Must Read Books for Babies, Pre-schoolers and School Aged Kids

Starting a library for your kids? 

A list of amazing books to read with your babies & toddlers, pre-schoolers and school aged kids.  Here are my suggestions if you want to put together a great gift for new parents or just want to build a library for your kids.  Included in these lists are ones that I consider to be essentials for our bookshelves (in bold), but I’ve also included other less well known titles that you might want to check out from the library.  Our family has read and can recommend all of these books… many we discovered from the 1001 Children’s books to Read Before you Grow Up list, but others are childhood favorites or popular books we’ve picked up over the years.  I mostly stuck with fiction here…. Non fiction will need to be another list!

Babies

1. Moo Baa La La La (Sandra Boynton)
2. Barnyard Dance (Sandra Boynton)
3. But Not the Hippopotamus (Sandra Boynton)
4. Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown)

   

   Starting a Library for your kids!

5. Usborne touchy feely books - That’s Not My Puppy!
6. Usborne touchy feely books - That’s Not My Truck!)
7. Mr. Brown can Moo – Can You? – Board book version (Dr. Seuss)
8. Hop on Pop – Board book version (Dr. Seuss)
9. Where’s Baby’s Bellybutton (Karen Katz)
10. Counting Kisses (Karen Katz)
11. Elmer (David McKee)
12. Baby Beluga (Raffi)
13. The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle)
14. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Bill Martin, Jr.)
15. The Wheels on the Bus (Annie Kubler)
16. Dear Zoo (Ron Campbell)
17. Pat the Bunny (Dorothy Kunhardt)
18. Baby Einstein Mirror Me (Julie Aigner-Clark)
19. Baby Faces (DK Publishing or others)
20. Waterproof books for the bath (like this one - Baby Einstein: Water, Water Everywhere)
21. Fabric books with lots of texture (like this one -Fuzzy Bee and Friends (Cloth Books)

Ages 3-6 (when they stop eating and tearing apart their books)….

I used to like stocking up on beautiful hard cover picture books when they went on sale at Chapters during boxing week, but you can usually get them online at a discount any time of the year.  I’ve also found some great choices through Scholastic books sales at the kids’ school, or at thrift stores for next to nothing.  Books are always a great gift idea for kids of all ages too.  There are a few books in this list that are not our favorites, but I’ve included them because they are considered classics and I think you should read them for yourself!

1. The Story of Ferdinand (Munro Leaf)
2. Pumpkin Soup (Helen Cooper)
3. The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson)
4. Go, Dog. Go! (P.D. Eastman)
5. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (Al Perkins)
6. *The Berenstain Bears (Stan and Jan Berenstain)
7. *Franklin in the Dark (Paulette Bourgeoi)
8. Clifford the Big Red Dog         (Norman Birdwell)
9. Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak)
10. What Do People Do All Day? (Richard Scarry)
11. Big Word Book (Richard Scarry)
12. Best Mother Goose Ever (Richard Scarry)
13. Guess How Much I Love You (Sam McBratney)
14. On the Moon (Usborne book – by Anne Milbourne & Benji Davies)
15. How Big is a Million (Usborne book – by Anna Milbourne)
16. Corduroy (Don Freeman)
17. The Kissing Hand (Audrey Penn
18. Duck on a Bike (David Shannon)
19. Madeline (Ludwig Bemelans)
20. The Best Nest (P.D. Eastman)
21. Curious George  (Margaret Rey)
22. * Max and Ruby series (Rosemary Wells)
23. Five Little Monkeys (Eileen Christelow)
24. **Where the Sidewalk Ends (Shel Silverstein)
25. Alligator Pie (Dennis Lee)
26. Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A. Milne)
27. The Engine that Could (Watty Piper)
28. Make Way for Ducklings (Robert McCloskey)
29. Eloise (Kay Thompson)
30. The Cat in the Hat (Dr. Seuss – although I liked to read this one to babies)
31. Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Seuss)
32. Harold and the Purple Crayon (Crockett Johnson)
33. Are You My Mother? (P.D. Eastman)
34. Owl Moon (Jane Yolen)
35. Bad Habits! (Babette Cole)
36. Olivia (Ian Falconer)
37. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Mo Willems)
38. The Quangle Wangle's Hat (Edward Lear)
39. The Little House (Virginia Lee Burton)
40. Harry the Dirty Dog (Gene Zion)
41. What Does the Fox Say? (Ylvis)
42. Up in the Tree (Margaret Atwood)
43. Maisy the Mouse series (Lucy Cousins)
44. Gorilla (Anthony Browne)
45. A Bear Called Paddington (Michael Bond)
46. Possum Magic (Mem Fox)
47. Clown (Quentin Blake)
48. Molly Goes Shopping (Eva Eriksson)
49. Jamela's Dress (Niki Daly)
50. Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs (Ian Whybrow)
51. Madlenka (Peter Sis)
52. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (Mo Willems)
53. Arnie the Doughnut (Laurie Keller – I am not a fan but the kids love it!)
54. Lost and Found (Oliver Jeffers)
55. Barbapapa (Annette Tison and Talus Taylor)
56. Mr Tickle (Roger Hargreaves)
57. Can’t you Sleep Little Bear? (Martin Waddell)
58. Fox in Socks (Dr. Seuss)
59. Father Christmas (Raymond Briggs)
60. Mister Magnolia (Quentin Blake)
61. No David! Series (David Shannon – good for kids with NO attention span!)
62. One Wooly Wombat (Rod Trinca)
63. Angelina Ballerina (Katharine Holabird)
64. Bear Snores On (Karma Wilson)
65. Love you Forever (Robert Munsch)
66. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Bill Martin Jr)

*one of a series of “lesson” books…. Pick the lessons you are working on

Story books for School Age Kids

There are so many amazing books in this category, and this is the age where it is fun to cut back on the repetition and try lots of new books.  The exception is that for brand new readers, it is nice to read simple storybooks that they know well in addition to the short Level 1/2/3 readers.  I pulled out all of our old Dr. Seuss books for my daughter when she was learning to read.

1. A Bad Case of Stripes (David Shannon)
2. Skippyjon Jones (Judy Schachner)
3. I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato (Lauren Child)
4. Stellaluna (Janell Cannon)
5. Llama, Llama, Red Pajama (Anna Dewdney)
6. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Judi Barrett)
7. Oh, the Places You'll Go! (Dr. Seuss)
8. The Night Pirates (Peter Harris)
9. The Stinky Cheese Man (Jon Scieska)
10. Tikki Tikki Tembo (Arlene Mosel)
11. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Judith Viorst)
12. Strega Nona (Tomie DePaola)
13. The Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch)
14. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Laura Numeroff)
15. If you Give a Pig a Pancake (Laura Numeroff)
16. Scaredy Squirrel (Mélanie Watt)
17. Pinkalicious (Victoria Kann)
18. Pete the Cat (Eric Litwin)
19. How I Became a Pirate (Melinda Long)
20. Tony’s Hard Work Day (Alan Arkin)
21. Fancy Nancy Series (Jane O’Conner)
22. Click Clack Moo – Cows that Type (Doreen Cronin)
23. Princesses are Not Quitters (Kate Lum)
24. My Father's Dragon (Ruth S. Gannett)
25. Captain Pugwash (John Ryan)
26. Crictor  (Tomi Ungerer)
27. The Three Robbers (Tomi Ungerer)
28. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (William Steig)
29. A Monster at the End of this Book (Jon Stone)
30. The Giant Jam Sandwich (Janet Burroway)
31. Loon's Necklace (William Toye)
32. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (Kevin Henkes)
33. I Hate School (Jeanne Willis)
34. Math Curse (Jon Scieska)
35. The Sea Monster (Christopher Wormell)
36. Zen Shorts (Jon J Muth)
37. Henry and Mudge (Cynthia Rylant)
38. The Hodgeheg (Dick King-Smith)
39. The Emperor's New Clothes (Hans Christian Andersen)
40. The Ugly Duckling (Hans Christian Andersen)
41. Velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams)
42. Caps for Sale (Esphyr Slobodkina)
43. Blueberries for Sal (Robert McCloskey)
44. The Snowy Day (Ezra Jack Keats)
45. The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein)
46. Jumanji (Chris Van Allsburg)
47. The Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg)
48. The Hodgeheg (Dick King-Smith)
49. Lon Po Po (Ed Young)
50. Slinky Malinky (Lynley Dodd)
51. Frederick (Leo Lionni)
52. A Necklace of Raindrops (Joan Aiken)
53. The Duck in the Gun (Joy Cowley)
54. The Real Thief (William Steig)
55. Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (Verna Aardema)
56. Mr. And Mrs. Pig's Evening Out (Mary Rayner)
57. John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat (Jenny Wagner
58. The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch         (Ronda Armitage)
59. The Battle of Bubble and Squeak (Philippa Pearce)
60. A Pocket for Corduroy (Don Freeman)
61. Mr. Majeika (Humphrey Carpenter)
62. The People Could Fly (Virginia Hamilton)
63. Not So Fast Songololo (Niki Daly)
64. Hey, Al (Arthur Yorinks)
65. The Mitten (Jan Brett)
66. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Jon Scieska)
67. Horrid Henry (Francesca Simon)
68. Jennifer Jones Won't Leave Me Alone (Frieda Wishinsky)
69. Henry and Amy (Stephen Michael King)
70. You're All My Favorites (Sam McBratney)
71. Are We There Yet? (Alison Lester)
72. The Boy Who Grew Flowers (Jen Woktowicz)
73. The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon (Mini Grey)
74. Linnea in Monet's Garden (Christina Bjork)
75. Magic School Bus series (Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen)    

Am I missing any great books here?  Coming soon.... longer books to read together!