What Are Your Favorite Children's Books?

Updated on July 20, 2010
J.R. asks from Geneva, IL
18 answers

My two kids love books. Our favorites -- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, If You Give A Cat A Cupcake, Jamberry, Stinky Face, I Love You Through and Through, and all of the Beginner's Bible board books! We are also fans of Usborne touchy-feely books, Leslie Patricelli's books about opposites and all of Karen Katz's lift-the-flap books (although flaps never seem to last in my house!) I'm always on the prowl for new books they will love... what are your favorite children's books, and why?

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S.S.

answers from Sioux City on

My favorites (that my Mom read to me) have ALWAYS been:

"Put Me in the Zoo" by Robert Lopshire

"Are you My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman

They were read to me SO much that I've past them on to my boys and they love them just as much.

We recently borrowed a book from the library called "A Small Brown Dog with a Wet Pink Nose" by Stephanie Stuve. It was ADORABLE! I think it's one of my new favorites. My 3-year-old son wants a puppy very badly so, we've had to read that one a lot too!

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B.F.

answers from Providence on

I used to teach prechool, and my students LOVED these three because the illustrations were priceless and they related to the character:

Llama Llama Mad at Mama

Llama Llama Misses Mama

Llama Llama Red Pajama

The author is Anna Dewdney

Good luck!

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J.N.

answers from Salt Lake City on

Where the Wild THings Are (much better than the movie!), The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Richard Scary's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.

Best suggestion is make frequent trips to the library. When you find one that you and your kids really love, you can buy it, but you're not shelling out tons of money for books that you can check out and read a couple of times, then take back, all for free.

4 moms found this helpful

Y.C.

answers from New York on

To be honest some of them I don't really know why she likes them but she does.
Go Away Green Big Monster

Once upon a potty-of all the potty books out there this is my favorite because is anatomically-correct and I love that you can also see a little cute poo in the potty, she loves the book because the girl uses the potty in the wrong way and she laughs about it.

Humpty Dumpy this is a must, I wasn't sure if she will like it but she does (she also have Jack and Jill, Little boy blue and other I can't remember right now, but her fav is Humpty Dumpy)

Baby Einstein First words. and Little People books.

My teen loved Twilight, of course but she is moving on...finally.

3 moms found this helpful
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E.M.

answers from Johnstown on

I used to love the Serendipity collection :)

2 moms found this helpful

D.C.

answers from Dallas on

The Good-Night Kiss! by Astrid Mola

It is sooooo cute and the illustrations are adorable !!!!!!

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R.G.

answers from Dallas on

We love love LOVE Sandra Boynton! Anything Sandra Boynton.

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L.N.

answers from New York on

my girls (6yrs) love fancy nancy book, pinkalicious, if you give a cat a cupcake. since they've learned how to read, anything level 2 and 3 books. they feel so proud when they finish reading. i am loving this.

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L.U.

answers from Seattle on

I love The Giving Tree. We also really love all Dr. Seuss. I don't know how old your kids are but we are really into Skippy John Jones (they are very fun to read).

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K.M.

answers from Chico on

Hi Jennifer,
I'm glad you asked such a fun question, I'll have to check out some of the books that have been suggested.

I love the "Harold and the Purple Crayon" books. Very imaginative adventures with the most simple drawings. Sorry, I can't recall the author.

"Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. by Judith Viorst. My 2 year old loves to "read" each page.

"The Little House". by Virginia Lee Burton. A story of changing seasons and progress. This was one of my favorites as a child too.

"Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink". By Diane deGroat. A Valentine's day story of friendships.

"Ruby the Copy Cat". by Peggy Rathmann. Another story about friendship.

"Olivia". by Ian Falconer. Another imaginative book.

"Counting Cockatoos". by Stella Blackstone and Stephanie Bauer. Colorful drawings and fun animals to count.

And of course we love "Green Eggs and Ham" and other Dr. Seuss books and "The Berenstain Bears" books.

Our local library has a great children's room and weekly play group where we often check out different books. Happy reading, K.

A.G.

answers from Houston on

goodnight moon, guess how much i love you, mouse soup, the lorax, theres a monster at the end of this book, myrtle the turtle

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A.H.

answers from New York on

My son (16 months) loves to read...here are his favorites
I agree with sandra boynton...soo cute. Our newest favorite of hers is Night Night little Pookie...my son tossed Goodnight moon aside for this one.
Baby Beluga (board book version) great song, beautiful illustrations
Freight Train
Wheels on the Bus - there is a beautiful pop-up book with moving parts edition - we bought that too early for our son and now its missing parts, but it is wonderful.
All those baby first word books with the pics and name of pic...

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B.C.

answers from Detroit on

If You See A Kitten by John Butler

White Rabbit's Color Book by Alan Baker

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! by Mo Willems

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K.D.

answers from Grand Rapids on

My daughter LOVES the Bear books. There is a whole series (Bear Snores On, Bear Wants More, Bear's New Friend, Bear Gets Sick) by Karma Wilson. The pictures are beautifully drawn and the stories have wonderful rhythm! I love to read them to her. We love the Sandra Boyton books too (Going to Bed Book, Moo Baa La-La-La, Blue Hat Green Hat, etc). Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Panda Bear, Panda Bear are read a lot around here too (by Bill Martin Jr).

We also love Leslie Patricelli's and the whole series that goes with If You Give a Cat a Cupcake (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Give a Moose a Muffin). Lots of the earlier reader Dr. Seuss (and others) books too: Put Me in the Zoo, Are You My Mother?, There's a Wocket in my Pocket, The Foot Book, etc, etc. Oh and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom has a numbers one you could check out too (Chicka Chicka 1-2-3). We read a lot around here. :)

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A.H.

answers from Lansing on

We like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, If you give a mouse a cookie, Madeline, Amelia Bedelia, Any Bible Stories, Do Baby Bears Sit in Chairs?, Dr. Seuss books, Peter Rabbit and many more. We have a ton of books.

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S.K.

answers from Detroit on

We love books and have lots of favorites!!

* Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin
* Bedhead and Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
* Does a Cow Say Boo? by Judy Hindley
* Any books by Robert Munsch
* I Ain't Gonna Paint No More and Doggone Dogs by Karen Beaumont
* Any books by Eric Carle
* Any books from the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series by Laura Numeroff
* Any Curious George books
* Who's a Cheeky Baby? by Ian Whybrow
* We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
* Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
* I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak
* Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? and My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
* Any Berenstain Bears books
* Any Little Critter books

I'm sure we have even more "favorites", but these are the ones that really stand out in my mind.

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K.Z.

answers from Cleveland on

The Giving Tree
The Quilt-maker's Gift--beautiful pix, moral (though not specifically Christian--better to give than receive/stockpile)
Miss Rumphius--nice pix, "make the world better" idea
Henry the Sailor Cat (and others)--made us laugh, and we love cats
Six-Dinner Sid by Inge Moore(ditto)
Ginger by Charlotte Voake (ditto)
Three Stories to Read to your cat (ditto)
Poky Little Puppy
The Day Jimmy's Boa ate the Wash--funny story
Carl books by Alexandra Day (eg Carl Goes to Day Care, Carl's Afternoon at the Park)--cute stories, no words, beautiful pix

The ones about Max and Ruby, the bunnies (eg Max and Ruby Bake A Cake--I think that is one)--Ruby is so "correct" but Max has fun!

Pat the Bunny, Pat the Cat etc--good sensory stuff
Fairy Tea (I think that was it)--nice pix, imaginary stuff (fairies!)
Where's my Teddy? (I think that was it)--a boy and a bear both lose their teddies in the woods, and get them mixed up, funny and S.!

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books--these are more advanced than the others I have mentioned, but hilariously funny, we had tears in our eyes! you could read them aloud to your kiddos

Dorrie and the Blue Witch (and others ) by Patricia Coombs--cute Halloween stories

my youngest also liked Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden--an orphan girl, a doll, and a childless couple at Christmas; get out your hankies!

The Velveteen Rabbit--I had real trouble reading this because I would cry

Wish I could remember one about a dog (retriever I think) who comes to a household and all the cats are scared of him until he helps find a lost kitten....I remember being struck by the colorful illustrations; also some funny lines....other books by same author were also good

William's Doll--WONDERFUL book about a boy who wants a doll, I think author is Charlotte Zolotow, it's OK for boys to be gentle...

Eve Bunting does nice books--there was one about a caterpillar and I forget what else, one was too scared to fly and the other helped allay the fear

Remember to ask, ask, ask your children's librarian! Enjoy!

You're really making me tax my memory, my boys are now 15 and 19. Thanks for a trip down memory lane!

K. Z.

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M.P.

answers from Detroit on

My favorite books are: M is for Michigan, A is for Alaska and other Michael Monroe books. Mike Monroe is a wildlife artist and does the art for the books (some he writes himself) and his wife and sister write the books. They are colorful, fun and educational.

He is a resident of Brighton, MI. His website is http://www.mikemonroeart.com/schools

In addition to his books, he conducts presentations at schools for children to learn about art. We had him at my children's elementary school and the kids LOVED it.

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