Think Fast! It’s another Tuesday where I will require that you think fast or don’t think at all. I want your favorite or current favorite children’s book of all time. Don’t think too hard, just suggest one. Just one.
Okay, just this once, in my grand beneficence, I will allow you to give two suggestions. Here are mine:
1. Big Bad Bruce by Bill Peet — This is a favorite from when I was a child. I could not get enough of this book.
2. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault — We use this book as a warm up for our Daring Family freestyle rap battles. We wore out the copy Grammy sent us and I bought a new one… at a real bookstore… at full price. I know. I am insane. It was worth it.
As you can see, I only like books by people named Bill.
Your suggestions can be by people with other names… I guess… if they’re REALLY good. You can include anything from board books to Young Adult reads. Go!
My favorite has to be
“Love You Forever” by Robert N. Munsch and Sheila McGraw
All time favorite, still can’t get all the way through it without tearing up.
DS’s current faves are “Big Red Barn” and “Jamberry”
I love ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?” by Bill Martin, Jr (Bill!) because kids can memorize it so easily and pretend they’re reading it, and “One Fish Two Fish” by Dr. Seuss because it’s so wonderfully zany.
Not my favorites of ALL time, but two that I just love so very much and thought of first are:
“Skippyjon Jones” by Judy Schachner
and
“Blueberries For Sal” by Robert McCloskey
We are primarily board book people, at the moment. Among our favorites are:
– Pat-The-Bunny
– Peek-A-Boo Kisses
– Goodnight Gorilla
– Dear Zoo
– Where’s Spot
– Brown Bear, Brown Bear … this same author also wrote “Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You See”.
– All of the books from the *baby signs* collection. It’s not an exaggeration to say our kids will spend the better part of a day flipping the pages and looking at pictures of kids in those *baby sign* books.
** I’ve discovered that pretty much any book with flips are a sure-fire-winner in the board book category**
From the “non-board book variety” … our current favorites have to be:
– What A Wonderful World
– Whoever You Are
– You’re All My Favorites
Hey Willy,See The Pyramids, by
Maira Kalman
She looks at the world the way I do.
“Love you For Ever” by Munsch and “The Place You Will Go” by Dr. Suess.
When he was a baby, my son’s favourite though was “Good Night Moon”
Can my favorite be a series?
I love The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. All of them!
My kids and I have also enjoyed the books by Mercer Mayer/”Little Critter”. Probably my favorite of those is “I Was So Mad” It is a classic for any parent of 2 years and up.
Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown – I think we’ve been through 6 or 7 copies of this, and all of our children have made sure that we know it by heart. I can recite the pages for them while I stand at the stove cooking if necessary. And it *must* be read in a soft, lilting, dreamy sort of voice so that somebody (besides the bunny) is sleeping by the end. Unfortunately, it’s usually me.
Our second-most-favorite: Dragon Gets By, by Dav Pilkey. 4 short stories about a dragon’s day as wakes up, cleans house, shops for groceries, etc. There’s something deadpan and off-the-wall in these stories, like a Far Side for kids. We laugh every time.
Only one?? But there are so many we love…
when the kids were small we read –
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown,
Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Helen Berger,
and The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn,
now that they are older we like –
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
any of the Lois Lowry books, especially the Giver, Eragon series (forget the author), Little House series, and all of the Tennis Shoes among the Nephite books.
I have so many favorites, try these- Paddington Bear, Russian folk tales (i had a beautifully illustrated book), bedtime stories of Enid Blyton, The 12 dancing princesses.
And for slightly older readers, the Billy Bunter series (it’s a British boarding school series), the William series (a little boy who’s always getting into trouble), and of course, Harry Potter!
I always loved Winnie the Pooh and of course, the Nancy Drew series…
I can’t really pick just one…
Our favorites right now…well MY favorite, the 11 months old doesn’t really care so much….
‘Click Clack Moo…cows that type’
and ‘Giggle, Giggle, Quack’
Both by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin.
When I was a little girl my two favorite books were
‘Millions of cats’ by wanda gag and ‘The fire cat’by esther averill.
Of course I don’t think the baby enjoys the stories in her books nearly as much as I do!
“Goodnight Moon”
“If you were my bunny” – kids can sing along…
and for older readers
Little House series
Harry Potter (of course!!)
The Amazing Bone by William Steig. Great vocabulary builder for the young school-age child. (anything by Steig is like that)
“Hello, God – It’s Me Again – Margaret” by Judy Blume
Also any Ramona B Quimby
well, since we can do Young Adult… “Jacob Have I Loved” by Katherine Paterson.
favorite kids book: Well, Hop on Pop is a current favorite around here.
“Paddle to the Sea” by Holling C. Holling. My youngest wants to get get him more books by the same author.
Great topic DYM! We love Bill Peet’s books too. I can’t wait to check out the other titles suggested.
One of our favorite board books at the moment is Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth. It coordinates the alphabet and zany fly antics with an ending babies and toddlers love. Plus – the illustrations are incredible.
Our favorite series for older ages (4-7ish) is the Billy and Blaze series by C.W. Anderson. My boys love these books. If you have a son who adores horses and adventures… save on shipping and purchase the whole series!
“If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” by somebody is a must. read. And the Amelia Bedelia books? Probably as funny for adults as they are for kids.
And I really identified with Ramona series, by Beverly Cleary (I think). Nancy Drew was good, but Trixie Belden was SO much more realistic! 😉
For Fun:
Where’s my Teddy?
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
For Sentiment:
Guess How Much I Love You
Lizzy’s Do’s and Dont’s
For getting new readers excited about independently reading:
Henry and Mudge Books
Magic Tree House Books
All Time Favorite:
The Complete Works of Winne the Pooh by AA Milne – Accept no substitutes!
I posted a list of my favorite children’s books on my blog back in February. I LOVE children’s books! I just ordered about 24 new ones yesterday *blush* (the perk of being a teacher and having a ton of bonus points from my kids buying books – I didn’t spend any money to get these 24!).
http://teachergoingmad.blogspot.com/2006/02/for-love-of-books-thirteen-thursday.html
YA: Under the Haystack by Mary Engelbrecht.
Childrens: Any Dr. Seuss
We are currently into “Frog in the Kitchen Sink” by Jim Post and “Ten Little Ladybugs” by Melanie Gerth
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch
Oh oh oh, Paperbag Princess is probably my favorite children’s book of all time.
I also really love the Serendipity series (Leo the Lop, Morgan and Me, etc.) The stories are moral and very relatable to young children.
my oldest son was named after the main character in “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak, and we also like “The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn and “I Love You The Purplest” by Barbara Joosse. Also, my younest son and I read a Junie B. Jones book each night.
I haven’t seen my favorite. Amelia Bedila. Her stories are so fun and it makes you think how silly our English language really is sometimes. We love anything Dr Suess and the little critter books.
Our current must-reads: “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” by Mo Willems (We like “Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!” too, but that doesn’t count as the second suggestion…) and “No, David!” by David Shannon. Henry (age almost 2) likes to yell “no!” at the pigeon on every page, and Calvin (age 3 1/2, who recently graduated from yelling no at his parents and now reserves it just for his little bro) likes to “read” No, David! and describe what David is doing wrong on every page. Super cute illustrations in both books.
“Love You Forever”, The Giving Tree”, “Give a Mouse a Cookie”. There are some little chunky books by Candy Cane Press that that are called “The Story of…” insert Gettysburg, Lincoln, Washington, etc. Hubby and I are huge history buffs, so it is a fun way share our interest with our 16 month old son, who is mostly interested in eating the book.
“Daddy Got His Orders”” by Kathy Mitchell is an awesome book for military families. We are a military family as are most of our friends, and we have passed that book around more times that I can count as the daddies get deployed.
I LOVED the “Anne of Green Gables” series when I was younger. I also grew up reading the Trixie Belden series. My mom actually had all of the original hardcovers, so they are antiques now. But I am rereading them again now.
We’ve loved these for a long time. I never get tired of reading them:
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
Olivia by Ian Falconer
Bear books by Karma Wilson (Bear Snores On, etc.)
Toes are to Tickle by Shen Roddie
Zin!Zin!Zin! a Violin by Lloyd Moss
Shhhhhhh! Everybody’s Sleeping by Julie Markes
Beautiful illustrations, and great bedtime book 🙂
Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore! by David McPhail.
It’s such a wonderful, funny book.
The book I loved when I was a kid was, “Never tease a Weasel”
“Diary Of A Worm”…adorable!
Pajama Time and all the rest from Sandra Boynton
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My all time favorite book to read to my children is “Guess How Much I Love You” By Sam McBratney. It is a sweet story of a father rabbit and a son rabbit having sort of a contest telling each other how much they love each other.
My other favorites ALL of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling.
Where the Wild things are, No David and Goodnight Moon.
We love “Apple Farmer Annie” by Monica Wellington. This is pretty new. She has done a few in this little series that explain the profession of the main character, and I love the colorful pictures. Also in the series:
“Firefighter Frank”
“Zinnia’s flower garden” and
“Crepes by Suzette”
Easy. Our favorites, by far, are:
“Hooway For Wodney Wat” by Helen Lester. I have never laughed so hard in my life as I did when I read this for the first time. And I still laugh. Every. Time.
“Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. What can I say? It’s a classic. And with so many wild things at my house, it really fits.
We have plenty other favorites, but if our family were stranded on a desert island, these would be the two children’s books I’d pick.
My favorite board book is “The Runaway Bunny”. It makes me cry 🙂
Young adult would have to be the Nancy Drew series and Little House on the Prairie. Oh, and Anne of Green Gables.
Okay, currently our 3yo is really into “I Love You, Stinky Face”. This is how we say goodnite at the moment.
“God Gave Us You” Lisa Tawn Bergren.
“Where the Sidewalk Ends” Shel Silverstein
and…..Anne of Green Gables, of course!
AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Only two you are only going to let me name two books! How absolutely mean can you get. I guess I’m going to have to do a knock of thread of my own just so I can list more!!!!!!!! 🙂
1. Fox in Socks by Dr. Suess. If you have never read that one, it is the biggest tongue twister book out there. My dad had a recording of it we would listen to when I was small and the narrator could say it so fast it was amazing. To this day I try to say fast…. “When Tweetle beetles battle….” Okay you need to read the rest of the book to find out how it goes. Note to self, buy a new copy since you can’t find yours.
2. Kendra’s favorite right now is another Dr. Suess, Mr. Brown can Moo, How about you. It is full of crazy fun sounds and she is trying very hard to make them with me. It is a great book for voice inflection and can really get children involved you read it just right.
I am a book fiend!! I have them all and love them all! Our current favorites (they change constantly) are…
Walter the Farting Dog (there are several different stories to enjoy)
by William Kotzwinkle, Glenn Murray
and
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
My favorite is “Love You Forever” by Robert N. Munsch and Sheila McGraw, I cry everytime I read it.
And “Hugs and Kisses” by Christopher Loupy, and Eve Tharlet. See what happens when you sleep til 10:15? I’m #43 on the list! So early??
Dr Seuss – Oh the Places You’ll Go
Dr Seuss – One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
We love “Little Pear” by Elaine Lattimore. My boys went from emergent to fluent readers on the “Calvin and Hobbes” books. (We especially like the one, “Something under the bed is drooling”.)
First I’d like to second “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.” It’s been my favorite since second grade. It has a great little rhythm that is fun to read.
“Harold and the Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson. There is a whole series of Harold books, but I like the original the best.
“The Owl and the Pussycat” by Edward Lear. I had this one memorized before I could read. It’s a classic!
My favorite You Are Special by Max Lucado
This is a beautiful story about God loving you just the way you are because He made you. It is NOT a Religous book though Anyone of any or no faith could enjoy this book.
My 2 year old’s current favorites:
Green Eggs and Ham Dr. Seuss
Peepo Janet and Allan Ahlberg (very cute with lots of old english references)
Hairy Maclaiy all of these are good. My son’s favorite is Scarface Claw
A great juvenile fiction book is “Jacob Have I loved” It really is wonderful.
Probably my all-time favorite kid books from my childhood are:
“The Spooky Old Tree”
“Braer Rabbit”
The book about the substitute teacher Miss Swamp, can’t think of the name!
My 18-month-old’s favorites right now are board books “Olivia Counts” anything by Sandra Boynton, and “Miss Spider’s Tea Party”
As a third or fourth grader I loved “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery and “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott. I still do, actually.
“Caps for Sale” by Esphyr Slobodkina
“Andrew Henry’s Meadow” by Doris Burn. It’s back in print! That’s my fave, but seeing as my son is only 11 months old he’s not too into it yet. His favorite is “The Going to Bed Book” by Sandra Boynton. I forgot to bring it with us to the hospital so just recited all I remembered and it still helped him to fall asleep — so it’s one I love too because it works!
“Just Only John” by Jack Kent for young children for it’s spirit of fun and adventure, great illustrations and sweet message (“Moral – be yourself, because somebdy has to, and you’re the closest.”)
“Me and Caleb” by Franklyn E Meyer for intermediate level. Every time I read it I laugh and cry and feel richer for the experience. Love, Love, Love these books.
Guess How Much I Love You and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
I am enjoying Runny Babbit for myself lately!
The Rainbow Fish, uhh….I can’t remember who the author is, and I’m too lazy to go dig it out.
Pele’s New Suit by Elsa Beskow
and
Going on a Bear Hund by Catherine Oxenberry
I would also vote for the Brer rabbit stories, Noddy tales (the cute little boy who wears a pointy cap with a bell on its end) and the Faraway Tree stories by Enid Blyton. My picks are mostly British authors, I guess, but they are so delightful to read, and there’s so much fairy-tale imagination in them.
I’ll third the nomination for The Paperbag Princess . I’ve given this one as a gift more times than I can count, and always have an extra copy on hand.
For my two:
Picture book: Tuesday , the nearly wordless Caldecott winner by David Wiesner
Young adult: The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. This was first given to me by my best friend when we were just ‘YA’s ourselves….I feel so blessed in her friendship every time I think of it.
A fun one we just finished is
“MRS. PIGGLE WIGGLE” by Betty McDonald.
Great 1st grade chapterbook. We had lots of laughs reading it together.
Also, love the Mouse and the Motorcycle series…
For younger kids… the MercerMeyer books (little critters) are AWESOME! We get laughs out of how much mischief little critter gets into!
Heggedy Peg by Don and Audrey Wood
Fanny’s Dream by Carolyn Buehner
We adopted a family tradition after reading Heggedy Peg. Whenever I go “big” grocery shopping, I “Heggedy Peg” and pick out each family member’s favorite candy or treat from the store. I lay them out on the table and they have to guess which one I was thinking of when I bought the treat. Fun tradition. Fun book.
Fanny’s Dream? Should be a classic!
As I am a lover of OLD books, I have to mention the author Carolyn Haywood. My kids (7,8,10) have loved “B is for Betsy” “Betsy’s Busy Summer” “Betsy and Billy” “Primrose Day” “Betsy and the Boys” “Penny and Peter” “Betsy and Mr. Kilpatrick” “C is for Cupcake” and others. Great read-alouds for ages 4-7, older kids can read alone.
Sorry it’s actually a lot more than two books…
Older kid to young adult book (which I have read twice as an adult) — The Giver by Lois Lowry. This story to me was a powerful lesson in the importance of agency and opposition in all things. And it was beautiful.
Also The Chronicles of Narnia are fantastic. I am reading them to my six year old and he loves them. I enjoyed them more as an adult than I did as a child, however.
Anything by Roald Dahl. I adore him.
The Five Chinese Brothers. I won’t let my son read my copy. 🙂
The Monster at the End of This Book.
And lots more.
I love the series of alphabet books by Jerry Pallotta. The illustrations are wonderful and the subjects are so interesting, even for adults. Not just your stanard Armadillo to Zebra but Aye-Aye to Zorilla (in the Furry Animal Alphabet Book), Ant to Zebra Butterfly (Icky Bug Alphabet Book), and Airacomet to Zephyr (Jet Alphabet Book), to name just a few from the books we have.
One of my all time favorites that hasn’t been mentioned for YA would have to be “The Island of the Blue Dolphins”. It made such an impression on me in 5th grade. Also for those little ones, The Mary Poppins Series and of course, “Charolette’s Web”.
I agree with Guess How Much I Love You. That one makes me tear up at the end, I’m so filled with love!
For bodily functions:
Everyone Poops (subject of recent blog entry)
When you are doing time:
Mama Love Me From Away
Just one? Not a chance.
Family favorites are:
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Anything by Audrey Wood
Goodnight Moon, which I can do backwards, upside down and in my sleep
Jamberry
Time For Bed
I Love You As Much
Maybe My Baby
Zoom City
Do You Know New?
Maybe My Baby
‘Little Black Sambo’ by Helen Bannerman and ‘The Story about Ping’ by Marjorie Flack.
Boodil, My Dog, and another one called Yonder. Sorry, can’t choose just one.
Hello DYM,
First of all, let me say that I love your blog. I have just discovered it and spent the better part of the last several days reading it (at night, after I have put my little one to bed, of course – I do have a life!)
Anyway, my favorite childrens book right now is “I Love You With All My Heart” by Noris Kern.
Fanny’s Dream- girl who wants to be Cinderella but has to work hard in life instead and decides she won’t give it up when her fairy god-mother eventually shows up
Jr High Book:- Holes
As a child, I loved a book called “Tikki Tikki Tembo”. I think it was because I just like to say the name.
As I got older, my favorites were “The Secret Garden” and “Little Women”.
One that I love to read to my kids right before bedtime is “Pajama Time”. It’s a fun book that almost makes you sing or rap when you read it aloud!!!
I have been reading the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park to my two oldest daughters. We could read those books over and over again!
You and Me, Little Bear–Don’t have the author right now. Also, The Box Car Children is also right up there.
I have so many favorites, but my most recent one is Russell the Sheep By Rob Scotton, a book we just bought for my nephew for his birthday. But there are so many wonderful ones out there.
The Shoe books! They’re by Noel Stratfield and are amazing. So are the Anastasia books by Lois Lowry and the Fudge books by Judy Blume — these are all chapter books. Love ’em.
Definitely my all time fav, along with so many others on this list, is “Love You Forever” by Munsch. I also love all things Seuss, but my total fav has to be “The Lorax.” I love to read any Seuss book fast I can (tongue twisting is encouraged) to my kiddles and they still squeal with glee (the oldest is 10 now).
My boys(8) just really took off with reading chapter books this year. They both love the “My Weird School” series by Dan Gutman. They are silly and zany. A couple of titles off the top of my head are “Miss Daisy is Crazy” and “Mr. Hynd is Out of His Mind” I have enjoyed these myself. Dan Gutman has some other pretty good books as well.
Another series they love is Geronimo Stilton. They have all kinds of different type fonts in them and even colored pictures. They remind me of the stories in the Highlights magazine where they have the little pictures in the story in place of some words. These books are really cute and we have had much discussion as to whether these books are actually written by a mouse.
As for the girl, she loves any book she can get her hands on, but I would have to say her favorite is by far the Goosebumps series. She assures me they do not scare her, although the shows on TV a while back were rather creepy.
“Mirette on the High Wire” and “Make Way for Ducklings.” Both are Caldecott books. So good!
Only 2? That is not even possible!!!
All time fave for little ones…”God Gave Us You” by Lisa Tawn Bergren
and “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak.
My personal faves are the “Anne of Green Gables” series and “Chronicles of Narnia” series
I also loved the “Babysitters Club” books when I was young.
My kids right now LOVE Dr. Suess. in particular “Green Eggs and Ham”.
I am excited to try out some new suggestions!!!
Okay, without reading others’ comments first, I’m going to say “Olivia” by Ian Falconer, and “Frog and Toad Together” by Arnold Lobel (which may be cheating, as it’s a collection of stories). Both have been my daughter’s favorite at some point in the past year, and both are stories that are enjoyable enough to read that I don’t hate them after the millionth time they’re requested. “Olivia”, especially, is so witty for the parents, that it’s really fun. Over and over. And over.
One of my favorite children’s books is Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies. Can’t get enough of that book. I think the line: “those were bad, bad bunnies all right” had me hooked from page 1.
I looked at the 81 comments ahead of me and thought surely my favorites had already been spoken for, but alas, while lots of my favorites have shown up on this list — two of my favorites are still awaiting a nomination.
They are:
My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss and
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
I also loved the Trixie Belden mysteries and now am sharing them with my girls.
Picture book: Olivia, by Ian Falconer (plus the sequels; this pig is awesome!)
Chapter book: The Silver Crown, by Robert O’Brien (I think; it’s the same guy who wrote “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” at any rate.)
There are so many others that I love but those were the first two that came to mind.
Great choice on Bill Peet. Love, love, love his books. Have you read his autobiography? Neat stuff. When we were in Southern Chile, the houses and scenery all looked like they were straight out of one of his illustrations.
Must leave my vote for “Walter the Farting Dog”.
Tikki Tikki Tembo is my daughter’s current favorite, although I’m sick to death of reading it. 🙂
I like Where is the Green Sheep? and also the Sheep books by Nancy Shaw.
Trixie Belden mysteries and the Carolyn Haywood books were some of my faves as a kid, and I had completely forgotten about both of them until I read the comments.
I’m a Children’s Librarian. I have tons of favorites, but my current favorite picture book is “Llama Llama Red Pajama” by Anna Dewdney. I also really love “Chrysanthemum” by Kevin Henkes.
I was going to say “Where the Wild Things Are”, but someone beat me to it. Pretty much all of the classics have been given. So here are some religious books:
“My Little Book About Temples” by Chadwick Bagley and the “Beginner’s Bible for Toddlers” as told by Baker and Helms.
Mike Mulligan FTW!
“What do you Love?” by Jonathan London
Anything by Bill Peet… esp. “The Whingdingdilly” and “Whump World.”
Big, BIG fan of the Rick Walton/Paige Miglio combo (he writes ’em and she illustrates)
My girls are in third and fourth grades, and I am pulling out two of my old favorites for them this summer:
No Flying in the House by Betty Brock
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield
“The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Pickle Chiffon Pie, by Jolly Roger Bradfield-it’s sweet and makes me cry-and I’m old. And then there’s my favorite old childhood series of the “Boxcar Children”. That’s pretty old, but it shows how resourceful even little kids can be, and that kids can look out for each other, and show responsibility, etc. 🙂
My kids have worn out Knuffle Bunny, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Goodnight Moon, Go Dog Go, Are you My Mother? and Where the Wild Things Are. We’re on our second copy of most of them.
Also all libraries should have a couple of good picture books with pictures of babies, Richard Scarry books and some good non-fiction books with a focus on animals and maps. My kids will while away an hour with “Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals” that I found at a yard sale.
For chapter books my kids really liked “The Spiderwick Chronicles” and the Little House on the Prarie series so far. I thought they’d like Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh but it just didn’t fly.