Top-Selling Books of 2016 Include 4 Children’s Titles

Four of the 10 best-selling print books of 2016 are children’s books. That’s according to rankings recently published by Nielsen, which notes:

In 2016, children’s books remained popular with young readers and adults alike. In fact, consumers are still bewitched by Harry Potter, as “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” topped both the overall print and children’s print books lists with over 4 million units sold through the end of November, and the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” screenplay [by the same author] selling 100,000 copies its first week on sale.

Other children’s offerings among the top-selling print books this year include the 11th installment in “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, published this year, and “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” published in 2013 but turned into a movie that came out this year.

Even a Dr. Seuss title published in 1990 made the list.

The top-selling print books of 2016 are:

1. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child“ by J.K. Rowling: 4,129,000 copies sold through the end of November
2. “The Girl on the Train“ by Paula Hawkins: 836,000
3. “Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan“ by Bill O’Reilly: 705,000
4. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid #11: Double Down“ by Jeff Kinney: 623,000
5. “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing“ by Marie Kondo: 584,000
6. “Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children“ by Ransom Riggs: 577,000
7. “Oh, the Places You'll Go!“ by Dr. Seuss: 553,000
8. “A Man Called Ove: A Novel“ by Fredrik Backman: 540,000
9. “Me Before You: A Novel“ by Jojo Moyes: 536,000
10. “StrengthsFinder 2.0“ by Tom Rath: 490,000

The top-selling e-books of the year are:

1. “Me Before You: A Novel“ by Jojo Moyes: 527,000 copies sold through the end of November
2. “The Nightingale“ by Kristin Hannah: 402,000
3. “The Girl on the Train“ by Paula Hawkins: 346,000
4. “The Last Mile“ by David Baldacci: 317,000
5. “15th Affair“ by James Patterson: 270,000
6. “One With You: A Crossfire Novel“ by Sylvia Day: 258,000
7. “After You: A Novel“ by Jojo Moyes: 253,000
8. “The Obsession“ by Nora Roberts: 231,000
9. “The Wedding Dress“ by Rachel Hauck: 230,000
10. “When Breath Becomes Air“ by Paul Kalanithi: 228,000

Note that you don’t need an e-reader like a Kindle to read e-books. Just check out “How to Enjoy E-books Without Buying an E-Reader.”

Have you read any of these books? Let us know what you thought of them, or what other book you consider among the best of the year, by leaving a comment below or on Facebook.