Good Children’s Books

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woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
12,644
20,164
SE PA USA
All good suggestions here! I grew up with Maurice Sendak and we read all his books to our daughter. They are timeless. The "Nutshell Library" is perfect for small hands and young minds. Same with Dr. Seuss. if you can still find an unaltered edition of "And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street", extra credit. The story was changed to make it more politically correct a few years back. I think that they changed "and a Chinaman who eats with sticks" to "And an ethnic Han person, born in China, who is a faithful Party member and runs his People's Fentanyl Factory #7 with dissident Uyghur slave labor". My copy came to my parents via their boss at work, who bought it for his kids not long after it was published. It's a first edition, but has had decades of childhood wonderment rubbed into it. Our daughter loved the Junie B. Jones series, and we still quote them often. "Madeline" is another wonderful children's book, one that stood up to hundreds of readings. "The Cunning Little Vixen" was also a favorite, and my wife and I read it to each other, years later.

Once they start reading on their own, there' a whole new world waiting for them.

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SBC

Lifer
Oct 6, 2021
1,611
7,594
NE Wisconsin
My kids have loved the Beatrix Potter books (I'm a sucker for that fetching artwork), all the original Winnie-the-Pooh stories, The Wind in the Willows, as well as the Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, etc.

Milne and Grahame write especially exquisite English that's delightful for both children and adults.
 
Jul 26, 2021
2,411
9,779
Metro-Detroit
I would like to add that adults read me books above my reading level and I truly enjoyed those dame books when I was of age.

Nothing extreme mind you, but like being read a 4th grade level book while in 1st grade. And any unsavory parts would be edited by the reader which made for a suprise later (like with the pilot in Hatchet).

In other words, you don't necessarily need to limit options to their current reading level if reading to the kids (just make sure to read ahead a bit so appropriate "editing" can be made). This may provide more options (and be more entertaining for you).
 

RonB

Can't Leave
Jan 17, 2021
421
2,077
Southeast Pennsylvania
For kids 6 - 9, there are some great "adventure chapter books" that my grandson loves. The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne, the Timmi Tobbson series by J.I. Wagner, The Legend of Black Eyed Bart series by Edward Penner, and the Jack Jones series by Zander Bingham. Chronicle of Narnia and Hardy Boys are excellent too.
 

kcghost

Lifer
May 6, 2011
15,141
25,685
77
Olathe, Kansas
I just loved Dr. Seuss when I was a child. The Hardy Boys were very enjoyable though you had a little problem with the author, I really enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes books as I hit puberty. And numerous others that I just don't recall now.
 

Arthur Frayn

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 8, 2023
200
840
66
Sonoma county, Calif.

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,642
31,193
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
My boys are 5 and 3 and of course I read a lot of books to them. I have to say that most books are so-so. My biggest complaint is that most authors of children’s books have something in mind that they want kids to learn. I find that tendentiousness pretty annoying. It keeps the work from being “art” IMHO. Few books transcend the genre to become truly memorable and worthy of admiration. One author that I think wrote really sublime books was Arnold Lobel. He authored and illustrated Toad and Frog as Well as Owl at Home. Others here might suggest some of their favorite children’s books that they think we should be reading to our kids?
Owl making “tear-water tea”:
Owl-at-Home6.jpg

Owl talking to the moon:
Owl-at-Home8.jpg

Owl wondering why he cannot be both upstairs and downstairs at the same time:
childrens1.jpg
Well the bulk of childrens books are sold to schools so learning lessons is what those places are about so...
I've been thinking of writing some not for childrens books. Books in that style but not for kids. The first one I am working on is "my first pipe". You know all the beginner things but written and illustrated as if it is for children.
 
Dec 11, 2021
1,631
8,351
Fort Collins, CO
For kids 6 - 9, there are some great "adventure chapter books" that my grandson loves. The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne, the Timmi Tobbson series by J.I. Wagner, The Legend of Black Eyed Bart series by Edward Penner, and the Jack Jones series by Zander Bingham. Chronicle of Narnia and Hardy Boys are excellent too.
My 8-year-old DEVOURED the Magic Treehouse books!
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,610
"The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse" by Charlie Mackesy is sharply written, well illustrated, and inspiring without being weighty about it.

"When You Love A Cat," by M.H. Clark, illustrated by Jessica Phoenix, is good for kids experienced with cats, with especially well-observed art.

Online, "Sharon Finds the Environment" on the NIEHS website is influenced by humorists like Moliere and Twain, and is short and snappy, with good art. You can Google it with just the title.
 
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kcghost

Lifer
May 6, 2011
15,141
25,685
77
Olathe, Kansas
Oh, god I forgot Nancy Springer, the author of the Enola Holmes books; Marthe Jocelyn, the author of the Aggie Morton mystery series; and Thomas Lockhaven the author of the Ava and Carol Detective Agency series.
 
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milk

Lifer
Sep 21, 2022
1,104
2,822
Japan
My wife and I read “Goodnight Moon” and a few others so many times to our children when they were little we had them memorized.
Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd. It seems easy to forget the illustrator. That seems sad as both this and Runaway bunny wouldn’t be what they are without both. That’s obvious but it seems like we remember her and forget his name. The illustrations are great. I know we happen to have at least two (maybe 3?) professional/famous illustrators/visual artists posting on this site and I wonder how they feel about it. What gets me is the question of style. One of Richard Scarry’s early books is I Am a Bunny:
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It’s one of our favorites and the illustrations are beautiful BUT it doesn’t have his later signature style. How does an illustrator develop a unique style? But Scarry, Herd, Lobel, Seuss, Sendak, they’re totally unique and unmistakable. Maybe it’s unexplainable. Its all the hard work, talent, etc. plus that something I-Don’t-Know-What that equals a unique timeless indelible picture.
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