Over 250.76 million children’s books were sold in 2022.
After having 2 strong years of growth during the pandemic, sales of children’s books declined in 2022 by 9.45%.
2020 was the first year with a drop in unit sales of children’s books over the last 5 years.
Overall, the category sales have grown by 11.37% since 2018, growing faster than the adult segment but slower than the YA segment.
As of 2022, 32.8% of all books sold in the United States are children’s books.
During 2020, over 35.5% of all book sales came from the children’s segment, which was the highest mark for the category over the last 5 years.
Children’s fiction books dominate the category’s sales; as of 2022, over 184 million children’s fiction copies are sold annually.
The nonfiction segment contributes 67 million copies.1 in 4 books sold in the United States comes from the children’s fiction category.
Nonfiction had a huge 2020 in the children’s segment when over 10% of all books sold in the US came from this category.
During the pandemic, children’s nonfiction books were the second-fastest growing category, trailing only YA nonfiction .
Year Children’s nonfiction sales (million copies) Children’s fiction sales (million copies) 2022 67.0 184.0 2021 75.1 201.9 2020 77.9 184.2 2019 62.2 167.3 2018 59.5 165.7
In 2023, the children’s book market in the US is projected to reach $2.62 billion.
This will be 7th consecutive year in which the children’s book segment recorded revenue growth.
The category grew by 18.5% over the last 5 years, as it was standing at $2.21 billion in 2018.
As of 2022, the US children’s book market accounts for 22.8% of the global children’s book revenue .
The global children’s book market is projected to reach $13.02 billion in 20226.
Year Children’s book market size ($ billion) Change 2023* $2.62 1.55% 2022 $2.58 1.98% 2021 $2.53 2.43% 2020 $2.47 5.11% 2019 $2.35 6.33% 2018 $2.21 0.91% 2017 $2.19
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Best-selling children’s books of all time
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (published in 1943) is the best-selling children’s book of all time , selling over 200 million copies.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone sold over 120 million copies.
Furthermore, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Adventures of Pinocchio both sold upwards of 80 million copies.
All titles within J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series feature in the given list.
Black Beauty is the oldest children’s book on the list, published in 1877.
# Title Author Year published Page count Estimated copies sold *1 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 1943 109 200 million 2 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone J. K. Rowling 1997 223 120 million 3 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe C. S. Lewis 1950 202 85 million 4 The Adventures of Pinocchio Carlo Collodi 1881 188 80 million 5 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J. K. Rowling 1998 251 77 million 6 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J. K. Rowling 1999 317 65 million 7 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling 2000 636 65 million 8 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling 2003 766 65 million 9 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling 2005 672 65 million 10 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J. K. Rowling 2007 607 65 million 11 Heidi Johanna Spyri 1880 176 50 million 12 Anne of Green Gables Lucy Maud Montgomery 1908 336 50 million 13 Black Beauty Anna Sewell 1877 255 50 million 14 Charlotte’s Web E. B. White 1971 384 50 million 15 The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter 1902 56 45 million
(*other titles may be excluded due to sales reporting differences)
