Favorite Children's Books

Reading with kids is one of the true joys of parenthood, a time to reconnect with treasured classics and discover new favorites, and a time to connect with our kids, hear their ideas and explore the world together through books.

Here CCC parents share some of the titles they have enjoyed with their little ones. Read on if you’re looking for inspiration for your family’s library.

Lately Aeneas’ (FY) family has been reading My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett. His mom Jessica writes, “We were looking for chapter books to capture Aeneas' attention. It took a little adjustment for him to get used to fewer pictures and more text.” But, she adds, “He is starting to own with pride the idea that we are reading a chapter book.”

Hazel Rose (BY) enjoys the Flower Fairies Friends book series (authors include Kay Woodward and Pippa Le Quesne). Her mom Elise writes, “They have good stories that always involve the main character making a mistake natural to their own temperament, and then having to solve the muddle that ensues, usually with help. They teach great friendship and self-knowledge values through engaging stories.” Hazel Rose also likes Pippi Longstocking and its sequels (Back Yarders may have noted Pippi as one of HR’s fashion icons).

Ian (FY) is fond of anything Toy Story or super-hero-related. Other favorites, says his mom Ani, include Where the Wild Things Are, Corduroy (“about a defective toy store bear who finally gets adopted”), Just Me and My Family by Mercer Mayer (“has cute little anecdotes about spending time with family”) and Caps For Sale.

Milo’s (BY) family enjoys Elsa Beskow’s beautifully illustrated classics for bedtime, including Peter's Old House, Christopher's Harvest Time and The Sun Egg. For chapter books, his mom Kate writes, “We love anything by Roald Dahl, most recently The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me and Danny the Champion of the World. You can get these on CD read by the author and they are wonderful too.”

She adds, “We also love Astrid Lindgren's chapter book series on The Children of Noisy Village—stories of three families of children who live on neighboring farms in rural Sweden around the turn of the century. There is also a picture book called Christmas in Noisy Village that is a classic we've been reading since I was a kid!”

Kristen, mom of Mazi (BY) and Finn (FY), shares two of her boys’ top picks: Pierre in Love by Sara Pennypacker, and Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman.

A favorite of Pearl’s (BY) is The Amazing Bone by William Steig, about a pig named Pearl who befriends a talking bone. Other great books by William Steig are Farmer Palmer’s Wagon Ride and Spinky Sulks, about a particularly tenacious sulker. She has also been enjoying longer books of late—a recent fave: The Velveteen Rabbit.

Patrick (FY) likes anything by Margaret Mahy, including The Great White Man Eating Shark, Jam, The Three-Legged Cat, The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate and The Rattlebang Picnic. He has also enjoyed Thatcher Hurd’s Artdog, Mystery on the Docks and Pea Patch Jig as well as Mordicai Gerstein’s Mountains of Tibet. His mom Samantha adds he also likes books about stars, planets or Greek myths (especially Cyclops and Medusa).

Ula (BY) and her mom Amy recently checked out David Soman’s superhero inspired Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy from the library. Amy writes, “Even though she usually doesn't like to hear a story more than once, or possibly twice, we've read this about twice a day for three days. I guess she likes it?”

So…. feeling inspired and ready to shop? Milo's mom Kate reminds us to check out our great Bay Area independent bookstores. Among her faves are Mrs. Dalloway's (“they can order almost anything for you and are super nice!”), Pegasus, Books Inc. and Moe's. And recently she visited City Lights in San Francisco, with their “small but utterly unbelievable children's section. I could have spent a thousand dollars there easily! Really amazing stuff I haven't seen anywhere else.” And of course you can always take your wish list to your local library and test out new titles before you buy!

Does your family have a favorite children’s book not mentioned here? Share it in the comments section below!