Design Mom’s Top 50 Picture Books

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

All in a Day

Archie and the Pirates

Arrow to the Sun

A Bargain for Francis

 

Blueberries for Sal

Curious George

Fables

Fairy Tales

Frog and Toad Together

 

Good Night, Gorilla

Goodnight Moon

Green Eggs and Ham

Harold and the Purple Crayon

The Incredible Book-Eating Boy

 

The Jolly Postman

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

The Little Bear Treasury

The Little House

Madeline

 

Many Moons

Mother Goose

A Million Dots

My Father’s Dragon

The Napping House

 

Not a Box

Oh, What a Busy Day

Olivia

Ox-Cart Man

The Paper Bag Princess

 

People

Polkabats and Octopus Slacks

The Relatives Came

The Reluctant Dragon

Seasons

 

A Sick Day for Amos McGee

The Snowy Day

So You Want to be President?

The Stinky Cheese Man

The Story of Ferdinand

 

Strega Nona

A Tree Is Nice

Time for Bed

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Wild Things Are

 

The Widow’s Broom

Winnie the Pooh (4-volume set)

Very Hungry Caterpillar

You are Awesome

Zen Shorts

202 thoughts on “Design Mom’s Top 50 Picture Books”

  1. What a fun, fun list – makes me want to list my fifty favorites! We have most of these, but I’m going to have to check out the few we don’t on our library visit tomorrow!

  2. wow! this is a great list. even if I don’t win we’ll be working though this list at our house. thank you!

  3. As I scanned the list of titles and came to The Stinky Cheese Man, I shouted “YES”! This book still produces vivid memories of my sons’ laughter and exclamations of “read it again, Mommy!” The author & illustrator team of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith quite simply ROCKS.

  4. What a wonderful collection of books! I can see why narrowing it down to fifty was such a challenge. A few books we’re loving right now are: “Imagine a Day”, “Don’t Laugh at Me”, “Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You” and “Harry and Horsie”. If you have not yet read them, I sincerely hope you do.

  5. Do you know the book Roxaboxen? It is my absolute favorite, and often overlooked. I also love Tomie dePaola’s The Art Lesson. And about a million more. :)

  6. Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton- Trent by Lauren Child (who wrote all the Charlie and Lola series)! It makes the whole family laugh every time!

  7. I would LOVE adding these books to my small start! I want so badly to give my kids the same library I had as a young child. Books are the best!

  8. Great list but a must add is “When Moon Fell Down” by Linda Smith.
    Fantastic illustrations and an engaging story/poem. Your kids young and old will LOVE it!

  9. What a great list! Thanks for letting us in on your top 50 children’s books. We’re just getting started with our little girl’s library.

  10. Gregory the Terrible Eater ; my husband and I both loved it as kids and made sure to add it to the kids’ collection.
    I got A Sick Day for Amos McGee at the library this week of your recommendation and it is fantastic! I love the illustrations. It’s such a sweet book.

  11. have you seen/read iggy peck, architect by andrea beaty? if not, you should check it out- the illustrations are amazing, and the story is cute (even if you don’t have an architect for a husband!)

  12. mary anne petersen

    It is a great list! My one year old girl loves Things I like by Anthony Browne. She turns around the pages pointing out what calls her attention, and asks me to read it to her all the time!

  13. Loved this list. I think Alphabeasties should have made the top-50–it’s fantastic. You might want to check it out if you’ve never seen/read it. The Adventure of Hugo Cabret is also fantastic, but it’s for older kids.

  14. I love this – thank you! I love recommendations for children’s books – you read them so many times that it is wonderful to have a selection of great ones. A few other favorites in our house are the Snail and the Whale, Brown Bear, Lost and Found, I Took the Moon for a Walk, Oh the Places You’ll Go, Milton the Early Riser, and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. And, and, and, but that’s enough! Thank you again!

  15. Shayna Overbaugh

    You have a really great selection and I hope we win this for Liam. He turned 5 on Wednesday and his library is so small. Due to being really tight on cash, we really cannot afford to get him many books. :(

    One of my favorite books when I was young was Ira Sleeps Over.

  16. My kids love Sector 7 by David Wiesner. Also, one of my favorites is The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss–such a sweet, simple story about the faith of a child. Great list!

  17. Thank you for sharing your list with us! Even if I don’t win (fingers really really crossed for this one,) I am glad to have a good reference for children’s books.

  18. You had me at Hello. The first picture is my favorite children’s book of all time… I give “The Napping House” to all mamas and their new babies. :)

  19. I agree with your list 100 percent!!! I just wanted to add that last year we got some really cool picture books from a friend that were personalized books for the kids. The kids got a kick out of them and the artwork was whimsical. They are from http://www.starboundstorybooks.com/ by John Abernathy. Thanks again for the list. Good luck!

  20. When I was little, my favorite was “Listen Buddy!” It was great. You should look into it. It’s about a rabbit who doesn’t listen. I can still quote a line from it…”Who get the what from the where side of the where what!?”

  21. I would have to say my standout picture book is The Gruffulo by Julia Donaldson – every child loves it – also her Room on The Broom – if you haven’t read them with children do yourself a big favour and buy them immediately – or just buy them for yourself! All of her books are a delight – also The Snail and the Whale .

  22. whitneyingram

    Perfect! Every time I order something from Amazon, whether it be vacuum bags or a memory card for my camera, I order a book for my kids. I am just going to make my way down the list and get all these books. Thank you for taking the time to compile this list and post it. I know that takes a lot of work. My three littles and I appreciate your efforts!

  23. I love all things Mo Willems and Sandra Boynton. If I had to choose one book from each it would be Knuffle Bunny, Willems and Moo Baa La, La, La, Boynton. My family also loves the Llama, Llama books!!! I love your list…..now I am going to do one for us.

  24. Love the list and boy did it make me think. I can’t wait to check out some of the books that I have not heard of. I would add The Mineasoaur, Cats and Dolls, and Vera the Mouse which my girls love for they have a cat and a little teddybear hamster. On the top of my l st would be Jack Kent; Socks for Supper, that is my alltime favorite. I am so lucky to be able to enjoy these books with my kids.

  25. Great list! I will definitely check some of these out, my 11-month old loves picture books. If anyone is looking for fun books for their older children, they should check out RA Jones (http://www.rajonesauthor.com/). My 10-year old just finished “The Obsidian Pebble” and loved it!

  26. Many thanks for your list! As a result I have added Alexander and the No Good.., Amos and the Sick Day and The Napping House to our collection. I’d like to repay you by recommending The Magic Bed by John Burningham and Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. Maybe you have them already but if not, they are lovely. (and The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Parkinson! For age ten and up.)

  27. I think you should look at Big Rabbit’s Bad Mood by Ramona Badescu and illustrated by the brilliant Delphine Durand. It’s a hilarious story of a big bad hairy mood (literally) who won’t leave Big Rabbit alone. My kids love thinking about a bad mood that looks like that. Brilliant! Check it out!

  28. 14 Cows for America is a good way to segway into 9/11 & the Diary of a Wombat books by Jackie French are hilarious & always seem to crack the older kids up. Loved that you included the Little House and Time for Bed. Big favorites in our house. Agree with another post that sad Leo Lionni not in there somewhere…so many GREAT ones to choose!
    Many great books on your list~thanks!

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