Anonymous posted "required reading" lists for picture books, for Middle Grade and for Young Adult. S/he started with the obvious point that s/he couldn't remember all the good or even excellent ones, and closes with this point:
Let us also say for the record that people who are interested in Children's Lit in a pure sense can concentrate on catching up on the classics.
But those people interested in being published now should read one book that's topping the charts now for every classic they read. (Which "chart" you use should vary. Read the bestsellers; read the Mocks; read the books that get four starred reviews and sell 3,000 copies; flip through the books that Target carries.)
Having just finished reading Steven King's On Writing, and posting a quote from him over on White Flow, I'll remind writers that reading and keeping up with what's published is part of the job. He ends the memoir with a list of roughly 100 novels he had read in the prior four years. Yep, that's one every two weeks.
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