“Read to your kids,” parents are told over and over again. Choosing books in favor of T.V. or other sorts of entertainment is surely a no-brainer. But does it matter what you read to them? With all the reading campaigning that goes on, it would seem like any combination of words and pictures bound together is a golden ticket for general life success. But I’m going to say something difficult. There are bad books. There are bad children’s books.
Now, I’m not going to argue what exactly constitutes a “bad” children’s book. Beauty isn’t necessarily all in the eye of the beholder, but it’s still pretty complicated. Many of us have all sorts of emotions and nostalgia tied up in books and I’m not going to tread on that sacred ground. Instead, I’m going to give my own personal criteria for what I think makes a particularly good children’s book— one I’m willing to read over and over again for years to come, and one that I think nourishes my children in their hearts, minds, and souls.
- Beautiful illustrations. In general, I look for illustrations that evoke a sense of wonder or tranquility rather than a sense of busyness or hyperactivity. Basically, I look for illustrations that I would feel comfortable hanging up in our home.
- Beautiful language. Some general tests for beautiful language: Do these words sound like the refrain of a cheesy pop song? If there are rhymes, do the rhymes feel forced? Would I like to listen to this on audiobook? Don’t be biased by the fact that a book got published and is popular. If it offends your sensibilities, sounds patronizing or sappy, and you feel ridiculous reading it, trust your instincts.
- Authenticity. Nobody enjoys preachy stories, other than the person preaching them. Every good story is laden with truth, and people will learn the lessons they need to learn from good stories in the subtle or direct way that good stories teach. If you want to teach a child the logic behind morality, read him a catechism. If you want to delight a child and cultivate his heart, read him a story.
Below are two lists of picture books: one for toddlers and one for preschoolers. But, really, if a picture book is good enough, then people of all ages can appreciate it, and I have found this is true for my family. The only age-specific issue we have run into is the toddler ripping out the pages he really likes!
Toddler (these all come in board book form)
Haiku Baby: Betsy Snyder
Baby Bear Sees Blue: Ashley Wolff
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: Il Sung Na
Maite Roche prayer books
Gerda Muller season books
A Book of Babies: Il Sung Na
A Book of Sleep: Il Sung Na
Goodnight Moon: Margaret Wise Brown
Big Red Barn: Margaret Wise Brown
Hello Bugs: Smriti Prasadam and Emily Bolam
The Mitten: Jan Brett
The Snowy Day: Ezra Jack Keats
All Creatures Great and Small: Naoko Stoop
Good Dog, Carl: Alexandra Day
The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Eric Carle
The Little Fur Family: Margaret Wise Brown
Pumpkin Moonshine: Tasha Tudor
Preschooler (and beyond):
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening: Robert Frost
How to Paint a Portrait of a Bird: Jacques Prevert and Mordicai Gerstein
The Complete Brambly Hedge: Jill Barklem
The Ox-Cart Man: Donald Hall and Barbara Cooney
Madeline: Ludwig Bemelmans
The Little Engine That Could: Watty Piper
Katy and the Big Snow: Virginia Lee Burton
The Friendly Beasts: Tomie de Paola
Blueberries for Sal: Robert McCloskey
The Little House: Virginia Lee Burton
The Big Snow: Berta Hader
A Child’s Calendar: John Updike
Dandelion: Don Freeman
Corduroy: Don Freeman
The Polar Express: Chris Van Allsburg (we introduce North Pole Santa as a lovely story but primarily celebrate St. Nicholas, so this is an interesting one to explain. But it’s just so beautiful!)
Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak
A Treasury of Wintertime Tales: Noel Daniel
Stone Soup: Marcia Brown
Owl Moon: Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr
Fairy Tales and Fables: Gyo Fujikawa
A Child’s Book of Poems: Gyo Fujikawa
The Little Fir Tree: Margaret Wise Brown
The Velveteen Rabbit: Margery Williams
The Scarecrow’s Dance: Jane Yolen and Bagram Ibatoulline
The Story of Christmas: Pamela Dalton
The Night Before Christmas: Charles Santore
Rain Makes Applesauce: Julian Scheer and Marvin Bileck
Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Katherine Paterson and Pamela Dalton
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves: Julia Rawlinson
Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms: Julia Rawlinson
A Time to Keep: Tasha Tudor
The Beatrix Potter Collection: Beatrix Potter
Winnie the Pooh: A.A. Milne
The Tale of Three Trees: Angela Elwell Hunt and Tim Jonke
Ferdinand: Munro Leaf
Noah’s Ark: Linda Falken and The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Lion and the Mouse: Jerry Pinkney
The Clown of God: Tomie de Paola
Images of God: Marie-Helene Delval and Barbara Nascimbeni
Psalms for Children: Marie-Helene Delval and Arno
Make Way for Ducklings: Robert McCloskey
One Morning in Maine: Robert McCloskey
When I Was Young in the Mountains: Cynthia Rylant
Thunder Cake: Patricia Polacco
Pascual and the Kitchen Angels: Tomie dePaola
Miss Rumphius: Barbara Cooney
I have to add! The Story of the Blue Bonnet : Tommy DePaola!! It is an example of courage and beauty and the main character is a heroine which is good for young girls and young boys to see!!!
ooh I will have to check that out! Tomie DePaola is great
Elizabeth, I must say, these lists brought back the “best” of memories having read most of these to my daughters and then my grands time and again. Just seeing many of these titles once more made me smile.
so sweet!