My friend Sara, a counselor who works with parents and also the mother of two elementary school children, took time out of her busy schedule to suggest many great books, classified by age range. Sara's children also participated, making sure that their mother didn't neglect any favorites. As you can see, these are two kids who love books! Sara's list follows, with Amazon links.
Picture Books
- Pete's a Pizza by William Steig
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury (illustrator)
- Hug by Jez Alborough
- Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
- The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
- Papa Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle
- Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
- Sherman Crunchley by Nate Evans, Tim Bowers, Laura Joffe Numeroff
- Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)
- Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
- Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert (Illustrator)
- Mrs. McNosh Hangs up Her Wash by Sarah Weeks and Nadine Bernard Westcott (Illustrator)
- The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven
- Olivia by Ian Falconer
- Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer
- Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
- If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss
- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
- Are You My Mother by P. D. Eastman
- The Mitten by Jan Brett
- Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
- Bark George by Jules Feiffer
- Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate, Ashley Wolff (Illustrator)
- Guess How Much I Love You by Sam Mcbratney, Anita Jeram (Illustrator)
- I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson, Judith Byron Schachner (Illustrator)
- Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
- Little Bear by Elsa Holmelund Minarik, Maurice Sendak (Illustrator)
- There Was A Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro, Jared Lee (Illustrator)
- Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, Ray Cruz (Illustrator)
- Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
- Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
- Petunia by Roger Duvoisin
(A nice quote from this book is "He who owns books and loves them is wise")
- The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury: Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud by Janet Schulman
- Chimp and Zee by Laurence Anholt, Catherine Anholt (Illustrator)
Books with Pictures, But for Older Kids
- Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
- The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller
- Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, Ron Barrett (Illustrator)
- Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull, David Diaz (Illustrator)
- Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox, Lydia Monks (Illustrator)
- Scared Silly! : A Halloween Book for the Brave by Marc Brown
- Gluey: A Snail Tale by J.otto Seibold, Vivian Walsh
Early Readers
- Miss Nelson Is Missing! by Harry Allard, James Marshall (Illustrator)
- Morris the Moose by B. Wiseman
- The Frog and Toad Series by Arnold Lobel
- Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff
- The Henry and Mudge Series by Cynthia Rylant
- Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
- The Cam Jansen mystery series by David Adler
- Where Fish Go In Winter by Amy Goldman Koss, Laura Bryant (Illustrator)
- Zack's Alligator by Shirley Mozelle, James Watts (Illustrator)
- Zack's Alligator Goes to School by Shirley Mozelle, James Watts (Illustrator)
First Chapter Books
- The Magic Treehouse Books by Mary Pope Osborne
- The Third Grade Detective Series by George E. Stanley
- The A to Z Mystery Series by Ron Roy
- The Horrible Harry Books by Suzy Kline, Frank Remkiewicz (Illustrator)
Better Readers (About 2nd Grade)
- The Wayside School Series by Louis Sachar
- Frindle by Andrew Clements
- The Little House on the Prarie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
- A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Tasha Tudor (Illustrator)
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Tasha Tudor (Illustrator)
- The American Girl series (various authors)
- Freddy the Detective by Walter R. Brooks, Kurt Wiese (Illustrator)
- The Secrets of Droon Series by Tony Abbott
- The Bailey School Kids Series by by Debbie Dadey, et al
- The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
3rd Grade Plus
- The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
I also spent a delightful evening at Sara's house in Lexington, MA over the holidays, looking through various picture books, and have added many of those to the list above. My thanks to Sara and her family for being such great friends, and for contributing these many children's book ideas. Happy Reading to All in 2006! -- Jen
