Must Read Children’s Books
I have a lot of nieces, nephews, and friends with children. HENCE! Here is my list of books I like to buy and my thoughts on them. (FYI - Books make 0 noise, easy to store, and are educational. Do it.) Also a lot of them are about food.
Strega Nona
- Who doesnt love a story about a magic pot of pasta? Also the Christmas one is fantastic too.
Corduroy
- A bear looking for his button. Almost breaks a button off a perfectly good bed.
Frog and Toad
- Great series. Taught me about self control. Taught me I don’t have it.
The Prince and the Li Hing Mui
- Cinderella story with a delicious local Hawaii twist!
Tiki Tiki Tembo
- Ever wondered why the Chinese give such short names to their children?
Make Way for Ducklings
- Takes place in Boston. It’s about how one bored police officer causes ruckus when a family of ducks decides to relocate themselves.
Caps for Sale
- Hat salesman takes nap under tree and (spoiler alert!) a bunch of monkeys steal them.
Big Pumpkin
- Halloween classic. It teaches you about team work to achieve a common goal (aka pumpkin pie).
Bernstain/Berstein Bears Series
- Who DOESNT love these books?? Teaches you great lessons. Like not to each junk food.
Babar
- SAVE THE ELEPHANTS! Also make sure to tell your kid marrying your cousin is frowned upon today.
Richard Scarry Books
- Author might have the word scary in it, but it’s far from it! Fun busy illustrations keep you entertained for hours. Lol the cats.
The Wrinkled Woos
- A textured book. Wrinkly food never looked so good.
The Apartment Book
- One day I’ll make a book just like this. A lot of pictures, great for both children and adults. Gives you what a day in the life of an apartment building is like. I still have a copy of this book.
Amelia Bedilia
- Teaches children what the word “literally” means. And it’ll make you hungry for some lemon meringue pie. Actually this book taught me what lemon meringue pie was.
The Five Chinese Brothers
- Okay, apparently even the Chinese cant tell each other apart in this book. But besides that, it’s all about team work, sacrifice, and special talents. And that being a bratty greedy kid will result in you getting swallowed up by the ocean.
The Paper Bag Princess
- Another story about not being a greedy brat. She was basically a with with a B.
Ferdinand
- Okay, the movie really took some creative license with this one. Basically he’s a peaceful bull and the matador throws a fit because he cant show off.
Arthur Books
- My favorite was the one where he had a wiggly tooth. I learned about what peanut brittle was from that.
Rainbow Fish
- Literally gave parts of himself away. Sharing is caring. Also love the iridescence.
I Spy
- Great for parents and children.
Find Waldo
- Duh.
How Much is A Million
- Funnest math book I’ve ever read. Also Steven Kellogg illustrations are awesome. That detail doe.
Jamberry
- Book about berries. If you dont want to eat berries by the end of this book, there is something wrong with you.
Gregory the Terrible Eater
- A story about how a goat that starts off with good taste in food and great eating habits gets ruined by his parents.
Madeline
- I can hear the song in my head from the TV show. The book is great. Learned about appendixes.
Jamie O’ Rourke and the Big Potato
- Great for St. Patty’s day. Learn about the many ways to consume America’s other favorite carb.
Many Moons
- The court jester is the best gift giver ever. Pretty classic book.
The Hundred Dresses
- I just remember I wanted to draw 100 dresses after reading this book. A lot of them looked alike. Also this was kind of a sad take away.
Pretzel
- Same author and illustrations as Curious George books. About a wiener dog who is very long and tries to win the affections of a girl dog.
Books That Are a Bit More Advanced (Big Range)
Baby sitters club series - These books made me want to write and become an entrepreneur. But also as an adult, I wouldnt trust pre-teens to babysit. And the Specials made me want to travel.
Goosebump series - Green slime. Monster blood. Oh man. And the choose your own adventure ones were great too.
A Wrinkle in Time - What a trip.
Alice in Wonderland - Same comment as above.
The BFG - Imagination has expanded. Also really wanted a lot of little eggs after this.
Matilda - Imagination has expanded x2. Also I wanted powers after this.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - We all know what the movie was like.
Henry Sugar - NOT FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. I would stare into a candle sometimes just to see if I could see through objects after.
Ella Enchanted - The romance my preteen self wanted one day.
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - You’ll be very disappointed once you try turkish delight IRL.
Ramona (and Beezus) Books - I remember reading one where they cook dinner for their parents (sounded pretty gross to eat) and one about where she got sick at school (couldnt eat oatmeal for a while). Also enjoyed these as well.
American Girl books series - Fun stories that really put into perspective the time period and are female centric. I would highly recommend reading these and I mean the classic illustrations, not the redone ones. I think I had a lot of Samantha and Molly books, but they were the best. Shout out to Felicity too, life was hard back then.
