Best Children's Books
Top 10 Best Children's Books
: Where the Wild Things Are, Goodnight Moon, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Love You Forever, Corduroy, The Monster at the End of this Book, Curious George, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Harold and the Purple Crayon
Where the Wild Things Are
| Author | Maurice Sendak |
| ISBN | 0099408392 |
One night Max puts on his wolf suit and makes mischief of one kind and another, so his mother calls him 'Wild Thing' and sends him to bed without his supper.
That night a forest begins to grow in Max's room and an ocean rushes by with a boat to take Max to the place where the wild things are.
Max...
| Author | Margaret Wise Brown |
| ISBN | 0060775858 |
In a great green room, tucked away in bed, is a little bunny. "Goodnight room, goodnight moon." And to all the familiar things in the softly lit room -- to the picture of the three little bears sitting on chairs, to the clocks and his socks, to the mittens and the kittens, to everything one by one -- the little...
| Author | Shel Silverstein |
| ISBN | 0060513039 |
Where the Sidewalk Ends turns forty! Celebrate with this anniversary edition that features an eye-catching commemorative red sticker. This classic poetry collection, which is both outrageously funny and profound, has been the most beloved of Shel Silverstein's poetry books for generations.
Where...
| Author | Robert Munsch |
| ISBN | 0920668372 |
You have to read this creepy little book!
Licha, thank you so much for introducing this little gem to me.
A-MAZING!
So, I gathered 3 of my kids (ages 7, 10, & 12) around last night, and told them I wanted to get their opinion on a book. (view spoiler)[Would have loved to get the 15 year...
| Author | Don Freeman |
| ISBN | 0670241334 |
Have you ever dreamed of being locked in a department store at night? The endearing story of Corduroy paints a picture of the adventures that might unfold (for a teddy bear at least) in such a situation. When all the shoppers have gone home for the night, Corduroy climbs down from the shelf to look for his...
The Monster at the End of this Book
Many adults name this book as their favorite Little Golden Book. Generations of kids have interacted with lovable, furry old Grover as he begs the reader not to turn the page—for fear of a monster at the end of the book. “Oh, I am so embarrassed,” he says on the last page . . . for, of course, the monster...
The first adventure in this highly popular series tells how the little monkey Curious George, caught in the jungle and brought back to the city by a man in a yellow hat, can't help being interested in all the new things around him. Though well meaning, George's curiosity always gets him into trouble. Young...
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
| Author | Bill Martin Jr. |
| ISBN | 0805047905 |
Subtexts: perspective, surveillance, paranoia!
I had to read this aloud maybe a hundred nights in a row before I noticed what the text was plainly saying: everyone thinks they are being watched! And ironically, they are the ones doing the watching! From the titular brown bear who is certain...
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
| Author | Judith Viorst |
| ISBN | 0689711735 |
The perennially popular tale of Alexander's worst day is a storybook that belongs on every child's bookshelf.
Alexander knew it was going to be a terrible day when he woke up with gum in this hair.
And it got worse...
His best friend deserted him. There was no dessert in his lunch...
Harold and the Purple Crayon
| Author | Crockett Johnson |
| ISBN | 0747532036 |
"One night, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight." So begins this gentle story that shows just how far your imagination can take you. Armed only with an oversized purple crayon, young Harold draws himself a landscape full of beauty and excitement. But this...
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
| Author | Judi Barrett |
| ISBN | 0689707495 |
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is a cult classic children’s book by Judi Barrett along with illustrations by Ron Barrett and it is about a magical town called Chewandswallow (chew and swallow, get it?) where food just falls from the sky and provides people with everything they need....
Frog and Toad Are Friends
| Author | Arnold Lobel |
| ISBN | 0064440206 |
Celebrate the power of friendship in these five adventurous stories starring Frog and Toad—a Caldecott Honor Book!
From writing letters to going swimming, telling stories to finding lost buttons, Frog and Toad are always there for each other—just as best friends should be. Frog and...
Guess How Much I Love You
"Guess how much I love you," says Little Nutbrown Hare. Little Nutbrown Hare shows his daddy how much he loves him: as wide as he can reach and as far as he can hop. But Big Nutbrown Hare, who can reach farther and hop higher, loves him back just as much. Well then Little Nutbrown Hare loves him right up to the...
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
| Author | Jon Scieszka |
| ISBN | 0140544518 |
You thought you knew the story of the “The Three Little Pigs”… You thought wrong.
In this hysterical and clever fracture fairy tale picture book that twists point of view and perspective, young readers will finally hear the other side of the story of “The Three Little Pigs.”.
| Author | Dr. Seuss |
| ISBN | 0679800034 |
In the fifties, my Mom was head librarian for our small-town library (politically, we were termed a Police Village, whatever that meant).
So we kids got our literacy skills off and running when she used to catalogue books in our kitchen.
Especially since City View was in the middle...
| Author | C.S. Lewis |
| ISBN | 0066238501 |
Journeys to the end of the world, fantastic creatures, and epic battles between good and evil—what more could any reader ask for in one book? The book that has it all is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, written in 1949 by Clive Staples Lewis. But Lewis did not stop there. Six more books followed, and...
| Author | Peggy Parish |
| ISBN | 0064441555 |
Once upon a school day, I think when I was in second grade (so this would have been pre-1980, I believe), we went on our bi-weekly library outing. The librarian had us sit in front of her in the storytime area and whipped this book out. She read it to us.
That may have been when I realized my love for wordplay.
I...
The Little Engine That Could
| Author | Watty Piper |
| ISBN | 0448405202 |
When I was seven, my Mom used to read to us from this little book.
It was one of many books scattered atop our bright red plastic-‘n-steel tabletop, and she was cataloguing them for her new Public Library!
It was a bright red-letter year for us kids, too, that year - a real Book Bonanza.
And...
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
| Author | Roald Dahl |
| ISBN | 0142403881 |
Tonight I just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate factory with my son. This is the first chapter book I've read all the way through with him. And it was a ton of fun.
First off, I'll admit that I love the movie. I grew up with it. (I'm talking about the Gene Wilder version, of course.)I'll...
| Author | Robert McCloskey |
| ISBN | 0670035386 |
The Big Chill Except With The Ducklings From Make Way For Ducklings, Now All Grown Up is what I originally was going to post for this review but then I was like you know who likes ridiculous things with extremely long titles is McSweeney's, I should see if they want this, and they did. Here are the...
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
| Author | Mo Willems |
| ISBN | 1844280136 |
When a bus driver takes a break from his route, a very unlikely volunteer springs up to take his place—a pigeon! But you've never met one like this before. As he pleads, wheedles, and begs his way through the book, children will love being able to answer back and decide his fate. In his hilarious picture...
Little House in the Big Woods
| Author | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| ISBN | 0060885378 |
Based on the real-life adventures of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in the award-winning Little House series, which has captivated generations of readers. This edition features the classic black-and-white artwork from Garth Williams.
Little House...
| Author | Norton Juster |
| ISBN | 0394820371 |
Librarian's Note: For an alternate cover edition of the same ISBN, click here.
Hailed as “a classic. . . . humorous, full of warmth and real invention” (The New Yorker), this beloved story -first published more than fifty years ago- introduces readers to Milo and his adventures in the Lands...
| Author | Marcus Pfister |
| ISBN | 1558580093 |
I'm always on the look-out for new, well-written children's books for my son. We had been reading him: Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed! and Why Mommy is a Democrat.
He loved the story and drawings!
However, he didn't seem to take to them as much as...
Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone.
That's not a very promising...
| Author | Else Holmelund Minarik |
| ISBN | 0590319671 |
Enter the world of Little Bear. Children will be entranced by Little Bear's trip to the moon, his birthday party, and his wishes and adventures.This is the first of the five classic books about Little Bear, introducing the funny and strikingly childlike bear cub and his friends. The combination of Else...
| Author | Robert McCloskey |
| ISBN | 0670175919 |
Caldecott Honor Book
What happens when Sal and her mother meet a mother bear and her cub? A beloved classic is born!
Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk! Sal and her mother a picking blueberries to can for the winter. But when Sal wanders to the other side of Blueberry Hill, she discovers a mama...
| Author | Dr. Seuss |
| ISBN | 0007158475 |
In this hilarious book, the irrepressible Fox in Socks teaches a baffled Mr. Knox some of the slickest, quickest tongue-twisters in town.
With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children and helping them learn...
Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business
| Author | Esphyr Slobodkina |
| ISBN | 0064431436 |
Caps for Sale is a timeless classic beloved by millions...one of the most popular picture books ever published!
Children will delight in following the peddler’s efforts to outwit the monkeys and will ask to read it again and again. Caps for Sale is an excellent easy-to-read book that includes...
| Author | Harry Allard |
| ISBN | 0395401461 |
The kids in Room 207 were misbehaving again. Spitballs stuck to the ceiling. Paper planes whizzing through the air. They were the worst-behaved class in the whole school.
So begins this quirky classic, first published in 1977 and still relevant today as a lighthearted reminder to show our...
| Author | Ezra Jack Keats |
| ISBN | 0140501827 |
Winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal!
No book has captured the magic and sense of possibility of the first snowfall better than The Snowy Day. Universal in its appeal, the story has become a favorite of millions, as it reveals a child's wonder at a new world, and the hope of capturing and keeping...
| Author | David Shannon |
| ISBN | 0439598389 |
My daughter is in 1st grade (age 6) and is TERRIFIED of this book. I realize it is very, very popular but my daughter has a great imagination and now she is very scared of eating orange, green, and blue foods. She pretty much only eats pink/red and white foods now.
We got this book as a gift from my father...
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
| Author | Doreen Cronin |
| ISBN | 0689832133 |
Farmer Brown has a problem.
His cows like to type.
All day long he hears
Click, clack, MOO.
Click, clack, MOO.
Clickety, clack, MOO.
But Farmer Brown's problems REALLY begin when his cows start leaving him notes....
Doreen Cronin's understated...
The Sneetches and Other Stories
| Author | Dr. Seuss |
| ISBN | 0007158505 |
Illus. in full color. "Four funny easy-to-read stories all with subtly planted moral lessons."--Publishers Weekly.
THE SNEETCHES
"Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches / Had bellies with stars. / The Plain-Belly Sneetches / Had none upon thars." This collection of four of Dr. Seuss's...
| Author | Shel Silverstein |
| ISBN | 0060513098 |
Millie McDeevit screamed a scream
So loud it made her eyebrows steam.
She screamed so loud
Her jawbone broke,
Her tongue caught fire,
Her nostrils smoked...
Poor Screamin' Millie is just one of the unforgettable characters in this wondrous new book of poems and drawings by...
| Author | A.A. Milne |
| ISBN | 0525467564 |
The Bear of Very Little Brain and his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood have delighted generations of readers since Winnie-the-Pooh was first published in 1926.
Back by popular demand, the four full-color gift editions of the original Pooh classics are available again. These elegant books,...
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
| Author | Louis Sachar |
| ISBN | 0747571775 |
If you want to see exactly what rests at the center of someone’s soul, don’t bother reading a 200-page biography on them; ask them what was the first book ever to make an impression on them that lasted into their adulthood. For some it might be some garbage about a brat named Ramona and her ginger-kid...
The Little House Collection
| Author | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| ISBN | 0060529962 |
Like so many people, I read and loved these books as a girl. When my son was an infant and I was looking for something to entertain me during his marathon bouts of nursing, I decided to read the series again. I still found it immensely enjoyable, but with one striking difference: When I was a child, Pa Ingalls...
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
| Author | Beverly Cleary |
| ISBN | 0380709244 |
"Pb-pb-b-b-b. Pb-pb-b-b-b." With these magic vocables, Ralph the mouse revs up a dream come true--his very own motorcycle. Living in a knothole in a hotel room, young Ralph has seen plenty of families come and go, some more generous with their crumbs than others. But when young Keith and his parents...
| Author | Dr. Seuss |
| ISBN | 0007175191 |
Everyone laughs when Horton the Elephant offers to sit on Mayzie bird's egg while she goes on holiday. Horton's kindness and faithfulness are sorely tested when he, and the egg, are kidnapped and sold to a circus - but his reward for being faithful is more wonderful than he could ever have dreamed!
With...
| Author | Dr. Seuss |
| ISBN | 0007158491 |
Call me old fashioned but I think that there is far too much pop hopping going on in America these days. It's disgusting, revolting, quite possibly illegal, and then they turn around and turn it into a children's book? What's next? Leaving two unsupervised children alone with a giant cat? An elephant...
| Author | Beverly Cleary |
| ISBN | 0192750976 |
This is the second title in the hugely popular series about Ramona Quimby. Ramona doesn't think she's a pest - she knows that she isn't a pest on purpose. So how in the world does Ramona get in trouble? Why does Davy run away whenever Ramona comes near him? And how does she manage to disrupt the whole kindergarten...
| Author | Virginia Lee Burton |
| ISBN | 0395181569 |
Virginia Lee Burton won the Caldecott Medal in 1943 for her memorable picture book The Little House, a poignant story of a cute country cottage that becomes engulfed by the city that grows up around it. The house has an expressive face of windows and doors, and even the feelings of a person, so she’s sad...
| Author | James Howe |
| ISBN | 1416928170 |
(This review is from 2004.)
Since it’s Halloween, I thought I’d talk about something frightening: Bunnies. Vampire bunnies. Ninja vampire bunnies. Okay, so, maybe not that ninja part. But definitely vampire bunnies—one in particular.
So, my roommate (Mr. “I’m not...
| Author | Gene Zion |
| ISBN | 0060268654 |
Gene Zion cunningly disguised one of the great existential questions of our age in this Dirty Harry book.
Do you feel lucky?
This is a book about identity:
Am I white (with black spots)
or black (with white spots)
About change and transition:
Do...
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
| Author | Dr. Seuss |
| ISBN | 0394900871 |
In this hilarious book, featuring three timeless fables, Dr. Seuss explores the pitfalls of growing too big for your boots!
With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for...
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
| Author | Paul Galdone |
| ISBN | 0899190359 |
The Three Billy Goats have found that their current abode is devoid of much in the way of scrumptious grass and other grazing options. When they locate a field across the way, all they need do is cross a bridge to find fresh options. This bridge is guarded by a troll, whose main interest is to devour the goats....
| Author | Gertrude Chandler Warner |
| ISBN | 0807508527 |
I read this book as a child and oh, did I ever cherish it. I'm a detail-oriented person, and this book speaks to the super organized control freak in me. Warner weaves so many details into the lives of the Boxcar children that, as a young'un, I found myself mentally picturing their home in exquisite detail....
