“Philosopher’s Stone” named favorite children’s book in Booktrust poll!

We previously reported that Booktrust, a charity in the UK that promotes reading, asked readers to pick their favorite children’s books from a selection of 100. Philosopher’s Stone was nominated in the ages 9-11 category. The results of the poll are now in, and Philosopher’s Stone has been announced as the winner of the category, as well as the overall favorite! With 2,280 votes, the first of the Harry Potter books managed to beat other top contenders such as The Hunger Games and The Lord of the Rings.

Claire Shanahan, Head of Arts at Booktrust, says,

As the biggest ever grossing literary franchise, kids and adults alike clearly can’t get enough of Harry Potter. It’s a worldwide phenomen[on] – it has captured the imaginations of a generation of readers who have grown up in love with Harry or Hermione, want to be friends with Ron, and are truly terrified by Voldemort. Even when up against heavyweights such as Dahl and Tolkien, Rowling’s creation remains the nation’s firm favourite. We’re thrilled that the public have voted in their thousands. Lists such as this are a great way of celebrating the outstanding quality of past and present authors and illustrators. Plus Christmas and the New Year is a fantastic time to get our children excited about books!

To see the top ten books, visit the Booktrust website here. To celebrate the win and all things Potter, Booktrust is running competitions, giveaways, and much more on Twitter for the rest of this week. Tell them why you love Potter using the hashtag #welovepotter.

Do you think Philosopher’s Stone deserves to be the overall winner? What do you think of the rest of the list? Let us know what you think in the comments!