My eldest is now 9 and I’ve officially spent roughly around those same number of years accumulating children’s picture books from various secondhand shops! Our home is now full of them, which you’ll find in every room around the house (probably every corner too haha) and many of them are very well loved!
Today, I want to share with you all our top family favorites. These are the 50 books I would pick if I were to curate a home library for a friend who is just starting.
NOTES:
- This list is limited to books for kids in preschool to early grade school age.
- For toddler board book suggestions check out this post I made before
- I did not include chapter books and longer story books in this article because it deserves a whole different post!
- This is an expansion of my previous article: 30 Must Have Read Aloud Books for Kids 3-6 Years Old
- All link outs are Amazon. Some of the books are free shipping to the PH if you reach $49. But you can easily get these books at secondhand bookshops around the country because they are mostly classics!
- A book set will be counted as one book (haha I know Im cheating but I can’t help it!)
STORY BOOKS
- “The Story of Ferdinand” by Munro Leaf
- “Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey
- “Roxaboxen” by Alex McLerran
- “Frederick” by Leo Lionni
- “Winnie the Pooh” by AA Milne (and all the original Pooh books)
- “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter (and the rest of Beatrix Potter’s books please!)
- “Brambly Hedge” by Jill Barklem (It’s like Beatrix Potter’s books)
- “The Little House” by by Virginia Lee Burton
- “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” by Virginia Lee Burton
- “The Story About Ping” by Marjorie Flack
- “The Little Engine that Could” by Watty Piper
- “Blueberries for Sal” by Robert McCloskey
- “The Story of Little Babaji” by Helen Bannerman
- “Stone Soup” by Marcia Brown
- “Once a Mouse” by Marcia Brown
- “Tiki Tiki Tembo” by Arlene Mosel
- “Owl Moon” by Jane Yolen
- “Ox Cart Man” by Donald Hall
- “Stellaluna” by Janell Cannon
- “An Extraordinary Egg” by Leo Lionni
- “The Crow Boy” by Taro Yashima
- “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt
- “Dragons Love Tacos” by Adam Rubin
- “Curious George” by HA Rey (Get a book with many stories)
- “Madeline” by Ludwig Bemelman (And the other Madeline books)
- “The Year at Maple Hill Farm” by Alice Provensen
- “When I Was Young in the Mountains” by Cynthia Rylant
- “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” by Judi Barrett
- James Mayhew’s Katie and the Artists Series (Review here)
- Anholt’s Artist Series (Review here)
READ ALOUDS FOR YOUNGER KIDS
- “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen
- “Caps for Sale” by Esphyr Slobodkina
- “Carrot Seed” by Ruth Krauss
- “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin Jr.
- “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss
- “May I Bring a Friend” by Beatrice de Regniers
- “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” by Bill Martin Jr.
- “Owl Babies” by Martin Wadwell
BEGINNING READERS
- Frog and Toad Series by Arnold Lobel
- Little Bear Series by Else Minarik
BOOKS ON FAITH & CHARACTER
- “The Ology” by Marty Wachowski (Review here)
- “The Biggest Story Bible” by Kevin de Young
- “The Garden the Curtain and the Cross” by Carl Laferton
- “ABC Bible Verses” by Susan Hunt
- “Big Truths for Little Kids” by Susan Hunt
- “A Children’s Book of Virtues” by William J. Bennett
POETRY
- “Now We Are Six” by AA Milne
- “When We Were Very Young” by AA Milne
- “A Children’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson
- “A House is a House for Me” by Mary Ann Hoberman
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Hope the list is helpful. I’ll see if I can make another article next time for chapter books and books for bigger kids. Or do you want another expansion of this list? Haha let me know!