Lynn's List: Ten Best Children's Books Ever!

by Lynn-Marie Tayler

I have been an avid reader since I was three. I love to read and I read just about anything that I can get my hands on! My children are also readers, and I hope that their love of books is something that will carry into adulthood. My husband, on the other hand, was a reluctant reader. He avoided it when he was younger, and has only since becoming an adult grown to appreciate the power a book has. Together, we read to the children on a regular basis and our bookshelves are stacked with hardcovers, paperbacks, board books, and the like. It is now tradition in my family that at the magical and arbitrary age of three, part of the birthday celebration involves a trip to the local library for the birthday boy or girl to receive their very own card. Reading is one of the best gifts you can give your child.

The following are my personal choices for the ten best children’s books ever. If you haven’t read any of these, run right out to your library and borrow them. If you don’t see your favorite on my list, please add it to the comments section! We’re always looking to expand our reading selection.

1. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd. This simple tale of bedtime in a little bunny’s home has been sending children into peaceful slumber for over sixty years. It’s quiet, rhythmic cadence is perfect for settling down the little ones and the illustrations are eye-catching, yet simple. Available as a board book (to allow baby to read himself) or as a hardcover book perfect for that special story time.
2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Really, any book by Carle is a treat (and I just adore the Carle line by Carters!). This one is my and my children’s favorite. They love to watch the tiny larvae transform first into a caterpillar—who eats his way through several fruits and the book—and finally into a colorful butterfly. Parents will like this because it introduces the basic concepts of math (he eats one apple, then two pears, etc.), time (he eats on Monday, then Tuesday, etc.), and science (the metamorphosis from larvae to butterfly is the heart of the story). Children will love the colors and the holes that the caterpillar makes in the pages.
3. Dr. Seuss. Maybe I’m cheating by throwing his entire body of work into one entry, but it’s my list and as my four-year-old is fond if telling me, “I’ll do it the way I wanna do it, k?” How can you choose just one Dr. Seuss book? From Horton to the Lorax to the Grinch to the infamous Cat in the Hat…all of these colorful characters have been introducing children to the luxuriousness, elegance, and beauty of our language. Short and sweet rhyming schemes capture a child’s attention and their imagination is piqued through Seuss’s artful storytelling. Some of his books provide a subtle moral and social lesson, most notably, The Lorax, a prescient tale of a world that wasted its natural beauty and resources, leaving behind nothingness.
4. Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch and Sheila McGraw. I dare you not to cry by the end of this touching story of a mother’s promise to her son, as he grows from infancy to adulthood. The poem will be one you will memorize and find yourself saying to your own children, day after day. I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be…
5. The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone (Little Golden Books). Fun, loveable, furry Grover tries to convince the reader not to turn the pages in fear of the monster hiding at the end of the book. Contrary to how the title sounds, it’s not a frightful story at all. It’s just plain silly! Best read in melodramatic tones for the greatest comic effect. Your children will beg you to read it to them again and again.
6. Mommy? by Maurice Sendak. This pop-up book by the popular children’s writer was just released this year and is well on the way to becoming a classic like its companion, Where the Wild Things Are. Artfully illustrated by Sendak, written by Arthur Yorinks, and transformed into a clever pop-up by Matthew Reinhart, the mostly wordless story follows an impish little boy as he wanders through a haunted house in search of his missing Mommy. He humorously triumphs over the creatures that come out to scare him, from Frankenstein to the Wolf Man. Parents will be delighted by the cool little feats of engineering that make this a more cleverly designed pop-up than most. Who knows which one of you will have the most fun.
7. Miss Rumphias by Barbara Cooney. My father-in-law introduced this book to me when he purchased it for my stepdaughter many moons ago. It’s a beautiful tale about “the Lupine Lady”, whose message is one we all should heed: “Leave the world a little more beautiful than you found it.” I still dream of having a garden of lupines someday!
8. Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary. A hilarious look at a young girl’s first few days of kindergarten. Perhaps you were Ramona, inquisitive and precocious. Or maybe you were pretty Susie with the Boing-Boing curls. Or Beezus, Ramona’s long-suffering sister. Each of us can relate to at least one of the characters, and your child will, too. Read this to your kindergartner or first-grader and the giggles will echo through your house for weeks afterward.
9. Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret and Then Again, Maybe I Won’t, both by Judy Blume. Yes, two titles sharing one spot. The first is a classic coming-of-age tale for the pre-pubescent girl. I devoured this book again and again, for its humor (“We Must, We Must, We Must Increase Our Bust”) and its poignant way of encapsulating what it feels like to be just on the cusp of young womanhood. The second is an entirely different story than Margaret’s, but the premise is the same, only directed towards pre-pubescent males. I actually recommend all the Judy Blume books; my first was Blubber and I couldn’t get enough of Blume after reading that. (Word of caution: she does write serious adult novels, as well. Keep those away until your little Blume fans grow up. I accidentally read Wifey when I was 10. A little too much information for a young girl!)
10. Charlotte’s Web by EB White. I just finished reading this classic about a girl, a pig, and a very special spider to my four-year-old. I hope the theme of friendship will stay with her as it has with me for the past twenty-five years. We should all be so lucky as to find a friend like Charlotte.

posted at 5:50 PM