First, can I just say I loved coming up with this list and really thinking about the books that my children love the most — I kept having endearing flashbacks to cozy reading sessions and quiet bedtime routines. Second, coming up with this list was such a challenge! There is an incredible amount of excellent work out there. Narrowing it down to fifty was tougher than I expected. Most of all, I’m over-the-moon about the reaction to the Children’s Library Giveaway. Yay for books!
A few notes: As I compiled, I realized I want to make a few different lists — favorite toddler books, favorite chapter books, favorite holiday books… But for this list, I’m focusing on picture books. I had in mind children ages 3 to 10 — though some books skew younger than 7 and some skew older than 6. I also included a few books that would fall under the toddler book category, but that are loved by most everyone of any age. There are a couple of well-illustrated chapter books too — selections that even my young children enjoy.
The other thing I tried to do as I compiled the list, was to include as many authors and illustrators as possible. For example, there are at least 6 Dr. Seuss books I would consider essential to a children’s library, but I only included one here. Lastly, I made sure to include a Fairy Tales collection, Mother Goose collection and Fables collection — it wouldn’t be a decent library without them.
I’d love(!) to hear how your list might look different. Any picture books that would make your top 50 that didn’t make mine?
P.S. — Image by Brooke of Inchmark. She writes wonderful library book reviews.
The Design Mom Top 50 Picture Books, in alphabetical order:
– Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
– Fables
– Harold and the Purple Crayon
– The Incredible Book-Eating Boy
– Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
– Madeline
– Olivia
– People
– Polkabats and Octopus Slacks
– Seasons
– So You Want to be President?
Wow, what a list! I’m surprised how many books I don’t know on there!
My kids love ‘going on a bear hunt’ by Michael Rosen with the most delightful illustrations by Helen Oxenbury. ‘Big Red Barn’ by Margaret Wise Brown is also a favourite bedtime book for us.
What a great list. I agree that these books are great.
I HAVE to get Archie and the Pirates! His dad’s birthday is on International Talk Like a Pirate Day and pirate-oriented goods are very popular at our house!
i love so many of these books, but there are a bunch that we’ve never read that i’m excited to check out!
The Three Little Kittens and The Little Red Hen (both with illustrations by Lilian Obligado) have always been favorites in my house. Great list!
What a great giveaway Gabrielle!
Many of your choices already grace our shelves and we’ve spent many happy hours reading them over and over and over and over again – toddlers, huh?!
If I win, I’ll donate the doubles to our local library. If not, I’m sure I can justify the cost of purchasing some of the books we don’t have to add to our pile!
Keep up the great work and congratulations on your 5 year anniversary!
What a great list! If you like Cynthia Rylant (The Relatives Came) you must read her other books (Scarecrow, In November, The Wonderful Happens, Silver Packages, The Cookie-Store Cat, to name a few faves), if you haven’t already. She is my all time favorite…along with Jane Yolen (Owl Moon), Charlotte Zolotow (The White Marble), and Kevin Henkes (Chrysanthemum). I would have the hardest time ever creating a list of 50. I couldn’t forget Fireflies, Saturdays and Teacakes, and Koala Lou. And my favorites right now…Nature’s Paintbox, Red Sings from Treetops, Sharing the Seasons, How to Heal a Broken Wing, and The Secret of Saying Thanks. Oh, I’m so sorry! I could go on and on and on!!!!
Gabby, kudos to you for even attempting to make a list of your favorite children’s books. I’m sure it was challenging to narrow it down to 50. There are many on your list that I love, as well as many that I’ve never heard of.
My favorite children’s book is “The Monster at the End of This Book.” I love the way the book breaks the “fourth wall” between the story and the reader. The book itself becomes an object to be overcome, and the story becomes a conversation between Grover and the reader. Plus, it’s great fun to read aloud.
Also, I’ve always loved Brooke’s library book reviews over on Inchmark, so I’m happy to see you mention them. Her photos are darling.
What a wonderful giveaway! I don’t know all of these but a lot of my favorites are covered. I love lists like this so I have new books to seek out for my son. Books are his favorite “toys”.
Great list! I think I would add a Beatrix Potter and, most of all, a Toot and Puddles book. Also, this version of The Little Engine that Could (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/little-engine-that-could-watty-piper/1100253311?ean=9781101483794&itm=2&usri=loren%2blong)
Love that you included a Francis book!
Oliver Jeffers is a favourite at our house — especially any of the stories with the boy and the penguin.
Oh my gosh! You put the book, “Seasons”, that I recommended to you on there! Did you love the illustrations and simplicity (and complexity I suppose) that I was talking about?
I absolutely love your list. Love it!
xoxo
For when you compile a list of toddler/preschooler books, here’s a shout out for Sandra Boynton’s wonderful little board books, such as Blue Hat, Green Hat; Hippos Go Berserk; The Going to Bed Book; and Barnyard Dance. My kids love them and they pass what may be my litmus test for a children’s book: can I enjoy reading it over — and over — and over again?
This list blows my mind! I love it! I could comment on only about half of them though, which thrills me because it gives us new books to try out. I adore Shel Silverstein, and I love The Paper Bag Princess! I used to read that when I was a kid, but haven’t seen it in about two decades. And my favorite Don and Audry Wood book is Heckedy Peg. Have you read that one? The pictures are the best.
I am so tickled to see Zen Shorts. It is such a marvelous book. I was surprisingly pleased when my baby tore a page because it meant I was free to cut it out and frame it without the guilt of desecrating an otherwise perfect book. You have such excellent taste! (Especially when it overlaps with my own. Hehe.). One more thing – I think the children’s library is just the sweetest idea.
Miss Twiggley’s Tree, Tikki Tikki Tembo, Rabbit’s New Rug, and King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub should definitely be included – just to name a few.
oh, oh, oh….
here’s a couple that i absolutely adored as a child
“never talk to strangers”, by irma joyce. illustrated by george buckett.
here’s a link to the cover i remember:
http://www.vintagechildrensbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=10713
i loved the illustrations when i was young.
especially the pictures of the bee with the bassoon and the rabbit.
it’s so whimsical!
i also loved richard scarry’s, “best word book”.
http://www.amazon.com/Mein-Allerschonstes-Worterbuch-Richard-Scarry/dp/3773549024/ref=pd_sxp_grid_i_0_0
we had the version with english, french and german.
i grew up speaking english and german so it was a great learning tool.
i loved seeing the translation of one word to the other language.
and richard scarry’s characters are just classic!
that little worm? ADORABLE!!!
everything is this book was so incredibly detailed.
i think that’s what made it so fun.
every tiny detail was labeled in all three languages!
I would add Corduroy. What a fantastic list!
What a great list! I love how you’ve included both classic and new authors. And yes, definitely a task to whittle it down to 50 — even with putting the Picture Book restriction on the list!
Since you asked though, here are a few more Picture Books that I would add for my personal list…
– something by David Weisner (‘Tuesday’ and ‘June 29, 1999’ are my favorites),
– ‘Miss Twiggley’s Tree’ by Dorothea Warren Fox,
– ‘The Story of Babar’ by Jean de Brunhoff,
– anything by Bill Peet,
– ‘Father Christmas’ by Raymond Briggs,
– “Anatole” by Eve Titus,
– one of the ‘Dorrie” books by Patricia C. Coombs (even though most of this series are still shamefully out of print!),
– and something by Steven Kellogg (I always loved “The Christmas Witch” best – such a darling tale!)
Each of these author-illustrators does such a magical job with telling a visual story… and what imaginative stories they are too!
And while it may be on the high-end of the age list, “A Time to Keep” by Tasha Tudor was always so enthralling when I was a child…
Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine by Evaline Ness. Wonderful story, wonderful illustrations. Especially good for older kids in the range.
Love your list! Many of the “additions” I thought of have already been mentioned by someone else, but I don’t think anyone has recommended “The Kissing Hand” yet. A favorite in our house!
I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont is one of my girls favorites.
You made some wonderful selections! How did you narrow it down? There are many that I have not read, but you have included so many of my favorites including The Snowy Day (one of my faves as a child…I loved the illustrations), The Story of Ferdinand (who couldn’t love a mellow, non-violent bull), and a modern favorite, The Stinky Cheese Man (which I introduced to my students when I did my student teaching).
I would also recommend these two: Chicken Sunday, by Patricia Polacco (anything by Patricia Polacco, really), and The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes. They are two of my favorite books of all time.
You put Zen Shorts on your list! I am so happy to see it here!
You have so many of our favorites on the list (The Ox-cart Man!). To add, I think I’d put maybe one Elsa Beskow book on there- Emily and Daisy perhaps? And our all time favorite- Miss Rumphius.
Love “The Napping House,” . . .yawn . . . I’m already there.
There are a few books I’ve had since childhood that I refuse to give away because the Illustrations in them are so beautiful and the stories are wonderful too :)
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Tarzanna! by Babette Cole
Rainbow Rhino by Peter Sis
If you give a mouse a cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond
Old Bear by Jane Hissey
Lisi and the Kittens by Krister Green, illustrated by Lisi Martin
Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood
Moonhorse by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by S. M. Saelig
The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell, illustrated by Paul Micich
I LOVED The Jolly Postman growing up! The fact that I could take out the little letters to read was so fun. I also recommend The Jolly Christmas Postman and the Jolly Pocket Postman. And there are only a few that i will still need to read (i’m a future teacher). Thanks for such a great list!
Fabulous list – so many favorites of ours too! Our family’s list would include Animalia by Graeme Base.
Great list. Some of our fav authors that I would add are lauren Childs with Charlie and Lola any book by mo Willems
Love your list! But the ultimate favorite of my brood when they were little was “The Wild Baby” by Barbro Lindgren. My copy went away over the years, and now it’s quite expensive to obtain. A pity, because it is the BEST!
You and your children have amazing taste!! Right now my almost 3 year old is in love the Frog and Toad Together. As far as chapter books we started Stuart Little by E.B. White. Now that he is more into reading he will actually sit and listen without any pictures to entertain him. My all time favorite as a child was Bernard of Scotland Yard by Berniece Freschet. When I was pregnant with my first son a wonderful, older co-worker gave me some of her childhood books from the 50’s. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift. Thanks you so much for a great book list to go to for holidays and birthdays. I did enter your giveaway…fingerscrossed. Thanks for posting this!!
I love Strega Nona! I think that David Shannon’s “No, David!” will be a classic someday!
Wonderful list!!!
I would ad to my list… “The Giving Tree”, “Caps for Sale” and the classic Richard Scarry books. I LOVE so many of your choices. I am a former English teacher now a stay-home mom and reading with and choosing books with my children is a passion.
This is a wonderful gift… keeping my fingers crossed!!
Ok, gotcha posted on my fb wall post. Looking forward to winning this contest!
Love your blog and love the book list for the this contest. Whoever wins is very lucky to get these classics.
Caps for Sale has been my daughter’s favorite book since she was ten months old. She also LOVES the very busy spider and the pigeon books by Mo Willems.
We love picture books here! So glad you compiled a list, and what a great list it is!!
I would add a few 100 lol, okay I will keep it to 5 ;)
1. Flotsam by David Wiesner
2. Henry in love by Peter McCarty
3. Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
4. The incredible book eating boy by Oliver Jeffers
5. 10 minutes till bedtime by Emily Rathmann
Lots of great books on your list! A lot of the favorites on my list are based on the books my Great-Grandma read to all of her Grandchildren/Great-Grandchildren, so they are very special to all of my family members and we love reminiscing about spending time on her lap!
Jump Frog Jump
1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Harold and the Purple Crayon
My personal favorite as a little girl was “Go Dog, Go”. My mom read it to me so much that she had it memorized!
Now as a teacher (elementary music), I love using Robert Munsch books. Many of his books lend them selves to having music/instruments added to them. My personal favorite is “Mortimer”, but I also love “Up, Up Down” and “Love You Forever”.
What a wonderful list! I would also include C. S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” and the Picture Bible – it’s an accurate comic-strip style retelling of the Bible. My siblings and I pored over these books!
Agreed, we love the Chronicles too and the Big Picture Bible.
The incredible book eating boy is a favorite of ours. We love Oliver Jeffers! What a great list.
If I don’t win this little collection of books I think I’ll move to Australia. :) My boys love that story, especially my five year old. It makes him giggle uncontrollably which makes me giggle too. One book I would have to add to make it a perfect collection for our family is Richard Scarry’s best story book ever. I was read many of his stories growing up and treasure them.
What a great list! My son (2.5) knows The Napping House by heart. Can’t wait to start working through the list!
Thank you for the list! I am always looking for recommendations. My 2 year old is ALWAYS reading so I love buying books! Thanks again.
Fantastic list. I saw many of my favorites, and I’m adding several to our library list. We also love “The Curious Garden”, “Adele & Simon”, and “I Love You the Purplest”.
Must add ” I ain’t gonna paint no more!”
I would have included Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, although it might have fallen into the ‘older kids’ category. I think it’s a great story for any age :) Some other favorites in our house are: the McDuff series, the Hairy McClary series, many of Taro Gomi’s books, Whose Mouse Are You?, Leo the Late Bloomer, Miss Rumphius, several Kevin Henkes books, Ginger…there are just so many great books!
for anyone with a little girl “the paperbag princess” by robert munsch is a must. elizabeth, the heroine, is a strong, confident and a fabulous example for little girls everywhere.
Lots of my favourite books are on the list, Bravo for the great job, once again!
Quite a few I don’t know so I am going to check them out straight away. Have a great 14 Juillet! (did you get to see fireworks?) Hugs from Freida
What a fantastic list!!! I am excited to see both that we have read and own many of these AND there are more for us to discover!! This means that, if we were lucky enough to win, we would be able to give about half to my nieces and keep half!! Thank you for sharing the list and for the amazing giveaway!
I think it would be close to impossible to only choose 50. I love your choices, but would also be tempted to include something by Kevin Henkes, Jan Brett, Don Freeman and my mom’s favorite classic, “The Little Engine That Could.” (I LOVE the newer version illustrated by Loren Long!!!) Oh, I could probably go on and on, so I’ll stop here. GREAT list!!
I’m-so-glad-to-see-“Joseph-Had-A-Litte-O\/ercoat”-on-the-list!-It’s-a-great-list!