Lara's Wanderings

On my blog, I recently have been reviewing fiction books that are enjoyable for middle school through high school. I venture into books for younger and older groups when I review classics and even nonfiction, but I haven’t spent much time reviewing books for the youngest children. I have been wanting to write this post for a while so that I could review all the beautiful board books and read-out-louds my very young children have enjoyed.

What particial started me thinking about this post is a research project I have been doing on fairy tales. Much of my own writing is directly influenced by fairy tales. For much or history, the oral tradition of folklore was the primary source of story for young children. I have read much academic literature that claim that children were not treated as children, but this is nonsense. It all depends on what ages you want to extend childhood to. Young children have always been tenderly cared for and entertained with toys and stories just like today. The unique feature, though, about children’s literature was that it was not written down until recently.

Now, you must understand that when I say recently, I am a huge proponent of classic literature as old as the Greek epics. When researching children’s literature, books that are to be read by children only start being widely made in the middle of the 1700s. Many of these were fairy tales which I will deal with in a different post. Most of the classic children’s pictures that will be on this list will be from the 1900s or more recent.

There are, of course, more great books out there than what is on my list, but if I was to choose 20 books or series of books for brand new parents from the books I am familiar with, these would be it.

1. Eric Carlie Books: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You Hear, and Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You See
2. The Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle and illustrated by Jill McElmurry
3. Winnie the Pooh and the House on Pooh Corner by Milie
4. The Peter Rabbit Series by Beatrix Potter
5. The Bernstein Bear Series
6. The Bear Snores On by karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
7. Caps for Sale by Esphr Slobodkina
8. See and Say: Creation Story, Baby Jesus, Lost Sheep, and Noah’s Ark
9. Dear Zoo byRod Campbell
10. Go Dog Go
11. The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen and illustrated by Fan Hanna
12. Steam Train, Dream Train by sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld
13. Frog and Toad are Friends Series
14. The Three Little Pigs
15. When There is a Bear, There’s Honey
16. We’re Going On A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
17. Iza Trapani Books: Row, Row Row Your Boat; Baa, Baa Black Sheep; I’m a Little Teapot; TwinkleTwinkle Little Star; The Itsy Bitsy Spider
18. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jackson Keats
19. So Say the Little Monkeys by Nancy Van Laan and Illustrated by Yumi Heo
20. Toot and Puddle Books

There are so many really good children’s books for very young children, but these are my favorite of the ones I have encountered so far. I will be doing some reviews on slightly longer chapter books not listed here such as Charlotte’s Web, but I most likely will wait to do cover future picture books in another list. So, if there is a picture book I missed that really ought to have been on my list, please let me know in the comments below!