MORE 'BEST-BOOKS' POSTS
#28 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (1995) 61 points It’s refreshing when children’s literature tackles grand themes and trusts that the reader can handle them. Such is the case with Philip Pullman’s landmark 1995 fantasy. What’s more grand than a meditation on the human soul? But maybe Pullman’s greatest feat was to craft a […]
#29 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (2005) 58 points There are two families I would love to live next door to: the Cassons and the Penderwicks. Adorable in it’s classic charm, you can’t help but fall in love with the absent-minded professor […]
#30 Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988) 58 points I loved that Dahl wrote completely for children. A kid reading Dahl knows he can make something or be someone or do something, no matter what anyone else around him says or does. – Heather Christensen It just wouldn’t be right to make a list like this […]
#31 Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (1948) 54 points It’s hard to pick a favorite McCloskey, but I think of this one every time I pick blueberries. – Jessalyn Gale Honestly, I think my favorite part as a kid was just staring at the endpapers with the scene of Sal and her mom in […]
#32 The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (1942) 53 points I love this story and sometimes can’t get through it without crying. – Laurie Zaepfel I just loved this story when I was younger. I still do. You learn about the seasons, pollution, the difference between rural and urban. And the artwork – love […]
#33 The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (1971) 53 points A timeless classic. I haven’t seen the movie, and I don’t plan to; it’s one of those cases in which the book is perfect just as it is. – Melissa Fox because “UNLESS someone like you / cares a whole awful lot, / nothing is going […]
#34 Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola (1975) 51 points I must have a thing for bowls that duplicate stuff. Strega Nona in many ways mirrors the 4th title on this list, The Full Belly Bowl. But unlike Aylesworth’s book, Strega Nona focuses on humor to get its point across. dePaola’s 1979 classic takes an […]
#35 The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith (1989) 51 points I remember when this book was the hit of the third grade. Everyone passed it around and read it and we all were cracking up. Fractured fairy tales in the hands of the skilled Jon Scieszka […]
#36 The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (1957) 50 points Adore the story and it brought reading to an access level for beginning readers. – Mary Friedrichs The poor cat didn’t make it onto the list last time because I wasn’t including easy readers. Now he bursts onto the scene, hat askew, intentions […]
#37 The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (2009) 47 points I love David Wiesner, but as funny as his wordless books are, none of them match this one for the combined power of the storytelling and sheer beauty of the drawings. One of the most deserving Caldecott winners ever. – Mark Flowers I […]