
• Terry Pratchett - The Bromeliad, the Johnny Maxwell series, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, the Tiffany Aching series
• Otfried Preussler (1923-) - The Robber Hotzenplotz
• Philip Pullman (b. 1946) - His Dark Materials trilogy

R

• Arthur Ransome (1884-1967) - Swallows and Amazons series
• Marjorie Rawlings - The Yearling
• H. A. Rey (1898-1977) - (with Margret Rey) Curious George series
• J. K. Rowling (born 1965) - Harry Potter series
• Salman Rushdie (born 1947) - Haroon and the Sea of Stories

S

• Louis Sachar - Wayside School is Falling Down series, Holes
• Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944) - The Little Prince
• Malcolm Saville - Lone Pine Club series
• Richard Scarry (1919-1994) - Busytown series
• Ouida Sebestyen (born 1924) - Far From Home
• George Selden - The Cricket in Times Square series
• Maurice Sendak (born 1928) - Where the Wild Things Are
• Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) - The Cat in the Hat
• Anna Sewell (1820-1878) - Black Beauty
• Gary Shipman (born 1966) - Pakkins' Land
• Rhoda Shipman (born 1968) - Pakkins' Land
• Shel Silverstein (1930-1999) - The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends
• Charlie May Simon (1897-1977) - Robin on the Mountain and 25+ others
• Francesca Simon (born 1955) - Horrid Henry series
• William Sleator - science fiction stories (see also list of science fiction authors)
• Barbara Sleigh - Carbonel trilogy
• Dodie Smith - 101 Dalmatians
• Lemony Snicket (pen name of Daniel Handler) - A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Zilpha Keatley Snyder - The Egypt Game
• Don Sobol - Encyclopedia Brown series
• Johanna Spyri (1827-1901) - Heidi
• Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) - A Child's Garden of Verses, Treasure Island
• R. L. Stine (born 1943) - Goosebumps series
• Frank R. Stockton (1834-1902) - The Lady or the Tiger?
• Walter Scott Story (1879-1955) - Skinny Harrison Adventurer
• Edward L. Stratemeyer - (see Victor Appleton, Jr. , Carolyn Keene, Franklin Dixon )
• Noel Streatfeild - Ballet Shoes
• Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-1992)
• Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) - Gulliver's Travels

T

• Ann Jane Taylor - Twinkle,Twinkle,Little Star
• Kaye Thompson - Eloise
• Ruth Plumly Thompson (1891-1976)
• James Thurber (1894-1961) - The Thirteen Clocks , The Wonderful "O"
• Annette Tison /Talus Taylor - the Barbapapa books
• J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) - The Hobbit
• Pamela Travers - Mary Poppins
• Ethel Turner - Seven Little Australians
• Julian Tuwim (1894-1953) - one of the two most famous authors of Polish poems for children
• Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) - Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn

V

• Chris Van Allsburg
• Hendrik Willem van Loon - The Story of Mankind
• Jules Verne (1828-1905) - A Journey to the Center of the Earth
• Judith Viorst - Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

W

• E.B. White (1899-1985) - Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan
• Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) - Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
• Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) - The Selfish Giant , The Happy Prince and Other Stories
• Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) - Little House on the Prairie
• Margery Williams - The Velveteen Rabbit, Poor Cecco
• Ursula Moray Williams - The Little Wooden Horse, Gobbolino the Witch's Cat
• Jacqueline Wilson - Double Act, The Ilustrated Mum
• Patricia Wrede - The Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Y

• Jane Yolen - the Commander Toad series, the Dragon's Blood series
• Ed Young - Lon Po Po, Seven Blind Mice

Z

• Paul Zindel - Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball
• Charlotte Zolotow

See also:

• Lists of authors
• List of children's book illustrators
• Newbery Medal
• Caldecott Medal

If you add any authors to this list, please also consider adding them to the A-Z list of authors.