Our Favorite Children’s Books

Reading to my little ones is one of my favorite things. We have a great collection of books at home and we make a point of regularly going to the library to get a big stack to keep things fresh for the reader and the read to. Over the years I have read hundreds of children’s books, and as the reader, I definitely have developed an opinion on the subject.

To me children’s books fall into three categories:

• Really. How did this get published? I’m not going to name names, it just wouldn’t be nice. And I wouldn’t want the author of Gulp! or Crocs! to beat me up in a back alley. These books make you want to quit whatever it is you are doing and start writing children’s books because anyone could do it better.
• Um, okay. I guess. Average blahness is by far the most plentiful category of children’s lit. So many books just make you shrug your shoulders and say meh. Even some books hailed as “classics” make you go hummm. The message may be odd or off, morally questionable, too wordy or just plain boring. These are the books I am most likely to hide in a drawer or donate. (Our copy of Titanicat may be available at a Goodwill near you).
• Treasures. Let’s read that again. Real gems with either great stories, classic characters, valuable lessons, beautiful illustrations, or all of the above.

The list below are treasures and represent some of our very favorites. These books are proud members of our permanent collection that the children and adults in our family love to read and re-read.

Now the breakdown (book titles are amazon links):

If You Give a Mouse A Cookie (and others from the series)

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin

Fix-It Duck (and others from the series)

Madeline

You are Special

I Had a Favorite Dress

The High Street

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild

Smile!

Amelia Bedelia

Miss Nelson is Missing

Fancy Nancy (and others from the series)

What Time is it, Mr. Crocodile

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Llama Llama Red Pajama (and others from the series)

Press Here

Big Words for Little People

The Gruffalo

Each Peach Pear Plum

Angelina Ballerina (and others from the series)

What are your favorites? We definitely want to add some new books to our collection so I am taking suggestions. I know I appreciate it when my children are gifted books just as much as they do.

P.S. Need a break from reading to your children? LeVar Burton is fully qualified to take over. Reading Rainbow is now available for streaming on Netflix.

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OH AND! My Man was proofreading this post (blame all grammatical errors on him heretofore) and we were revisiting the topic of favorite and least favorite children’s books. Had to add a few more before pressing publish!

Ox-Cart Man

Give Me Grace

Falling for Rapunzel

Go, Dog. Go!

Do you see a Mouse?