Ask HN: What's your favorite children's books?
Board books, normal children's books, STEM, non-STEM. I'm interested in them all.
There was one old Soviet book from Mir publishers - I can't remember the name now, I think it was called The happy family or something like that. It has 3 or 4 stories, I only remember one of them. It is about two kids who get 15 fresh farm eggs and try to incubate them with home made setup - bulbs for heat, books to adjust the height, their little sister's kitchen play set for cooling etc. It was beautiful.
I had that book for a loooonnnng time, until I loaned it to a friend for reading and he lost it :( It was very well written and as a kid, it was very interesting to me.
My favorites were written back in th 50's. They didn't age well. Girls were told they could be the secretary in the detective agency, while the boys did the investigating. (Henry Reed Inc.) Stuff like that, made it so I didn't give them to the grandkids.
The Dog Man series is probably the one I read the most to my kids, and the one I liked the most. The 10 first books are one whole story, read them in order. The Cat Kid Comic Club is cool as well.
The "Who would win?" series is also very popular at home.
The Owly comics are amazing for kids who are just starting to read. It's also super cute.
Junie B. Jones stuff is also something I recall reading multiple times.
Of all the Dr Seuss read to my kids the one that stands out is hard to find now: "I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew".
Probably rare because the young protagonist who over-judges the severity of his minor problem, gulliblly starts on a quest where he increasingly suffers worse, finally concludes the actual solution is to confront his problems with swift and blinding violence. I read it so many times I can still recall a good portion from memory.
My personal favourite was "Stig of the Dump", which still holds up today, unlike many from my childhood.
Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter were my favorite children's series.
Anything by Arnold Lobel, but especially Frog and Toad
One of my favorite books is The Most Beautiful Place in the World, by Ann Cameron and Thomas B. Allen. I read it when I was 8 or 9 years old. The story is very moving.
Here's some stuff for younger kids that haven't been mentioned yet:
Matthew Cordell is awesome. "Cornbread and Poppy" are cute, "Evergreen" is fun, but check out his whole catalog. Probably my favorite active author/illustrator.
"Nobody Likes a Goblin" by Ben Hatke
"The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess" by Tom Gauld
"The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown" under the pseudonym Golden MacDonald
”The Dark Tales of Lillebror Rabbit“ by Jonna Björnstjerna
"Les P'tites Poules" by Christian Jolibois
A little older, Ursula LeGuin is amazing, "A Wizard of Earthsea", "Catwings".
The Narnia series, the Harry Potter series, Alice in Wonderland, Wind in the Willows,the Sherlock Holmes series (there are great versions of these made slightly easier for children to read), and of course all of Roald Dahl's books.
I have always liked The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Chicken Soup With Rice by Maurice Sendak, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss and Yertle The Turtle by Dr. Seuss.
Damn, it's like you were in my head and plagiarized my memories! Good list
The only one I didn't have is Yertle The Turtle
Yertle is fantastic. For something more modern try Pete the Cat.
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins - Dr Seuss
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie - the original is by far the best of these.
Ramona Quimby series - Beverly Cleary
Iggy Peck, Architect (+series) - Andrea Beaty
Beast Feast - Emma Yarlett
Dragons Love Tacos (+ 2) - Adam Rubin
The Princess in Black (+series) - Shannon & Dean Hale
Don't Let a Unicorn Scribble (+series) - Diane Abler
The Camping Trip - Jennifer Maan
Maddie & Mabel (+series) - Kari Allen
I Love You Stinky Face - Lisa McCourt
Authors that were always good: Arnold Lobel, Sandra Boynton, James Stevenson
And don't forget to check https://www.betterworldbooks.com/ , they are affiliated with the Internet Archive and they don't show up in shopping searches.
I really wanted to like Iggy Peck, Ada Twist, and Rosie Revere, because they promote really positive messages. But man, the verse is really clumsy and poor in some areas. Not stellar writing.
To add to your list: anything by Julia Donaldson. The Gruffalo, Super Worm, Room on the Broom, the Whale and the Snail.
Perennial favs when my kids were 3-5
It didn't bother me that much, and there are some good rhymes. But if you want someone who takes meter seriously, check out Steven M Nedeau's books.
The books I created for my daughter about strange hobbies/behaviours of her dad and family.
As I couldn't find those books - I created a business for it: https://www.storystarling.com/en/showcase
As a kid, loved:
Harry the Dirty Dog series
Amelia Bedelia series
Little Toot
Katy and the Big Snow
Tikki Tikki Tembo
Eloise
Babar series
Others from Weekly Reader - including Gus was a Friendly Ghost, Be Nice to Spiders, The Mystery of the Great Swamp, and Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
Later
Stuart Little series
As a small child I liked Janosch’s books about the tiger and the bear. For example Ich mach dich gesund, sagte der Bär (I’ll Make You Well, Tiger, Said the Bear).
When I got a bit older I really enjoyed the Narnia books by CS Lewis. And The Belgariad by David Eddings.
I read a lot, but many titles are probably not available in English.
If you are looking for something non-mainline with exceptional drawings, you could check out Chiaki Okada's work. My kids loved the "Spring" book with the ice bear (in germany it is called "Bist du der Frühling", but i did not find an english translation)
Hilda comic series, Bone comic series. Also, depending on kids personality comics from Telemaiger.
My grandchildren (ages 10 - 13) have been recently given and are apparently somewhat attached to
The Mouse and His Child - Russell Hoban
A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel - Ursula K. Le Guin, Fred Fordham
The SAS Survival Handbook - Lofty Wiseman
They more or less all cover the search for being self winding.
Favorites When I Was Younger:
The Monster at the End of this Book
The Little Red Caboose
Favorites to Read to Kids:
The Hiccupotamus
Dear Zoo
The Sneetches
Mercy Watson to the Rescue
Pete the Cat (I Love My White Shoes or His Four Groovy Buttons)
Favorite Authors: Mo Willems, Sandra Boynton
The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull is really quite good and fun to read (longer series). Been reading it to 8 / 9yr old boy and we've loved them all.
The Saga of Eric the Viking - Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame)
It Might be an Apple (Shinsuke Yoshitake)
The Skull (Jon Klassen)
The Way Things Work (David Macaulay)
Animalia (Graeme Base)
Nanette’s Baguette (Mo Willlems)
The princess and the Pony (Kate Beaton)
Frederick (Leo Leoni)
Graeme Base's illustrations are super good, especially the ones where he hides things that you have to go back and look for. And +1 for The Way Things Work.
Phantom Toll Booth, The Encyclopedia Brown series and the Tom Swift books when I was older.
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey.
It was one of the few books I actually remember enjoying as a kid.
I'll be darned, I have that one sitting on my table right now. The rhythm of his writing is great, and the allusions to Greek myths are fun even if you don't know what they mean as a kid.
I’d add Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan in others’ recommendations.
Richard Scarry - Busy, busy town. It is still great
A Rule Is to Break: A Child’s Guide to Anarchy by John Seven
AI book mix in the making?
It is hard to say favourites without a target age.
Well my wife is currently am expecting. So, I guess starting with board books for 0-1 y/o?
In that case, anything you can stand to read over and over again with feeling (Little Blue Truck was it for me), and the Eric Carle and Sandra Boynton books.
Whatever you like reading out loud. They dont understand yet. It can be economic theory at that age, really.
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Owl and the Pussycat
Goodnight Moon
Horrid Henry for sure!