Books Your Kid Should Read

Olivia
by Ian Falconer
2001

The Olivia books have quickly become such classics that they hardly need reviewing on this site, but since they are currently among our favorite books, I had to talk about them. Firmly in the Eloise tradition of miniature heroines, Olivia is a confident, imaginative, strong-minded little piglet, who reluctantly puts up with her younger siblings (most of the time) and keeps her parents on their toes with her antics. In the first book, we follow Olivia to the fine art museum and witness her love of Degas and her disdain for Pollock (she does a quite credible pollock-esque mural on the wall when she gets home, just to show that she can. A time-out understandably ensues). We enjoy her wardrobe variations; her love of playing dress-up, her amazing skills at sand-castle building, and the way she turns a lovely pinky color after a day at the beach. This is one of those delightful picture books where the text and the illustrations are equally well crafted, and work in tandem to create Olivia's vivid worlds. Kids will see Olivia as a kindred spirit, and parents will instantly recognize the tired-but-affectionate look on Olivia's mother's face as she tucks her exhausting daughter into bed. "You wear me out, but I love you anyway," she tells Olivia. "I love you anyway, too," Olivia responds. Truer words were never spoke.

My Penguin Osbert
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
illus. H. B. Lewis

Oh, my, this is a cute book. A classic be-careful-what-you-wish-for tale, this is the story of young Joe, who has a history of being a little disappointed in his Santa gifts. It's not that he doesn't get what he asks for (e.g. a red fire engine), it's just that they aren't quite what he meant (only 3 inches long). So this year, he decides to be really specific with his list, and sure enough - waiting for him under the tree Christmas morning is the pet penguin he asked Santa to bring him. At first Joe is overjoyed ... but then the realities of penguin ownership kick in, and Joe slowly realizes that he maybe didn't think this wish through. Funny all year long, with wonderful illustrations that add to both the humor and the cute factor (which is considerable).

Interested in this book? Get more details or make a purchase at the bookstore.

The Nativity
illus. Julie Vivas
1986

In religious terms, I tend to refer to myself as a militant agnostic: I don't know and you don't either. But the nativity is a pretty good story, whatever your beliefs, and this picture book version absolutely captivated me from the first minute I saw it as a lowly bookstore clerk back in the early 90s. The text is taken from the King James version of the book of Luke, familiar to anyone who's watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special year after year. But what makes the book special are the amazing illustrations, which depict Mary, Jesus, Joseph, the angels, and the whole crew not as stiff, gilded medieval royalty, but as quintessentially everyday folk. The drawings are rendered in playful watercolors, showing angels with raggedy wings and unlaced muddy workboots sharing a cup of coffee with a tired looking Mary. The infant Jesus is so stinking cute you want to pick him up and squeeze him, which - for me, at least - is a novel and enjoyable response to depictions of the birth of Christ. The overall effect of the book is to make the nativity supremely joyful, earthy, and ... plausible. Wonderful for reading aloud this time of year.

Interested in this book? Get more details or make a purchase at the bookstore.

Frog and Toad series
by Arnold Lobel
Illus. Arnold Lobel
1970-1979

My little sister and I used to act out the Frog and Toad stories sometimes. I was always Frog and she was always Toad. We practically had all the stories memorized from hearing them so often, and they're the perfect length for performing to grandparents and other favorable audiences. They're such simple tales, it's hard to put your finger on just what makes them so memorable. Part of it is the perfection of the illustrations, certainly. Another part of the attraction is the inimitable personalities of the two amphibian friends: Frog, amiable and easy-going; Toad, more serious and easily ruffled. Like real friends, they don't always agree with one another, but they always find a way to work things out in the end. The woodland setting of Frog and Toad's world evokes a gentle serenity that's balm to the parental soul, and the antics they get into will entertain kids from preschool into second grade. Great for beginning readers, but also wonderful for reading aloud.

Little Bear
by Else Holmelund Minarik
Illus. Maurice Sendak
1957

Ah, Little Bear. I think these were the first books I ever read to myself, when I finally learned to read at age 6. But I'd fallen for their charm quite a bit earlier. Minarik's simple stories of a bear, his family and his friends are enduring because of their classic themes of friendship, family, and imagination. The books are now a popular animated series on Noggin, but I hope it goes without saying that there's no comparison to the books. Minarik's lifelike rendering of Little Bear as a determined, inventive, outgoing young child will ring true to both parents and toddlers, and if the stories are old fashioned, it's only in the best sense of the word. Sendak's illustrations delightfully capture the ambiguously late-Victorian era of the tales (I believe the technical term for the setting would be "long ago" or "in olden times"), and overall the books are the kid's lit equivalent of snuggling up in a comfy chair with a nice cup of tea.

Also recommended: Father Bear Comes Home (1959), Little Bear's Friend (1960), Little Bear's Visit (1961), A Kiss For Little Bear (1968)

Everywhere Babies
by Susan Meyers
Illus. Marla Frazee
2001

This board book was just introduced to me by a friend, and I immediately loved it so much I had to put it on this site. Everywhere Babies is a simple rhyming book enumerating the many activites and accoutrements of the baby set, from how they get carried, to how they get fed, to how they play and make friends. The language is rhythmic and repetitive in a way that preschoolers and babies alike will find soothing (every day, everywhere babies are born, every day everywhere babies are carried, etc.), but as with many of the best board books, it's the illustrations that truly make this story special. Frazee's images are chock full of character and life, and she clearly knows her way around a baby. From the priceless expression on the face of the baby learning to walk to the true-to-life exhaustion of the breast-feeding mama, these pictures will ring true for the whole family - and each page is crammed with lots of activity. Even better, to this tree-hugging liberal mama's mind, is the wonderful diversity of families depicted in the book. Gay families, straight families, black and white families, multiple generations and single parents - they're all represented here, and in a way that celebrates different family arrangements without ever being preachy or PC. A wonderful, loving book that would be a great addition to any toddler's library.

In The Night Kitchen
by Maurice Sendak
Illus. Maurice Sendak
1970

A young boy, perhaps three years old, is in bed one night when he hears loud noises downstairs. Falling from his bed and out of his clothes, he mysteriously ends up in a surreal kitchen environment, peopled by three large chefs who bear a striking resemblance to Oliver Hardy. The chefs try to bake the boy into their cake batter, apparently mistaking him for the milk. The boy escapes, creates a plane from bread dough, and flies off to a ginormous milk bottle to get the requisite fluid. He pours the milk into the batter; the bakers finish making the cake; and the boy mysteriously finds himself back in his bed, back in his pajamas, with only the lingering memory of his night's adventure.

If In The Night Kitchen sounds like an extremely weird book, that's because, um, IT IS. Weird and wonderful in that way that only Maurice Sendak can completely pull off. The vivid dreamlike illustrations fill the page, with the text appearing in almost comic-book form, as part of the image rather than separate from it. And kids just EAT IT UP. The book has a history of controversy because Mickey (the boy) is naked in large parts of the book, and sometimes (gasp!) you can actually see his penis. It's a completely innocent and childlike representation, but apparently some people can't get over it, because it's consistently in the top 50 most challenged books. If you're easily offended by accurate (if cartoonish) representations of three-year-old anatomy, then this book maybe isn't for you. But for the rest of us, it's a weird, wonderful trip to the land of dreams.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
by Betty MacDonald
Illus. Hilary Knight
1947

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is the kind of old lady everyone wishes lived in their neighborhood. A kindred spirit to children everywhere, she lives in a magical upside-down house, there's buried treasure in her backyard, and her home always smells like freshly-baked cookies. The kids in her town know they'll always find a friendly face and comforting advice over at Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's place, but it's their parents who are really in her debt. You see, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has a cure for just about any kind of bad habit or mischievous behavior a kid can get up to. Whether it's not wanting to bathe, staying up all hours of the night, or fighting with their siblings all the time, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle knows a clever (and enormously fun to read about) way to get it to stop. The stories are presented from a kid's perspective, meaning that the adults (with the exception of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle) often come off as amusingly dim. Each chapter is its own self-contained story, making this a perfect book for bedtime reading aloud (if you can stick to just one story, which is difficult). Though the stories are technically about behavior and etiquette, they're never moralistic or condescending. The true-to-life depictions of kids' tantrums and misbehavings, along with the highly unusual tactics recommended by Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to cure them, make a compelling read even if you don't care a whit about manners and morals. And if they get your kid to think twice before pitching a fit at bedtime, so much the better. With really excellent illustrations by Hilary Knight (of Eloise fame).

Also recommended: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic (1949), Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm (1954), and Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (1957).

Come Play With Me
by Margaret Hiller
Illus. Kinuko Craft
1975

As you may have noticed from previous entries, I'm a total sucker for good illustrations, and Kinuko Craft is one of my favorite illustrators. I first saw her work as a little kid in the book Come Play With Me, which features simple rhymes for beginning readers. The poems are perfectly nice, but it's the pictures that really make the language come alive. A verse about a ball going up and down is much more interesting when it's being bounced by an elf at twilight; a poem about a boy playing with his father is made magical when you see that the father and son are centaurs; a game of hide-and-seek is positively idyllic when set in an arcadian landscape. New readers will take pride in reading the simple words, and pre-readers (and parents!) will have their imaginations sparked by the beautiful images. May be difficult to find, but it's worth the look.

Pet of the Met
by Don and Lydia Freeman
Illus. Don and Lydia Freeman
1953

This was one of my favorite childhood books, and only recently came back into print; my mom brought it as a gift for my daughter and it was like travelling back in time 30-some years - it had been that long since I'd even *thought* about this book. I'm so glad it's easily available again, though, because it really is wonderful. Pet of the Met tells the story of Maestro Petrini, the mouse whose job it is to turn pages for the prompter at the Metropolitan Opera house. A true devotee of opera, the only blot on Petrini's existence is the constant presence of his arch-enemy, Mefisto the cat. The two manage to co-exist peacefully until one day Petrini is carried away by a production of The Magic Flute and ends up giving the performance of his life. The story introduces kids to all kinds of great theatre and opera terms, and gives a magical window into backstage activities. And the pictures are simply marvellous, as you'd expect from the illustrator of the Corduroy stories. An excellent book to read aloud, over and over again.

Tuesday
by David Wiesner
Illus. by David Wiesner
1991

Oooh, I love this book. I first found it when I was working at a wonderful local bookstore in Columbus, OH while attending grad school (anyone remember Nickelby's?). I was straightening out the children's section and surreptitiously checking out the picture books. The Caldecott sticker on the front of this one made me take a second look, and boy, I was hooked. Wiesner is an absolute genius at telling a story with few or no words; he simply doesn't need them, so rich and detailed - and hilarious! - are his pictures. Tuesday chronicles an unusual evening in the lives of some pond frogs, whose lily pads mysteriously rise into the air one night ("around 8 pm") and take them on a wild adventure. They encounter confused dogs, sleeping grandmas, paranoid insomniacs, and baffled police officers, before settling back down into their swampy homes ... only to pave the way for next Tuesday's odd happening. Now I will admit that I have a slightly obsessed love of things froggy, so I was predisposed to like this book for that reason alone. But trust me, you don't have to be fond of amphibian life to love Tuesday, any day of the week.

The House At Pooh Corner
by A. A. Milne
Illus. Ernest H. Shepard
1928

If your only familiarity with Pooh Bear comes from the Disney cartoons, hie thee to a bookstore and buy some of the original stories, pronto. Don't get me wrong: as a child of the 1970s I have as many fond memories as anyone of watching those Disney animations of a Sunday. But there's really nothing to compare with the language, imagery, and wit of Milne's words and Shepard's pictures. The House At Pooh Corner is the second storybook devoted to Pooh and his pals (Winnie-the-Pooh being the first), and it's got to rank as one of the all-time great sequels in literary history. No, really! Not only are we introduced to Tigger, a scene stealer in the fine tradition of such "secondary" characters as Sam Weller or Mr. Toad, but Owl's house gets blown down in a storm, Piglet and Pooh build Eeyore a "new" house, and the wonderful game of Poohsticks is invented. As usual with A. A. Milne's work, there's as much to entertain the adults who are reading the stories as the children listening to them. As I reread it recently (To myself, since you ask. At bedtime. You got a problem with that?) I was struck anew by the poignancy of the latter chapters of Pooh Corner. Christopher Robin is growing up, and though the assurances in the final sentence that "wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing" are sufficient to quiet any younger reader's fears, the older reader can't help but acknowledge how hard it is to find that enchanted place sometimes. Fortunately, there are always the Pooh books to help us out.

Sandra Boynton Board Books
by Sandra Boynton
Illus. by Sandra Boynton
1977-present

OK, I know it's cheating a little to have just one entry for ALL of Boyton's board books, but they're all so flippin' good I couldn't choose an individual one to feature. Boynton's signature goofy animals and irreverent prose fulfill my top requirement for board books: they're good enough to read over-and-over-and-over-and-over-and-over-and-OVER again without making you want to stab your eyes out with a fork. These were hands down my daughter's favorites from 0-2 years, and they're still in the top 10. I honestly think we own 95% of what Boynton's written, and we love them all, but the creme de la creme in our household are: The Belly Button Book; Blue Hat, Green Hat; What's Wrong, Little Pookie? (for real, so cute it could injure someone); But Not the Hippopotamus; Hippos Go Berserk; and Hey! Wake Up!

The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
Illus. Ernest H. Shepard
1908

I read The Wind in the Willows for the first time when I was maybe 8 or 9, and I've re-read it every few years ever since. Grahame's characterization of life on an English river (and thereabouts) through the eyes of a mole, a water rat, and the inimitable Mr. Toad is by turns lyrical, mystic, clever, and laugh-out-loud funny. Will appeal equally to boys and girls, and animal lovers will be in pure heaven. You HAVE to get the edition with Ernest Shepard's illustrations - don't be fooled by imitations! Shepard's ink and watercolor drawings absolutely capture the tone and feel of Grahame's text (yes, that's the same Shepard who illustrated all the Winnie-the-Pooh books, so he knows from woodland creatures.) Splurge on a hardcover; trust me, you'll want a copy that withstands multiple readings.

Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown
Illus. Clement Hurd
1947

Simple verse, lulling rhythm, and beautiful, cozy pictures detail a young bunny's bedtime routine.
The all-time, best-ever bedtime book. If you don't like Goodnight Moon, you may be dead inside.