100 Best Children’s Books of All Time
When
it comes to great children’s literature, kids have hundreds of books to
choose from – everything from the enduring classics to award-winning,
modern-day picture books and novels.Here, listed by category, title, author and illustrator is our list of the best children’s books of all time – stories that will excite your kids and remain in their memories for years to come. This list represents the views of parents, children’s literature experts and our own readers.
While not every classic children’s book is listed, these are the books that strike a special chord and stay with us through adulthood.
Books for Babies 1 Picture Books l Chapter Books l Nonfiction/Poetry
Books for Babies
• Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd
• Have You Seen My Duckling?, by Nancy Tafuri
• Pippo (series), by Helen Oxenbury
• Spot (series), by Eric Hill
• Ten, Nine, Eight, by Molly Bang
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
Picture Books
• Alfie (series), by Shirley Hughes
• Arthur (series), by Marc Brown
• Babar (series), by Jean De Brunhoff
• Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban
• A Chair for My Mother, by Vera Williams
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Lois Ehlert
• Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes
• Doctor DeSoto, by William Steig
• Dog Heaven, by Cynthia Rylant
• Frog and Toad (series), by Arnold Lobel
• Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson
• Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, by Eric Kimmel, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
• A Hole Is to Dig, by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
• Horton Hears a Who, by Dr. Seuss
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond
• Jumanji, by Chris Van Allsburg
• Lon Po Po, by Ed Young
• Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans
• Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey
• Martha Speaks, by Susan Meddaugh
• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton
• Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gag
• Miss Nelson is Missing!, by Harry Allard and James Marshall
• Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney
• The Mitten, by Jan Brett
• Mr. Gumpy’s Outing, by John Burningham
• Olivia, by Ian Falconer
• The Ox-Cart Man, by Donald Hall
• Peter Rabbit (The Tales of), by Beatrix Potter
• The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg
• Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, by Eleanor Coerr
• The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats
• The Spider and the Fly, by Mary Howitt, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi
• The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
• The Story of Holly and Ivy, by Rumer Godden
• The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams, illustrated by William Nicholson
• Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
• Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, by Varda Aardema, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
