Listmania- Best Books for Younger Children
By Glinda
I was one of those children who would receive a book as a gift and screech as loudly with glee than when it was a Barbie. My mother would take my sister and I to the library every two weeks so that I could check out a stack of books sometimes nearly half my height. I’m pretty sure the librarians knew us by name. In fact, I loved books so much that when I grew up, I earned my degree in Literature.
When I became a mother, I vowed that I would try to raise a child who was as voracious a reader as I am. So far, it’s working.
To me, a good book is one that makes such an impression that you fondly remember it, even years after. There seems to be a misconception that “great literature” must make a sweeping moral statement or somehow evoke the pathos of the human condition. That they must be gilt and leather-bound tomes that you must gird yourself for before even opening the book. To me, what makes great literature is it’s ability to resonate with the reader. Because a book that makes you giggle uncontrollably is just as important as one that imparts a lesson. These are some of my favorites, in no particular order.
Younger Children
The Rainbow Fish
Goodnight Moon
Officer Buckle and Gloria
Guess How Much I Love You
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Hundred Dresses
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Spot (series)
The Snowy Day
Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type
Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
The True Story of Three Little Pigs
Tikki Tikki Tembo
The Cat in the Hat
Green Eggs and Ham
Frog and Toad (series)
Where the Wild Things Are
Madeline
The Real Mother Goose
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Harold and the Purple Crayon
If You Give a Mouse A Cookie
Lon Po Po
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh
The Velveteen Rabbit
Arthur (series)
Olivia
The Polar Express
Jumanji
Aesop’s Fables
Peter Rabbit and Other Tales
All right, what did I miss?
And next up- Best Books for Older Children
October 28th, 2007 at 5:02 am
Fabulous list! I must admit, I don’t remember the books I read when I was that young, except the one with Beaney and Cecil the Sea Monster and A Child’s Garden of Verses, plus of course all of Dr. Seuss. After I read Horton Hears a Hoo I wouldn’t walk on the ground at all but instead carried two pillows with me to throw on the floor and step on, so I wouldn’t squash any Hoos. I was a very literal-minded child.
Oh, I also had the Colliers Junior Classics, although some of it was tough going for a young ‘un.
October 28th, 2007 at 11:52 am
I just finished compiling a list and shopping for favorite books for my new granddaughter, so this is very timely. Some of them I really had to search the Internet for, they are “Read Me Another Story” a collection of short poems and stories that are really lovely and great for bedtime, “When We Were Very Young” and “Now We Are Six”. All of the Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne) books should be read and not just watched as Disney Cartoons. And of course the “Little Bear” books by Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak . Then there’s my all time favorite. My mother read it to me, I read it to my son and have since discovered many other parents and grandparents who have the same history with the book. It is “Caps for Sale”, by Esphyr Slobodkina. Happy reading!
October 28th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
This is raising such fond memories for me! I remember so many of those books from my own childhood.
Raincoaster, I had that Beanie and Cecil book, too. I loved it.
I do have to second gemdiva’s recommendations for Winnie the Pooh and Little Bear. Those books have remained close friends over the years. And Caps for Sale…I’d forgotten that one, but loved it dearly back in the day.
I’d like to add a couple more thoughts to the pile.
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag was a great favorite of mine. I must have read three copies to death by the time I was six. It’s readily available at Amazon.
I also dearly loved the Lonely Doll books by Dare Wright. Again, Amazon has them available.
My parents had a terrific philosophy for raising readers: in addition to having lots of storybooks around, every time one of us showed an interest in a subject of any sort, a book just barely beyond our reading abilities would magically appear. Sometimes several, if it was a subject it was easy to find books for children about. But where they found that great book on Henry VIII and his wives for me when I was seven, I haven’t a clue. Good thing I read well beyond my grade level, or I would only have been able to look at the pretty pictures for a very long while.
Why yes, I was an unusual child. Why do you ask?
October 28th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
One more idea. At my daughter-in-law’s baby shower they had a book basket and in addition to their shower gift, everyone was asked to bring a favorite book for the new baby. A great many of the books on the list were represented as well as many others. I thought that was such a great idea for a shower. It gave everyone a trip down memory lane to their own childhood or brought back fond memories of reading to your own children.
October 28th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book
October 28th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
October 28th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Alice in Wonderland
October 28th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
A Series of Unfortunate Events
October 28th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Misty of Chincoteague
October 28th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
And another vote for “A Child’s Garden of Verses” !
October 28th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Oh yeah, I remember being sick as a little girl and trying to memorize all of “A Child’s Garden of Verses”. Loved, loved, loved that book. In fact, I still have my copy of it that I had back then on my family room bookshelves now.
October 28th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I’m not sure what age you are referring to here, but there are many good suggestions. I’ll throw in some from my own experience (both as child, then parent). I second the Pooh stories (which I still enjoy reading; the language flows so beautifully and they are damn funny) and Little Bear Stories and Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book. Dr. Seuss’ What Was I Scared Of. Then: Frog and Toad Stories, Harold and the Purple Crayon (as well as the other Harold stories), and the lesser known Maurice Sendak stories, Chicken Soup With Rice, Pierre (awesome!), and Alligators All Around.
Finally, although they weren’t around when I was growing up, all of Shel Silverstein’s books of poetry never fail to amuse my 4.5 year old and my 9 year old. They will sit and listen to me read them and we all crack up together. Best Shel poem ever is “The Turtle and the Bagpipe.”
http://www.icdc.com/~roadkill/silverstein/turtle.html
October 29th, 2007 at 12:49 am
Roxaboxen!
October 29th, 2007 at 1:34 am
Excellent list, but I’m always good for a few more. Each Peach Pear Plum by Allen & Janet Ahlberg. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. The Story of Ferdinand. The Little Engine that Could. And from the dim misty reaches of my own childhood, the highly-collectible Caroline and Her Friends by Pierre Probst.
October 29th, 2007 at 2:19 am
Raincoaster- A Child’s Garden of Verses is a good one.
gemdiva- Winnie the Pooh is indeed on the list. And for some reason, I just could not garner up a lot of enthusiasm for Little Bear, although they are quite popular.
Twistie- I was aided by an eager librarian who gave me book suggestions that were years beyond my recommended reading level. And I am so glad that she did.
Phyllis- Phyllis, I love you, but you are including some books that I have down for older children on my next list!
Liz- Another vote for the Garden of Verses!
dgm- I’m aiming fairly young here, nothing much past second grade.
Hannah- I will admit to not being familiar with that book! Tell us more about it!
gamma- The Snowy Day is indeed on the list as well, and the Story of Ferdinand and The Little Engine that Could almost made the cut, but not quite.
October 29th, 2007 at 6:51 am
As far as Marguerite Henry books goes, I believe Brighty of the Grand Canyon was the only one she aimed for younger readers. The rest are more for 8-12s. I know there was one, and it was very hard to find so I didn’t get my hooves on it till I was twelve and it was a BIG letdown. I think that was Brighty.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:21 am
All the books by Graeme Baese (Base? I can’t remember how to spell his last name). Animalia, Worst Band in the Universe, and the Sign of the Seahorse in particular. Some of his books have pretty dense writing, but the illustrations are lush and gorgeous. It’s so fun with Animalia to find all the items on the page that start with the letter described on the page.
Also, Worst Band in the Universe comes with a CD, which is awesome.
October 29th, 2007 at 10:40 am
The ones that get requested night after night in my house:
Olivia, by Ian Falconer
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Willems
Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans
October 29th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Oh my, “The Poky Little Puppy.”
October 29th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Roxaboxen (Alice McLerran) is the story of a neighborhood of children, told in retrospect by one of them. It is beautifully illustrated and rather wistful.
October 29th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Oh, and I don’t believe The Giving Tree was mentioned. That book shouldn’t be left out.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
My daughter LOVED:
The Little Engine That Could (oh, poor old tired train, she would say)
Madeline’s Rescue
Good Night Moon
Sun is Falling, Night is Calling
The Lorax
Loved the ones you chose, Tikki Tikki Tembo…we loved that one too. And we STILL own Frog and Toad. Love them.
Anyone else love the Anitole books, about Anitole, the french mouse who worked in a cheese factory?
October 29th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Oh, I forgot the Francis books. Those were WELL loved around here. Esp. Bread and Jam for Francis. LOVED.
October 29th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Anything by Enid Blyton, an amazing and prolific British children’s author.
October 29th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
The Little Prince. I forgot that one!
October 29th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I’m so glad you mentioned Frog and Toad. I adored those as a child. I was also fond of Chicken Soup With Rice, as mentioned above. I would often insist on eating chicken soup with rice after reading that book–thankfully for my mother, Campbell’s makes a canned version.
Other favorites included The Poky Little Puppy and the Babar series. I learned my first French phrases from Babar books–the original books were in French, of course, and even though the story was translated, the speech bubbles and signs in the illustrations were not translated. My mother had some French in high school and college, and would tell me what the phrases meant and teach me how to say them.
My fiancé and I are both musicians, and periodically pick up children’s books on musical topics for our future children and/or young students. Our recent favorites are the Henry the Steinway books. They would be especially good for a youngster starting piano lessons.
October 30th, 2007 at 1:27 am
The Mitten is a must, and my favorite as a child was Miss Suzy the Squirrel. Also, Lyle the Crocodile is a favorite. Currently, though, my son loves Maurice Sendak’s Outside Over There, though I know that’s not for every kid.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:59 am
My sister and I used to fight over Go Dog Do and still do its Do you like my hat?/No I do not like your hat/Goodbye/Goodbye routine. Also I loved, loved Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever, the way every item in each picture was labelled so even as a very beginning reader I could read this book. Fire Engine. Breakfast. Lowly Worm. Boot. I think that’s where my love of words (and, sadly, labels) started. And my dad would always read to us from the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:47 am
Lauren Child is a huge favourite with my kids and is also highly recommended for parents to enjoy; witty text, fun illustrations and very engaging characters.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:59 pm
My little one can sit and listen to me read Miss Spider’s Tea Party forever. The paintings are beautiful and there is a counting lesson cleverly concealed in the poetry.
November 4th, 2007 at 5:26 am
[...] now, some of you were a bit overeager on the last Listmania! post, Best Books for Younger Children. Here I present my final book list. I would say that these range anywhere from 3rd grade up to high [...]
November 5th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
[...] but politely stated opinions from our internet friends. Last week, it was Glinda’s list of books for the younger childrens, this week, it is her list of books for the older [...]
November 5th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
kevin henkes! my boys love Chester’s Way and all his mouse stories.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Robert Munsch.
Robert Munsch.
Robert Munsch.
The Paperbag Princess truly helped shape who i am today.
I love you Forever is the book i bring to every baby shower.
and really all of his books are amazing.
a new favorite I love you stinkyface (not munsch, i can’t remember the author.
i have to second the pokey little puppy
and last but not least, the monster at the end of this book
November 6th, 2007 at 1:44 am
WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS!!!!! Or really, anything by Shel Silverstein.
November 6th, 2007 at 2:47 am
What, no “Stinky Cheese Man?” My nephew loves that book.
November 7th, 2007 at 1:09 am
I never leave comments, but you have tapped my all time favorite books to suggest to others. I must must add “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs” to this list, which I still enjoy looking at for the lovely illustrations.
November 8th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Harry the Dirty Dog
November 9th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
[...] Glinda has recently put up a couple of lists of not-to-be-missed childrens books, one for the younger set, and one for the older set. I’ve written a post or two on my favorite children’s books [...]