In the children's category, Goodnight Moon, Mike Mulligan And His Steamshovel, Dr. Seuss's Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose and The Sneetches And Other Stories, as well as of course, The Cat In The Hat, Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, and just about anything by Beverly Cleary are my favorites - all books I grew up on. It would be interesting to see how they would stand with kids today. I would imagine that Cleary and Mike Mulligan would be dated, but the others would stand a good chance.

TradSteve mentioned Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle. I forgot about that one, too. One of the underrated gems, eh?