From this article at the Baltimore City Paper:
"We all know that Ulysses and A la recherché du temps perdu are "better" books than The Velveteen Rabbit or The Little Prince, but come on--which would you take with you on a spaceship to salvage from the dying Earth"
Do we? Do we all know that?
And... reading the rest of the article... wow... there's a lot here that I think I disagree about... Seems like the point of the article is that children's books are beloved to children because they contain the morals and lessons about life that children so crave. And they're wrapped up in a cute little stories like "the sugary frosting on children's cereal".
Also... wow, this article is from September. I am not that on top of things.