Neoplasms of the basal ganglia are deep-seated and this markedly impacts on therapy, especially with respect to the surgical approach. However, neoplasms purely involving the basal ganglia are rare: more frequently, basal ganglia are secondarily involved by tumors originating in the cerebral hemispheres, the ventricles and the pineal or suprasellar regions. Following an anatomical and epidemiologic overview, most frequent CT and MR imaging findings of pediatric neoplasms of basal ganglia are described.