Anyone who has been following along with this blog for very long has probably noticed that I’m a ravenous reader with a love of words. Well, many of you have asked me a number of times to recommend different books in different genres, so I thought I would start giving you some lists now and then. And what better place to start than the beginning? Children’s picture books it is!
While growing up, our family entertainment and conversations revolved around books. When I think back on it, my brother and sister and I really didn’t have a choice but to love books. Both my parents love to read. My siblings and I were read to before we were even born. My Dad has always had an expansive vocabulary and didn’t tone it down just because he happened to be conversing with a five-year-old. You asked what a word meant, it was an automatic field trip to the giant unabridged Webster’s family dictionary.
Trips to the library were frequent and any attitude displayed toward a book short of reverence was found to be appalling behavior. Mom inundated us with fantastical hand-spun tales and made sure that we were surrounded by beautiful, irresistible picture books. By the time we were in middle school, Dad was reading us classics like The Hobbit, Robin Hood, and Ivanhoe. And we loved it! As children, our imaginations knew no limits and we read everything we could get our hands on. I want nothing less for my own children and have enjoyed reading them many of the same books that first sparked a life-long love of books in my own heart.
Here are a few of our family’s favorites, in alphabetical order…
1. 
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. This book is one that both Ken and I have fond memories of, and I adore hearing him read it to our children. In this lovable story, a mother bird leaves her egg in her nest to go look for food. While she’s gone, the egg hatches, and the baby bird wants to find his mother - but he doesn’t know what she looks like. His search leads him to ask a variety of animals and machines as he asks (which Ken reads in a high pitched baby bird voice), “Are you my mother?” Finally, a large mechanical crane deposits him back in his nest, where his mother is waiting with a happy ending. A bedtime favorite!
2. 
The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward, is an under appreciated classic, in my opinion. It’s best for kids that are a bit older, as there is a hunting theme to the story, but there are are a number of things about the book that are quite rare — the artwork and the excellent moral being two. While the book focuses on a hunting family, it is a rather cunningly clever cautionary tale about the consequences of removing wild animals from their natural habitats and hunting without either purpose or necessity. In the story, Johnny decides his barn wall is scandalously deviod of hunting trophies and sets out to bring back the biggest bear anyone’s ever seen. What he comes back with though, is a baby bear cub. And a whole lot of trouble. The book has a decisive message about taking responsibility for your own actions and is filled cover to cover with exceptional artwork done entirely in beautiful black and white sketches of exceptional detail and expression.
3. 
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. A timeless charmer. This one is an absolute must for anybody who has a child! Robert McCloskey’s artwork could tell the story all on it’s own, but he’s a gifted storyteller as well. In the book, Little Bear and Sal have an unexpected adventure when they go out blueberry picking with their mothers. This is one of the very first books I bought for my own children and it’s a delight to see them enjoy it just like I did at their age.
4. 
Corduroy by Don Freeman - One of the sweetest, most memorable teddy bears in history. Poor little Corduroy doesn’t understand why no one will buy him and bring him home from the department store. He decides it must be because his overalls are missing a button, so late one night he goes searching through the store for his button. He never finds his button, but a little girl falls in love with him anyway and brings him home. I love the quiet little moral in this story too — the little girl who wants to bring Corduroy home doesn’t throw a fit when her mother tells her she cannot buy the teddy bear the first day she sees him. She comes back the next day and buys him with her mother’s permission, and with money she has saved herself. It also carries the beautiful lesson of looking past the surface and seeing the potential inner beauty in a friend. An all around classic that we read often!
5. 
A Fly Went By by Mike McClintock. I just love the silliness of this story, the fun artwork, and the merry rhythm of the writing. A fly goes by, followed by a frog, who’s chased by a cat, who’s chased by a dog, and on and on. It never fails to leave my kiddos in delighted stitches and our bookshelf wouldn’t be complete without it.
6. 
Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel - This is a lovely collection of short stories with detailed, expressive artwork and endearing writing. Frog and Toad help each other write letters, go swimming, and search for lost buttons, always remaining the of best friends. Lots of humor and thoughtful examples of how to be a true friend. It is also a good early reader book too and it’s a favorite around here for sure.
7. 
The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord - This book is just pure fun! It’s a delightful story of how a small English town survives an attack of wasps by concocting a trap in the form of a giant jam sandwich. It’s told in a wonderfully wacky rhyme and the pictures are top notch. I first came to know the book through an episode of the kid’s TV show Captain Kangaroo back in the 70’s. My kids love this story every bit as much as I did!
8. 
Harry The Dirty Dog by Gene Zion. This story is just adorable! Harry the dog goes to great lengths to avoid his bath and gets into a bit of trouble as a result. Harry is a little mischievous and you just can’t help but fall in love with him. The book has oodles of old-fashioned charm and beautiful pen and ink, pastel-washed drawings.
9. 
The Lion’s Bed by Diane Redfield Massie. A silly and fun story that is perfect for bedtime. The local animals are horrified at the prospect of a lion moving to their part of the jungle, and devise a crafty plan. They set about building him a bed — but don’t plan on allowing him to get much sleep. Wonderful humor, of just the perfect sort for inspiring pint-sized giggles!
10. 
Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel by Virginia L. Burton. A must have picture book for a house containing little boys! This book is fun in both its storyline and its cheerful crayon drawings. It also teaches some lovely lessons about faithfulness and friendships as Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, Mary Anne, dig their way to a surprising and happy ending.
11. 
The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellog. One of my all-time favorite picture books from my own childhood. The story begins when Uncle McAllister sends a “wee bit of Scotland” (a tadpole found in Loch Ness) to Louis for his birthday. Louis names his new friend Alphonse and brings him to school for show-and-tell. A diet of cheeseburgers allows the creature to grow by leaps and bounds, and he soon outgrows his jar, the kitchen sink, and the bathtub. During summer vacation, Louis hides Alphonse in the high school’s swimming pool. He takes on a paper route to pay for his pet’s burger habit, and the local librarian comes to the rescue by suggesting sending Alphonse on a pirate treasure hunt in the bay. The treasure is found and the money is used to build Alphonse his very own swimming pool. As a child I just adored the hilarious illustrations and the incredibly kooky story - I love it still!
12. 
One Kitten For Kim by Adelaide Holl. Another of my favorites from my days spent watching ‘Captain Kangaroo.’ This is a funny and clever little story with adorable illustrations. Kim’s parents tell him he can keep only one kitten, but they don’t expect that he will then dispose of his six extra kittens by trading them to the neighbors for other pets. My daughter has already put many more miles on my worn and tattered copy that barely survived my own childhood.
13. 
One Morning In Maine Robert McCloskey. My mom can probably still recite this book in her sleep. I had her read it that often. This is McCloskey’s adorable sequel to Blueberries for Sal. In this story, Sal has grown up quite a bit and loses her first tooth, digs for clams and crosses from her island home to the mainland in a motorboat. At the end of the tale, Sal and her family return home by motorboat, to eat “CLAM CHOWDER FOR LUNCH!” I always used to demand that the last sentence be read with the proper enthusiastic volume — it’s my daughter’s favorite part of the book too, and I love to watch her barely contained excitement as the last pages are turned.
14. Puppy Pie by Williams Jay. I don’t have a photo for this one and it’s actually quite a rare book these days. If you know what you’re looking for and you’re quite lucky, you might stumble across a perfect copy for a few dollars in a used bookstore run by an un-attentive owner like my sister did. Or you might luck out like I did and snatch up a copy for three dollars plus shipping on ebay (well, if you call it luck after two solid years of carefully watching for it). Or you might just decide to pay the going rate of $50 for an antique copy, which it is decidedly worth if you have the money for such things. This is a beautiful book and a delightful story! It’s about a little girl and her love for pies which leads to a pie being made for her birthday party instead of a cake. However, she doesn’t want her puppy to feel left out, so she makes a pie for her puppy as well, filled with puppy food… and inevitably the pies get mixed up. An all around perfect children’s book filled with beautiful black and white illustrations.
15. 
The Saggy Baggy Elephant by Kathryn Jackson. One of those lovely little Golden Books! Sooki, the baby elephant has saggy baggy skin, and he feels funny-looking and all alone, until he meets a group of elephants who look just like him. I have always loved the richly hued artwork in this book and its beautiful story about finding one’s place in the world.
16. 
Sam And The Firefly By P.D. Eastman - I think my Mom must have become rather weary of reading this book at some point as well. When I first read it to my daughter, I discovered that I still knew the book by heart. This is a funny little story about Sam, the owl, teaching Gus, the mischievous firefly, to write words in the sky. Chaos ensues as cars crash, movies are free, and hot dogs are cold. It has a good moral to the story and lots of laughs along the way. And the illustrations are adorable!
17. 
The Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman. I love this beautiful book, and I couldn’t even begin to guess how many times I have read it to my daughter. The watercolor artwork is lovely and the story is too. Clever little Babaji goes for a walk in the jungle, proudly displaying his fine new clothes. During his outing, he meets several hungry tigers and to avoid being eaten, Babaji flatters each tiger into taking a piece of his clothing instead. Babaji outwits the vain beasts, recovers his clothes, and has tiger butter with his pancake dinner. (Note: The story was originally titled The Story of Little Black Sambo, back in 1899. The original story clearly took place in India (with its tigers and “ghi,” or melted butter), even though the names the author gave her characters belied that setting. In this new edition, the little boy, his mother, and his father have all been given authentic Indian names: Babaji, Mamaji, and Dadaji. And Marcellino’s illustrations are unmistakably Indian in every detail.)
18. 
The Sweet Touch by Lorna Balian. You know that one magical story from childhood that just captured every ounce of your imagination? This was that story for me. I think I had it checked out from the library for a year solid before Mom finally bought me my own copy. I then proceeded to love the cover clear off of it. In the story, a little girl named Peggy is disappointed after receiving a plastic ring from a gumball machine instead of a gumball. Her glumness turns to glee when she finds that rubbing the ring releases a baby genie who can grant her one wish. Peggy wishes for ‘The Sweet Touch’ and is overjoyed by all the candy that keeps appearing around her, until she gets a tummy ache and wants the genie to turn off the wish. But the genie is only a baby and hasn’t yet learned how to turn off wishes — Mommy genie to the rescue! The new edition has been re-colorized, and for my part, I like the old version better. In the old version, the only parts in color were the items turned to candy in the wish, which added to the magic of the tale. I recommend looking for a vintage copy — and treasuring it.
19. 
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. “Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were — Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-Tail, and Peter…” How many times I have heard that line read! I remember darting into the local library as fast as four-year-old legs could carry me and making a bee-line for the long row of mini-sized books bound up in the deepest shade of green. Jemimah Puddle Duck, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle… every tiny book filled with magical pictures and captivating stories! I’ll likely never be over my love affair with Beatrix Potter and the wonderful memories from childhood I have of her stories. (If you’re unfamiliar with Beatrix Potter, do be aware that not all of her tales are purely cute and cuddly… you might want to give them a quick read first and decide if your kiddo is ready for some of them. A number of the tales have rather realistic hunter-prey interactions between some of her animal characters.)
20. 
Terry and The Caterpillars by Millicent E. Selsam - Another book that I nearly loved to death. In this smart little book, a little girl named Terry catches three caterpillars. She is surprised and delighted as she learns to care for them and watches their transformation into moths. This book fascinated me as a child and I spent many hours chasing caterpillars and butterflies as a direct result. I love books like this that show the fun side of science and it has been a joy to share this book with my daughter.
And there you have it — our family’s ‘Top Twenty’ classic children’s picture books. I hope they bring your family as much pleasure as they have brought to ours!
classic children’s picture books picture books motherhood recommended reading top twenty children’s books
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