Anderson, C. W. Billy and Blaze
Asch, Frank Bear’s Bargain
Asch, Frank Bear Shadow
Base, Graeme Animalia
Base, Graeme The Water Hole
Bedard, Michael Emily illust. Barbara Cooney
Bemelmans, Ludwig Madeline
Bluedorn, Johannah Little Bitty Baby Learns Greek
Bluedorn, Johannah Little Bitty Baby Learns Hebrew
Borden, Louise The Greatest Skating Race
Boynton, Sandra The Going to Bed Book
Brown, Margaret Wise Goodnight Moon
Brown, Margaret Wise Seven Little Postmen
Brown, Marcia Stone Soup
Burton, Virginia Lee Choo-Choo
Burton, Virginia Lee Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Burton, Virginia Lee The Little House
Caines, Jeannette Just Us Women
Carle, Eric and Bill Martin Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
Carle, Eric The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Cauley, Lorinda Bryan Clap Your Hands
D’Aulaire, Ingri and Edgar Parin Abraham Lincoln
De Paola, Tomie Pancakes for Breakfast
Dr. Suess Hop on Pop
Dobbs, Rose Anderson’s Fairy Tales
Eastman, P.D. The Alphabet Book
Eastman, P.D. Go, Dog. Go!
Flack, Marjorie The Story about Ping
Freeman, Don Corduroy
Friedman, Ina How My Parents Learned to Eat
Fujikawa, Gyo 10 Little Babies
Fujikawa, Gyo A Child’s Book of Poems
Fujikawa, Gyo Baby Animals
Fujikawa, Gyo Mother Goose
Gaspard, Helen Doctor Dan, The Bandage Man
Gili, Phillida The Lost Ears
Hall, Donald Ox-Cart Man
Helm, David The Big Picture Story Bible
Hoban, Russell A Baby Sister for Frances
Hoban, Russell A Bargain for Frances
Hoban, Russell Bedtime for Frances
Hoban, Russell Bread and Jam for Frances
Hodges, Margaret Saint George and the Dragon
Hoff, Sid Danny and the Dinosaur
Jackson, Kathryn Nurse Nancy
Keats, Ezra Jack Peter’s Chair
Keats, Ezra Jack The Snowy Day
Keats, Ezra Jack Whistle for Willie
Kent, Jack Round Robin
Lobel, Arnold Frog and Toad are Friends
Lobel, Arnold Owl at Home
Low, Joseph Mice Twice
Macauley, David Castle
Macauley, David Cathedral
McCloskey, Robert Make Way for Ducklings
McCloskey, Robert Blueberries for Sal
McCloskey, Robert One Morning in Maine
Merberg, Julie Sharing with Renoir
Minarik, Else A Kiss for Little Bear, pictures by Maurice Sendak
Minarik, Else Little Bear’s Visit, pictures by Maurice Sendak
Numeroff, Laura Joffe If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Patience, John The Seasons in Fern Hollow
Patience, John Adventures in Fern Hollow
Payne, Emmy Katy No-Pocket illust. H. A. Rey
Peet, Bill Cowardly Clyde
Peet, Bill Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent
Peet, Bill Hubert’s Hair-Raising Adventure
Peet, Bill The Caboose Who Got Loose
Piper, Watty The Little Engine that Could
Plume, Ilse The Bremen-Town Musicians
Potter, Beatrix The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
Potter, Beatrix The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
Potter, Beatrix The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
Potter, Beatrix The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Potter, Beatrix The Tale of Tom Kitten
Rey, H. A. Curious George Flies a Kite
Rey, H. A. Curious George Learns the Alphabet
Rey, H. A. Curious George Takes a Job
Rylant, Cynthia The Relatives Came , illustrated by Stephen Gammell
Scarry, Richard Cars and Trucks and Things that Go
Scarry, Richard Good Night, Little Bear
Scarry, Richard I am a Bunny
Scarry, Richard The Polite Elephant
Scarry, Richard What Do People Do All Day?
Schenk de Regniers, Beatrice May I Bring a Friend? illustrated by Beni Montresor
Seder, Rufus Butler Gallop!
Seder, Rufus Butler Swing!
Sendak, Maurice Where the Wild Things Are
Sharmat, Marjorie Nate the Great
Slobodkina, Esphyr Caps for Sale
Steig, William Doctor DeSoto
Stevenson, Robert Louis A Child’s Garden of Verses illust. by Tasha Tudor or Gyo Fujikawa
Swift, Hildegarde H. The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
Tudor, Tasha A Time to Keep
Tudor, Tasha And It Was So
Tudor, Tasha Corgiville Christmas
Tudor, Tasha Corgiville Fair
Williams, Vera B. More More More,” Said the Baby: Three Love Stories
Zion, Gene Harry and the Lady Next Door
Zion, Gene Harry the Dirty Dog
What! No “Color Kittens”?
haha–I forgot about that one! It must be in Elizabeth’s room right now–I mostly made this list based on the books in our living room and Tommy’s room (plus books on our amazon wish list), so the ones in her room got the shaft.
Oh–and I want to clarify that I’ll still be friends you all even if you don’t like some of the choices here. Except Make Way For Ducklings. If you don’t like that one, we might have talk. =)
Dan Muller,
I have always wondered about Color Kittens. Were the illustrator/ and author on drugs or hallucinating from a high fever when writing that one or just kind of weird. The kids do love it though!
That is quite the list! I have read a lot of these to the girls and read a lot of them when I was little. Have you read Katie and the Big Snow or Maybelle the Cable Car by Virginia Lee Burton? The girls really love Katie and the Big Snow. Especially at this time of year. By the way, I also want to let you know that I love Make Way for Ducklings so we are good 😉
We love ALL the Virginia Lee Burtons–especially Katy and the Big Snow during the winter! I hadn’t read the rest of them until I found an anthology for Tommy with both those you mentioned in it. Classics!
how interesting! I’m glad Katie No Pocket made the list. 🙂
I was just about to say “what about Katie!?” but Laura beat me to it. 🙂 But I will say What about Kermit the Hermit?! And what about Are You My Mother? And what about the original Curious George? 🙂
I should make one of these lists, too! fun fun. 🙂 There are some here I have not heard of, so that is exciting, I’ll add them to our library list! The only ones that I know for sure would not be on our list (right now at least) would be the Francis books. I had them growing up, but re-reading them for Geneva I vetoed them for now.
When you mentioned the illustrators by name, is that because you have special affinity for those artists?
And who on earth would not like make way for ducklings?! Did you know that there is a statue of them in the city park in Boston? I’d love to get a family pic with it one day. 🙂
um, wow that was a lot of little yellow smiling faces!
Regarding “The Color Kittens”, it was written in the ’50s or late ’40s, so I’m going with “fever dream”. Now, if it were the ’60s, I’d say “controlled substance”.
Very strange. Probably why I liked it.
I actually prefer One Morning in Maine and Blueberries for Sal over Make Way for Ducklings… But I still love MWFD.
🙂
Christina, do make a list! I’ve loved your suggestions in the past. =)
Generally, I listed the illustrator if the book won a Caldecott medal (which is for illustrations) and the author and illustrator were different. Or if it was a lesser-known author with a better-known illustrator (like Katy No-Pocket).
We actually don’t like the original Curious George as well as some of the others…he smokes a pipe which is just a bit random, the whole getting sent to jail think seems a little extreme, the illustrations are a little less sophistocated… We don’t actively disapprove of it (I think we own two copies), but it didn’t quite make the top 100 cut.=)
Wow. I need to make a trip to the library. We’ve only read a quarter of these titles. I got “A Time to Keep” from the library back in November after you mentioned it on your blog. Evangeline loved it, although I had to strategically skip the Halloween section (witches and ghosts?!), a trick which I won’t get away with much longer. We have Tudor’s little book of prayers right now and Evangeline and K2 both ask to read it daily.
I’m surprised, in some ways, that Hodges’ Saint George made the list. We have that book and I love the illustrations, but it’s pretty violent and intense (and sensual b/c of the naked fairies) so we’ve saved it for later.
You know, Tommy loves the fight with the dragon, and has for a good year! (His favorite Bible story is currently David and Goliath, so I think an underdog fighting against evil must really resonate with him.) But one time he saw Seseme Street at a neighbor’s and got nightmares over “the monsters”…I guess it just depends on the kid? I love The Faerie Queene in general and have taught it twice in my homeschool British Lit survey, so all the Christian allegory really resonates with me. The original Spenser IS pretty sensual, but this retelling skips over all of Redcrosse’s sexual temptations and basically emphasizes the end of the story, which I think is appropriate for younger readers. I actually had to go back and look for the naked fairies you mentioned–I had never noticed them, but sure enough, there’s a little pair in the borders of page 28 and maybe one on the title page (ours is ripped).