NON-British children's classics - calling anyone who grew up (or is living) Elsewhere!

I am French. Many of the classics have already been mentioned on here but there seems to be much more translated and published here nowadays so here are a few examples:

Novels:
Toby Alone - Timothée de Fombelle (this got the Marsh Award for book in translation this year. It?s a fantastic book).
Message in a Bottle & When I was a soldier - Valérie Zenatti
Winter Song - Jean-Claude Mourlevat

Picture books
Rita & Whatsit ? Olivier Tallec & Jean-Philippe Arrou-Vignod
I want to eat a child - Sylviane Donnio and Dorothee de Monfreid
365 penguins - Jean-Luc Fromental & Joelle Jolivet

Essays
Daniel Pennac ? The Rights of the Reader
A classic for anybody interested in how to turn children into life-long readers. It is a modern classic in France, and here we are lucky enough that it?s illustrated by Quentin Blake.

Just looked at Amazon and found that a whole lot of Edith Unnerstad's books (The Saucepan Journey) have been translated. I used to love these.

Also Alf Proysen (mrs Pepperpot), Tove Janson (the Moomin books), Astrid Lindgren, Gunnel Linde (A Pony in the Luggage).

And more recently, Sven Nordqvist's children's books.

Yes second Elizabeth Enright. We are reading Spiderweb for Two - ( the younger Melendy kids are at home while the older ones are away at school and they have a delicious treasure hunt to follow). Just about to start the penultimate chapter. My 11 and 8 year old are hooked.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Elisabeth Enright's books about the Melendy children, starting with the Saturdays. We're currently reading the Four Story Mistake as a bedtime story.

I'd second Shel Silverstein's poems, particularly the book 'Where the Sidewalk Ends', favourite of DH's American family.
Can someone remind me what ages roughly the Magic Pudding would be for - was thinking to get copy for dd, but perhaps she is too young (6)

I've just gone through my shelf for you and found:
Harold and the Purple Crayon- Crockett Johnson
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day- Viorst and Cruz
Tikki Tikki Tembo- Mosel and Lent
Paperbag Princess- Munsch (so very cute)
Story of Ferdinand- Leaf and Lawson

For older children
-liking mysteries and moving beyond the Boxcar children...Trixie Belden -by Julie Campbell
-Books by Gary Paulsen, like Hachett

Books that grow with children-
Books by Graeme Base, he writes beautifully illustrated books with storylines which can often mature with the child, for example -The Water Hole, starts as a simple animal counting book 1-10, but the pictures also have hidden animals in it to find. The animals on each page are also from different continents or countries. AND the overall book has an ecological theme; as more and more animals come to the water hole it gets smaller and smaller... until it is no more... He really is a wonderful Australian author.

Books by Mark Helprin, once again, his children's book are some beautifully illustrated books (though not illustrated by him) Swan Lake is a lovely story as is the City of Veils. I would highly recommend them too.

From a North American childhood -
Edward Eager's boks (especially Half Magic and the Knight's Castle).

Beverly Cleary - Ramona the Pest and her little known teen book, Fifteen.

And for the Aussies - Seven Little Australians. Oh. My. God. The most delicious blubbing of blub-fests - and the most noble death.

Has anyone mentioned Hairy Maclairy?

The Boxcar Children - another great series, my boys love it and luckily for me the second hand book shop has them in plentiful supply.

I think my "Hugo and Josephine", and "A Pony in the Luggage" came from Chip Club, MissM.

Come to think of it, an awful lot of stuff from Chip Club wasn't British in origin.

I wish it was still around for DD.

I forgot to say L Frank Baum's "Oz" books. There are heaps more than "The Wizard of Oz", but apparently American librarians went through a phase of loving him about as much as Enid Blyton was by British librarians in the 70s and 80s.

Oh, and:

A Hundred Million Francs by Paul Berna
The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert deJong
Ride a Wild Pony by James Aldridge

I loved "A Wrinkle in Time," and wanted Charles Wallace for my little brother. Meg's liking for Maths (or Math) mystified me, however.

Paul Zindel is my hero (swoon), whoever reminded us of him. But very much for Teenage years. As is SE Hinton (The Outsiders,etc.)

Younger children:
Anything by EB White
Black Stallion books
Lad the Dog books
My Friend Flicka
A Wrinkle in Time (although I reread it, and found it a bit overtly religious).
PollyAnna (I have it upstairs, but DD yet to crack it open). She does like Nancy Drew, though.

Oh I LOVED Hugo and Josephine! I didn't think anyone else in the world (or at least in England) had read it. And A Pony in the Luggage. Loved it loved it! Those Swedes know how to write a darn good children's book.

Fennel, thank you for reminding me of Le petit Nicolas. I loved the illustrations too!

Seven little Australians - wonderful
Snugglepot and cuddlepie by May Gibbs - sort of Australin equivilent of Beatrix Potter (not so cutsie though - the Big Bad Banksia Men were a bit scary!)
The Magic Pudding - hilarious

For older children

Climb a Lonely Hill - Lilith Norman (2 kids get lost in the desert/bush, and need to find water to survive - gripping, I loved it as a 10-12 year old)

Also The shape of three - by Lilith Norman

and

A fortunate Life - biography of AB Facey life in Australia in the ? 20s?

Now I want to find them all and read them again!

I also loved 'When Hitler stole pink rabbit' and 'the other way 'round' - I think Judith Kerr became British??? But the books are ceryainly non brit-centric.

Josephine
Hugo and Josephine
Hugo
all by Maria Gripe and translated from Swedish

Mardie's Adventures by Astrid Lindgren (one of the Bullerby books lets the cat out of the bag about Santa, by the way)

A Pony in the Luggage by Gunnel Linde and translated from Swedish

Half Magic
Magic by the Lake
Knight's Castle
The Time Garden
all by Edward Eager (American) and inspired by E Nesbit

Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth and Me by EL Konigsberg (American)

Seven Little Australians is by Ethel Turner and is enjoyable until the tree falls on Judy. Oh my, what a blubfest.

I loved the Aurora books as a child and have got a couple second had for DD but have yet to persude her about them!

I think he was just trying to find out what he was and no-one could tell him. He was lonely. Then at the end he meets another bunyip who asks "what am i" and of course the first bunyip can make friends and it's a happy ending.

oh god this is ridiculous I'm welling up and haven't even seen the damned book for years! Bloody pregnancy hormones make me way too soppy...

Hmm, same here, but my recollection was that they just didn't know what he was and nor did he so he was lonely.
I may have to get a copy for DS so I can confirm.

That is very true, I'd forgotten that. I think I used to find him a bit scary-looking (but didn't the other animals too, isn't that why he was lonely? We're talking 30 years back now!)

MissM, but the Bunyip finds another bunyip in the end who tells him what he is and that he's beautiful. I used to loooove it!

I remember that book, Mischling 2nd degree - the heroine was called Janne, I think. Verrry interesting.