100 Books Every Child Should Read

The 100 titles below have been selected from classic and popular children’s book titles. Some are fiction, and some cover nonfiction subjects.

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Author – Title

• • Asch, Frank – Happy Birthday, Moon
  • Bang, Molly – Ten, Nine, Eight
  • Barrett, Judi – Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing
  • Barton, Byron – The Three Bears
  • Bauer, Marion – If You Were Born a Kitten
  • Bemelmans, Ludwig – Madeline
  • Beskow, Elsa – Pelle’s New Suit
  • Boynton, Sandra – Moo Baa La La La
  • Brett, Jan – The Mitten
  • Brown, Marcia – Stone Soup
  • Brown, Margaret Wise – Goodnight Moon
  • Brunhoff, Jean de – The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant
  • Burningham, John – Gumpy’s Outing
  • Burton, Virginia Lee – The Little House
  • Burton, Virginia Lee – Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
  • Campbell, Rod – Dear Zoo
  • Cannon, Janell – Stellaluna
  • Carle, Eric – The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  • Crews, Donald – Freight Train
  • Cronin, Doreen – Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type
  • Daywalt, Drew – The Day the Crayons Quit
  • Degen, Bruce – Jamberry
  • DePaola, Tomie – Pancakes for Breakfast
  • Dorros, Arthur – Abuela
  • Eastman, P. D. – Are You My Mother?
  • Ehlert, Lois – Growing Vegetable Soup
  • Emberley, Ed – Go Away, Big Green Monster!
  • Falconer, Ian – Olivia
  • Feiffer, Jules – Bark, George
  • Flack, Marjorie – Ask Mr. Bear
  • Flack, Marjorie – Story about Ping
  • Fleming, Denise – Go, Shapes, Go
  • Freeman, Don – Corduroy
  • Gag, Wanda – Millions of Cats
  • Goble, Paul – The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
  • Guarina, Deborah – Is Your Mama a Llama?
  • Henkes, Kevin – Kitten’s First Full Moon
  • Henkes, Kevin – Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
  • Ho, Minfong – Hush!: A Thai Lullaby
  • Hoban, Russell – Bread and Jam for Frances
  • Hoban, Tana – Is it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue? An Adventure in Color
  • Hoffman, Mary – Amazing Grace
  • Holabird, Katherine – Angelina Ballerina
  • Hutchins, Pat – Rosie’s Walk
  • Isadora, Rachel – Say Hello!
  • Jenkins, Steve – What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
  • Johnson, Crockett – Harold and the Purple Crayon
  • Kasza, Keiko – The Wolf’s Chicken Stew
  • Keats, Ezra Jack – The Snowy Day
  • Kennedy, Jimmy – The Teddy Bears’ Picnic
  • Kent, Jack – The Caterpillar and the Polliwog
  • Kimmel, Eric – I Took My Frog to the Library
  • Klassen, Jon – I Want My Hat Back
  • Kraus, Robert – Whose Mouse are You?
  • Krauss, Ruth – The Carrot Seed
  • Leaf, Munro – The Story of Ferdinand
  • Lester, Julius – John Henry
  • Lionni, Leo – Little Blue and Little Yellow
  • Lobel, Anita – On Market Street
  • Lobel, Arnold – Frog and Toad
  • London, Jonathan – Froggy Gets Dressed
  • Marshall, James – George and Martha
  • Martin, Bill – Brown Bear, Brown Bear
  • Martin, Bill – Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom
  • Martin, Jacqueline Briggs – Snowflake Bentley
  • Mayer, Mercer – Frog Goes to Dinner
  • Mayer, Mercer – There’s a Nightmare in My Closet
  • McBratney, Sam – Guess How Much I Love You
  • McCloskey, Robert – Blueberries for Sal
  • McDermott, Gerald – Raven
  • McFarland, Lyn – Widget
  • McKissack, Patricia – Flossie and the Fox
  • McLimans, David – Gone Wild : An Endangered Alphabet
  • McPhail, David – Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore!
  • Meddaugh, Susan – Martha Speaks
  • McMullan, Kate – I Stink!
  • Miller, Margaret – Whose Hat?
  • Mother Goose: (choose one)
    • Sylvia Long’s Mother Goose
    • The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Wright
    • My First Mother Goose by Iona Opie and Rosemary Wells
  • Munsch, Robert – Love You Forever
  • Noble, Trinka – The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash
  • Numeroff, Laura – If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
  • Parish, Peggy – Amelia Bedelia
  • Penn, Audrey – The Kissing Hand
  • Pfister, Marcus – The Rainbow Fish
  • Pinkney, Jerry – The Lion and the Mouse
  • Piper, Watty – The Little Engine that Could
  • Portis, Antoinette – Not a Box
  • Potter, Beatrix – The Tale of Peter Rabbit
  • Rathmann, Peggy – Good Night, Gorilla
  • Rey, H. A. – Curious George
  • Rinker, Sherri Duskey – Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
  • Rohman, Eric – My Friend Rabbit
  • Rosen, Michael – We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
  • Rylant, Cynthia – The Relatives Came
  • Scarry, Richard – Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
  • Seeger, Laura Vacaro – First the Egg
  • Sendak, Maurice – Where the Wild Things Are
  • Seuss, Dr. – Green Eggs and Ham
  • Shannon, George – Bad Case of Stripes
  • Shaw, Charles – It Looked Like Spilt Milk
  • Simmons, Jane – Come Along Daisy
  • Simont, Marc – The Stray Dog
  • Sis, Peter – Madlenka
  • Slobodkina, Esphyr – Caps for Sale
  • Steig, William – Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
  • Taback, Simms – There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
  • Taback, Simms – Joseph Had A Little Overcoat
  • Tulet, Herve – Press Here
  • Van Allsburg, Chris – Jumanji
  • Viorst, Judith – Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
  • Waber, Bernard – Lyle Lyle Crocodile
  • Waddell, Martin – Owl Babies
  • Walsh, Ellen – Mouse Paint
  • Walter, Virginia – “Hi, Pizza Man!”
  • Wells, Rosemary – Noisy Nora
  • Wiesner, David – Flotsam
  • Willems, Mo – Knuffle Bunny
  • Wilson, Karma – Bear Snores On
  • Wong, Janet – Buzz
  • Wood, Audrey – Silly Sally
  • Yolen, Jane – How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
  • Yolen, Jane – Owl Moon
  • Yorinks, Arthur – Hey, Al
  • Young, Ed – Seven Blind Mice
  • Ziefert, Harriet – A New Coat for Anna
  • Zimmerman, Andrea – Trashy Town
  • Zion, Gene – Harry, the Dirty Dog

List updated 01/25/2020.