Just William beats Potter in Children's Favourites

'Just William' and 'Little Women' could finally beat child wizard 'Harry Potter', which has sold more than 400 million copies worldwide, in a list of favourite books drawn up by the Children's Favourites.  

JK Rowling's best-selling series was overlooked in favour of classic tales in the table compiled by Michael Rosen who is the current Laureate, and his four predecessors, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.  

One in five books on the list were written in the 19th century, including Louis May Alcott's Little Women, What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge and A Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear. The oldest was Charles Dickens Oliver Twist published in 1838.  

Many of the others were from the first half of the 20th century, among them Five Children and It by E Nesbit, Just William by Richmal Crompton, Mary Poppins by Travers and Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.  

Only five entries in the 35-strong list were published in the last 20 years. Mr Gum and Dancing Bear by Andy Stanton, published in 2008, was the most recent.

Two authors appeared twice on the list -- Robert Louis Stevenson for Treasure Island and A Child's Garden of Verses, and Nesbit for Five Children And It and The Railway Children.  

"This was the first proper book I read for myself. Jim Hawkins was the first character in a book I identified with totally. I was Jim Hawkins. I lived Treasure Island as I read it. And I loved it. Still do. Wish I'd written it!" Michael Morpurgo, who helped Rosen in compiling the list, said.  

However, Sarah Clarke, children's buying manager for Waterstone's, said: "I'm sure it will be a surprise to many that the list does not include more recent bestsellers like JK Rowling's Harry Potter.  

"But it's great to see the Laureates choosing some timeless greats like The Railway Children and Just So Stories and introducing them to a new generation of readers -- that's what the Laureates are all about."