London

Read any good books lately? Here's what kids and teens are checking out from the library

Londoners love their libraries, and what's not to love? Free books, board games, electronic resources and audiobooks were flying off the shelves in 2018, and we've compiled a list of what kids were reading, playing and listening to.

The Harry Potter series and the Pigeon books are tops among kids using the London Public Library

Children's books at the London Public Library. (Kate Dubinski/CBC News)

Londoners love their libraries, and what's not to love? Free books, board games, electronic resources and audiobooks were flying off the shelves in 2018, and we've compiled a list of what kids were reading, playing and listening to.

(A note about the lists: some of the titles' popularity is skewed by the number of copies there are to borrow. If there are more of a certain book. more of them are borrowed. Publication dates also play a role: those books released in January have had a longer time to be borrowed than those released toward the end of the year).

All lists are in descending order:

Top 10 Children's Picture Books

Children's books at the London public library. (Kate Dubinski/CBC News)
  • The Pigeon needs a Bath / Mo Willems
  • Happy Birthday, Little Pookie / Sandra Boynton
  • Peppa Pig and the Library Visit / created by Neville Astley
  • Curious George visits the Dentist / Monica Perez
  • Paper Bag Princess / Robert Munsch
  • The Day the Crayons Quit / Drew Daywalt
  • Very Hungry Caterpillar / Eric Carle
  • Fancy Nancy Oodles of Kittens / Jane O'Connor
  • Pete the Cat / James Dean
  • The Berenstain Bears: We Love the Library / Mike Berenstain

Top 10 Children's Fiction

  • Harry Potter series / J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
  • Babysitters Club graphic novel series / Raina Telgemeier (Mary Ann Saves the Day)
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid series / Jeff Kinney (Dog Days)
  • Dog Man series / Dav Pilkey (A Tale of Two Kitties)
  • Big Nate series / Lincoln Peirce (A good old-fashioned wedgie)
  • Dork Diaries series / Rachel Renee Russell (Tales from a Not-so-Happy Birthday)
  • Phoebe and her Unicorn series / Dana Simpson (Razzle Dazzle Unicorn)
  • Amulet graphic novel series / Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet book 8 Supernova)
  • Peanuts graphic novel series / Charles Schultz
  • Pokemon graphic novel series / various creators (Pokemon Adventures)

Top 10 Teen books

The teen annex at the London Public Library. (Kate Dubinski/CBC News)
  • The Marrow Thieves / Cherie Dimaline​​
  • The Hate U Give / Angie Thomas
  • Turtles all the Way Down / John Green
  • Naruto graphic novel series
  • Queen of Shadows / Sarah Maas
  • The Scorch Trials / James Dashner
  • City of Ashes / Cassandra Clare
  • P.S. I Love You / Jenny Han
  • King's Cage / Victoria Aveyard
  • Children of Blood and Bone / Tomi Adeyemi

Top 5 Board Games

Board games in the teen annex at the London Public Library. (Kate Dubinski/CBC News)
  • Ticket to ride: the cross-country train adventure game
  • King of Tokyo
  • Forbidden Island
  • Century: Spice Road
  • Catan: Family Edition