What are 3 or 4 of the best children's books you have read?
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dreamer31 (
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February 18th, 2011
I find that some of the childrens’ books I have read, especially for small children are not only not fun to read but are also so trivial they are uninteresting. So, what are some of the better ones in your opinion?
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I can’t think of many because I don’t have children myself so don’t read children’s books very often (only on the odd babysitting job really). However, from my own childhood, the book that sticks in my mind the most is The Magic Wishing Chair by Enid Blyton.
I read the Froggy series to my sons when they were little (over 10 years ago) and now my 7 year old daughter reads them. They are very entertaining and teach wonderful lessons.
Goodnight Moon
Where the Wild Things Are
Curious George
The Phantom Tollbooth
Charlotte’s Web
Stuart Little
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears
Pippi Longstocking
Where the Wild Things Are
Velveteen Rabbit
Charlotte’s Web
Alice in Wonderland never loses its appeal
The Hobbit
Roald Dahl is also excellent
Andrew Lang’s collections of fairy stories
I agree with Where the Sidewalk ends and Shel Silverstein in general, Roald Dahl books are great, Seuss is always a winner, and Where the Wild Things are is a classic. My ultimate favorite from my days of teaching is Frida by Jonah Winter. Its beautifully illustrated and a great story and although it doesn’t get into the nitty gritty of Frida’s amazing life it touches on her beauty, her person, her art, and her story.
“Mischief in the Forest: A Yarn Yarn” by Derrick Jensen
“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkein
The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
Mandy by Julie Edwards (who is actually Julie Andrews from Mary Poppins) I received this book when I was about 7 years old and have read it many times over the years. It’s about a 10 year old English girl, an orphan, who discovers a “secret” cottage that she ends up tending to and planting flowers in the garden. There’s a whole mystery about the owners of the cottage.
The Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, but especially the first one called Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy, which is about the boyhood of Laura’s husband Almanzo.
Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. My mother read this to my brother and I when we were really little and we both loved it.
Uncle Wiggly by Howard R. Garis
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
The Saturday’s by Elizabeth Enright about a group of 4 siblings that are short on money and end up pooling their allowance money to enable each of them to experience a fabulous adventure on subsequent Saturdays.
And my favorite series (not exactly written for children, but any child who loves animals or dreams of being a veterinarian some day) the All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriot. The BBC miniseries starring Christopher Timothy was also excellent and followed the books very closely.
I absolutely loved Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl as a child. Where the Sidewalk Ends was great, but I also remember pulling A Giraffe and a Half off the shelf pretty frequently. Dahl’s The BFG was one of my favorites, too. Then there was Harold and the Purple Crayon, Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit series, and Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
My father read most of these books to me, and then I started reading them to him at some point.
I feel I should say, I love Shel Silverstein, all of his.
And I may catch some ridicule for this but I despise Dr. Suess,
I am convinced he was on a train…. headed for insane!
I have written a couple of children’s books myself and I can rhyme and make sense so much better. This annoys me because my publishing efforts have gone nowhere.
Thanks to all for your answers.
I Need My Monster is a great new one!
Depends on the age of the child I would say, but my favorites include:
The Giving Tree
The Last Unicorn
Stone Soup
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
For small children:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
Amelia Bedelia
The Giving Tree
My family had a set of Childcraft encyclopedias growing up and I loved those so much as well.
So many!
Stone Soup
The Giving Tree
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Guess How Much I Love You
Brown Bear, Brown Bear (what do you…) and all the books of those ilk
Velveteen Rabbit
Where The Wild Things Are
Alice in Wonderland
My Monster Mama Loves Me
The Velvet Room – by Zilpha Keatly Snyder
Alice in Wonderland
James and the Giant Peach
Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little & Charlotte’s Web
The Phantom Tollbooth
Charlotte’s Web
Stuart Little
The Trumpet of the Swans (these 3 books all by E.B. White)
Phantom Tollbooth (I was glad to see other “votes” for this book)
I recently discovered books with art by an artist named Paul Galdone – he re-did all the classics like the Little Red Hen but his art is unusual and my daughter likes it.
I always loved Sesame Street’s The Monster At The End Of This Book. The kids always got a kick out of that one.
Oh! I completely forgot Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I read them both over and over again.
@jonsblond Great book! In fact, all of the Sesame Street books I know of are pretty good.
@jonsblond I was going to suggest The Monster At the End of This Book too! My kids still crack up every single time we read it, even though they know exactly what is going to happen!
I’ll also second Mo Willems. Tonight we read Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed and my boys (5 and 7) loved it.
For very little kids, anything by Sandra Boynton. For slightly older kids, anything by Tomie dePaola (especially the Strega Nona books!).
Good first chapter books to read with children: Roald Dahl, the “Sisters Grimm” series, Captain Underpants (I have to admit I have a hard time not laughing as hard as the kids when we read those), and the Artemis Fowl series. Even kids who aren’t quite ready to read these books on their own will enjoy reading them with a grownup or older sibling.
Keep in mind that even books that strongly appeal to children may make you want to cry if you have to read them more than once. Toddlers in particular love repetition and will sometimes become obsessed with reading the same horrible book over and over. I remember my son loved this picture book called “Babies” and insisted on reading it several times a day. I got sooooo sick of it! Captain Underpants also tends to make parents crazy because of the potty humor but, of course, it really appeals to boys. You can stock up on all the kids’ books you like, but that’s no guarantee the kid in your life will agree with your taste. :)
My kids favorite books and mine differ. Their favorites were Dr. Suess. I loved reading the Walloping Window Blind and had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard at Amelia Bedilia.
@MissAusten the toddler dilemma is precisely why I cannot stand to read Dr Suess, my children loved The Cat in the Hat so much, this sounds so mean I hid it. You have mentioned a few authors I have not heard of. I will look those up, thanks. I often read to my kids with so much enthusiasm that I can make anything interesting if I enjoy reading it myself.
@jonsblonde I agree, I went out and bought that one while I was still pregnant.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions, it has reminded me of ones that I have all but forgotten!
@jonsblond – My ex didn’t have a lot of exposure to children’s books, even as a child. I found “The Monster at the End of This Book” at a bookstore while looking for a nephew’s gift. My ex, at age 29, loved that book when he read it and made me by him a copy. And then he would ask me to read it to him because he thought my Grover imitation was too funny.
@tedibear How cute! It is a fun book to read as an adult. So let’s here that Grover imitation!
darnit, internet. nevermind. ;)
I loved reading Roald Dahl’s books with my children and they loved them too.
We also loved Wind in the Willows.
The Chronicles of Narnia is just wonderful.
My children loved and still do love the Harry Potter books.
They also loved the Tomorrow series by John Marsden.
The Incredible Journey is a good story.
For little kids, Hairy McLarey (from Donaldson’s Dairy).
The cat who lost his purr is lovely.
There is another one we absolutely loved about a dog who pretended to be all sorts of different animals in the pet shop so someone would choose him and take him home. Can’t remember the name though… will report back when I remember.
I didn’t read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs until I was in my twenties, and I almost didn’t even read it then because I was so deeply unimpressed with the movie. I’m so glad I did, though. It’s fantastic. And the artwork…! Wonderful!
I also didn’t read Peter Pan until I was in my twenties. Once again, because I didn’t care for the movie. After reading it I was rather angry with myself for not doing so much sooner.
As a child, my favorites included The Gashlycrumb Tinies (yeah, I know), The Phantom Tollbooth, TheVelveteen Rabbit, and The BFG.
For small children (under 5) based on what my daughter keeps going back to over and over:
Anything by Sandra Boynton
The Llama Llama Red Pajamas series
The Velveteen Rabbit
Charlotte’s Web
She also has books that are Stories for 4 Year Olds and one for 5 year olds that have several classic stories like Hansel & Gretel and Chicken Little.
The Phillip Pullman “His Dark Materials” series.
The “Power of Five” series by Anthony Horowitz (been waiting for the last book to be published for 2 years, man, get your finger out and get it finished!)
“Box of Delights” by John Masefield
“Chronicles of Narnia” which was a favourite as a child, but I got a little disappointed once I discovered that Aslan was an allegory for God.
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
Charlotte’s Web
Any Dr.Suess book
The Wind in the Willows
Aesop’s Fable’s
The Little Mermaid
My parents would make up alot of stories.Those were the best of all to me :))
I feel I have to scroll to the bottom before I answer so I won’t be influenced by those above me.
^_^
I re-read “The Phantom Tollbooth” over and over again. I really, really enjoy the story and how incredibly clever it is.
“The Hobbit” is a children’s book, I don’t care what you say. And it’s excellent.
I still can’t read “The Lorax” without crying a little bit.
“One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” is an all-time favourite, too.
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” I love tall tales and this one does not disappoint.
“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”. ::nods::
I thought of some more!
“Centerburg Tales” and “Homer Price” by Robert McCloskey
Most of Judy Blume’s books, although I’m not a huge fan of her adult work.
And a very young children’s book – “What is a Whispery Secret?”
The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Fudge-A-Mania by Judy Blume
Most of Katherine Paterson’s books
I loved the Harry Potter series, but as for newer books it would be the House of Night (HON) series by PC and Kristen Cast.
More!
“Sideways Stories from Wayside School” and “Wayside School is Falling Down”
“Lila on the Landing”
“How to Eat Fried Worms” Don’t bother with the movie. Just don’t.
“Maniac Magee”
“The Hundred Dresses”
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