99 of our favorite books for kids ages 0-5

I'm nearing my fifth year of parenthood and I've decided that this makes me a connoisseur of great children's literature. It's pretty simple, really. The perfect book must both appeal to a child and not make a parent's head explode after the fifth reading. I don't like books with preachy morals, but I don't mind a lesson with my lit either. I like a combination of short and long books, for obvious reasons. Illustrations are key, but once Annabella turned 4, they no longer needed to be on every page. I've spent some time compiling our favorites.

What are yours?

1. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
2. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
3. Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth
4. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
5. The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
6. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
7. One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
8. Crow Boy by Taro Yashima
9. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
10. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendack
11. Umbrella by Taro Yashima
12. The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss
13. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
14. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
15. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendack
16. Hug by Jez Alborough
17. Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
18. Library Lion by Michele Knudsen
19. The Empty Pot by Demi
20. Corduroy by Don Freeman
21. The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola
22. Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry
23. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
24. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
25. Pierre by Maurice Sendack
26. Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
27. Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
28. Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
29. Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
30. Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Leonni
31. Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
32. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch
33. Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
34. A Bargain for Francis by Russell Hoban
35. The Little Train by Lois Lenski
36. The Little Airplane by Lois Lenski
37. The Little Fire Engine by Lois Lenski
38. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
39. The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
40. Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
41. Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary
42. Are You My Mother? by PD Eastman
43. The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
44. Owl Moon Jane Yolen
45. Eloise by Kay Thompson
46. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
47. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (Obviously) by Eileen Christelow
48. A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
49. Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
50. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
51. Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathman
52. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
53. We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
54. Skippy Jon Jones in Mummy Trouble by Judy Schachner
55. Carl's Afternoon in the Park by Alexandra Day
56. Ruby the Copycat by Margaret Rathmann
57. Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendack
58. Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester
59. Falling Up by Shel Silverstein
60. The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
61. I Was So Mad by Mercer Mayer
62. Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like by Jay Williams
63. Time for Bed by Mem Fox
64. Humphrey the Lost Whale by Wendy Tokuda and Richard Hall
65. Richard Scary's Best Word Book Ever Richard Scary
66. Curious George Goes to the Hospital by H.A. Rey
67. Curious George Takes a Job by H.A. Rey
68. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
69. Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.
70. My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
71. Henry and the Paper Route by Beverly Cleary
72. Dig Dig Digging by Margaret Mayo
73. Fancy Nancy by Jane O'connor
74. Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O'connor
75. Nurse Nancy by Kathryn Jackson
76. Fire Truck by Peter Sis
77. How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen
78. What Do You Want? by Lars Klinting
79. Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
80. Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
81. Horton Hatches an Egg by Dr. Seuss
82. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
83. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
84. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
85. The Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Connor
86. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
87. May I pet your dog by Stephanie Calmenson
88. Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer
89. Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
90. Alphabet Soup by Kate Banks
91. I Love You the Purplest by Barbara M. Joosse
92. Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
93. Bub or the Very Best Thing by Natalie Babbitt
94. There's a Wocket in My Pocket by Dr. Seuss
95. The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellogg
96. Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer
97. One Frog Too Many by Mercer Mayer
98. Frog on His Own by Mercer Mayer
99. It's My Birthday by Helen Oxenbury

Comments

[Carla Prock]

#100 Ramona Forever??? I remember when that came out and I got to buy it at the school book fair. Little did I know it would be bittersweet, the last Ramona book. I love this list, there are quite a few we haven't read and yet, so many we have. Thanks!

[Ruth H]

This list really brings back some memories. My youngest child turned 47 yesterday, yet many of these books are the ones I read to my children and they learned to read by themselves. Just reading the list made this a good start to my day. Thanks.

[Katrina H]

Thank you for compiling this list! We have read quite a few of these, but there are many new suggestions for us to check out. I frequently ask my friends for book suggestions as well as I don't want to miss any great titles. Thank you also for your Audible recommendations - I have purchased several of the shorter ones for my son, but now that he is about to turn 4, I think we will try to listen to Charlotte's Web during our commute.

[Nikki MK]

Thanks for the list!

My 2-yr-old son likes:
* Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins
* Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli
* The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone
* Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman
* Big Dog, Little Dog by P.D. Eastman
* The Eye Book by Dr. Seuss

My 4-yr-old daughter likes:
* Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great by Judy Blume
* Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
* Come Back, Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
* Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
* Princess Polly and the Pea by Laurie Young

Both kids like:
* J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books (My 4-yr old is on Prisoner of Azkaban and my 2-yr-old is partly through Sorcerer's Stone.)
* Matlida by Roald Dahl
* pretty much any Dr. Seuss...

[Nikki MK]

P.S. #1, 14, 38, 47, 80, 81, 82 + 83 are also favorites in my house.

[Gloria]

Thanks so much for the list! Can't wait to tackle them all with my 21 month old ;-)

[Francie]

Another "great" resource is the American Library Association.
www.ala.org and PBS has a great reading..

[CS]

That's a great list, I'm glad to see you have "Zen Shorts" up there, that's a popular one in our house too.

We (maybe it's me) are also found of anything my Chris Van Dusen. They're bright and funny and have a cool early 60's design sense.

[Jean MacDonald]

Another vote for "Go, Dog, Go" by PD Eastman. Fun, fun, fun.

[Ann]

How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head.. By Bill Peet (anything by him)

The very hungery Caterpiller... Eric Carle

Mike Mulligan and His Steam shovel ..Virginia Lee Burton

Katy the snow Plow...Viginia Lee Burton

The little house.... Virginia Lee Burton

Katy no pockets....Emmy Payne

Mouse Around.... Pat Schories

Stellaluna... Janell Cannon

The "B" book....dr suess

If you check out any of these and like them let me know, thanks.

[Ann]

Oh I forgot.... When Annabella starts to read get her the Magic Tree house books. Resist the urge to get them now. Wait until she can read them herself, probably the beginnning of first grade. These books are so wonderful for emergent readers and you will see her reading skill skyrocket with these books. My youngest would not read and thought she was too dumb to figure it out. I got these books and by the third one she was an avid reader and devoured the rest of the volumes. They are by Mary Pope Osbourne.

[Chrissy]

My son got a new book for his birthday as a gift and he adores it. I thought I would share it with you all. It's called Archy the Flying Dolphin.
He likes it a lot as he can put himself into this book and it takes him to that other place in la la land!
He gets so excited about books he just loves them.
If your kids are the same, this book is pretty cool. In his school, they're all talking about it... It's the new pokemon or digeomon or whatever those things are called! hehe Check it out!
http://archytheflyingdolphin.com/default.aspx

[j]

A very good list. In my list would also be

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
No, David! by David Shannon
David Gets In Trouble by David Shannon
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Williams (by the way, the Pigeon has a cameo in the Knuffle Bunny book. We always have fun "finding" the pigeon every time we read it)

My son was obsessed with Cars and Trucks and Things that go to the point we had to hide the book. It took forever to read the whole book at bedtime.

[Oh, The Joys]

Thank you for this! I love posts like this. I have printed it out and will carry it in my pocket to the library. Hurrah!

(I second the "hide Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. For real!)

[Tobias]

Loved looking at that list. Many similar favorites on there with are 4 almost 5 year old. Need to add the Old Bear books by Jane Hissey

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Bear-Jane-Hissey/dp/0399214011

My favorite is Little Bear's Trousers.

[Tobias]

I meant "our" not "are" - dang proof reading skills

[Mimi]

I love this list! I work in a kindergarten class, and many of these are on our bookshelf. Are you familiar with the David Shannon books? My kids LOVE everything he has ever written. Also- Mo Willems is a favorite- especially "Knufflebunny" and the Pigeon books.

[lauredhel]

Some of the best out of Australia - my kid loves these (and so do I.)

The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan

Jungle Drums, Uno's Garden, Animalia by Graeme Base

Anything by Pamela Allen or Mem Fox.

[Nick]

What no Hungry Caterpillar? Also for slightly older kids, but not much older, what about Herge's adventures of Tin Tin? I've many happy memories of being dropped off at the library at a young age to sit and read through them all.

[Dave Bauer]

Nice list! They are all great.

Also check out

The Dot Peter H. Reynolds