Recommended Reading for the Whole Fam

Ready to raise a reader? It's simple – crack open the spine on a few tried-and-true favorites. Below, we've recommended our favorite vibrant books for every age and level around. From award winners to cult classics, here's our list of essential reading for the young – and young at heart! Links go to Goodreads, the publisher, or the author’s own site. We don’t earn anything from referrals, we just want to share good things!

Board books: Newborn to age 3

• The Lion & the MouseJerry Pinkney
• Mouse PaintEllen Stoll Walsh
• The Very Hungry CaterpillarEric Carle
• Mr Brown can moo! Can you?Dr. Seuss
• My First Winnie-the-PoohA. A. Milne
• Everywhere babiesSusan Meyers
• Chicka chicka boom boomBill Martin Jr., John Archambault
• Goodnight MoonMargaret Wise Brown
• Where's Spot?Eric Hill
• Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!Mo Willems
• Good night, GorillaPeggy Rathmann, Ma. Francisca Mayobre
• Press HereHervé Tullet
• The mittenJan Brett
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit Story Board Book (World of Peter Rabbit)Beatrix Potter
• Full, Full, Full of LoveTrish Cooke
• MadelineLudwig Bemelmans

Picture books: Ages 3–5

• CorduroyDon Freeman
• If You Give a Mouse a CookieLaura Joffe Numeroff
• The Day the Crayons QuitDrew Daywalt
• Oh, the places you'll go!Dr. Seuss
• Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Special Edition, 1 Jan 1967) HardcoverMaurice Sendak
• The Book with No PicturesB. J. Novak
• Knots on a counting ropeBill Martin Jr., John Archambault
• The day Jimmy's boa ate the washTrinka Hakes Noble, Steven Kellogg
• "Could Be Worse!"James Stevenson, James Stevenson
• Imogene's antlersDavid Small
• SquareMac Barnett
• The purple coatAmy Hest
• Extra yarnMac Barnett

Early reader chapter books: Ages 6–10

• The Milly-Molly-Mandy StorybookJoyce Lankester Brisley
• Amelia Bedelia Chapter Book Box SetHerman Parish, Lynne Avril
• Geronimo StiltonElisabetta Dami, Atlantyca
• Magic Tree House Boxed Set 1, Books 1-4Mary Pope Osborne
• The Boxcar Children Books 1-4Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The adventures of Pippi LongstockingAstrid Lindgren
• E. B. White Box SetE. B. White
• Little House (9 Books, Boxed Set)Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Frog and Toad Collection Box Set (I Can Read Book 2)Arnold Lobel
• Lighthouse Family Paperback CollectionCynthia Rylant

Classics

• Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter
• Betsy-TacyMaud Hart Lovelace, Lois Lenski
• Black BeautyAnna Sewell
• Bread and jam for FrancesRussell Hoban
• Bridge to TerabithiaKatherine Paterson
• Caps for saleSlobodkina, Esphyr, Esphyr Slobodkina
• Charlie and the Chocolate FactoryRoald Dahl
• Cloudy with a chance of meatballsJudi Barrett
• CoralineNeil Gaiman
• A Wrinkle in TimeMadeleine L'Engle
• The Classic Treasury of Aesop's FablesDon Daily
• Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad dayJudith Viorst, Ray Cruz
• Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking GlassLewis Carroll
• And Tango Makes ThreeJustin Richardson, Peter Parnell
• Are you my mother?P. D. Eastman

Caldecott Medal Winners

• Owl moonJane Yolen
• No, David!David Shannon, Teresa Mlawer
• Alma and how she got her nameJuana Martinez-Neal
• A big mooncake for little starGrace Lin
• Stone soupMarcia Brown
• A Sick Day for Amos McGeePhilip C. Stead, Erin E. Stead
• Flora and the FlamingoMolly Schaar Idle
• The Adventures of BeekleDan Santat
• The Relatives CameCynthia Rylant
• Henry's freedom boxEllen Levine, Kadir Nelson
• OwenKevin Henkes
• A chair for my motherVera B. Williams, Susan Rybin
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble With CD AudioWilliam Steig
• Wolf in the SnowMatthew Cordell
• Sleep like a tigerMary Logue
• TuesdayDavid Wiesner
• The Man Who Walked Between the TowersMordicai Gerstein
• The Noisy Paint BoxBarb Rosenstock, Mary Grandpre (illustrator)
• McElligot's Pool (Classic Seuss)Dr. Seuss
• One morning in MaineRobert McCloskey
• The red bookBarbara Lehman
• Snowflake BentleyJacqueline Briggs Martin
• When I Was Young in the Mountains (Reading Rainbow Books)Cynthia Rylant
• They All Saw a CatBrendan Wenzel
• Thank you, Omu!Oge Mora
• Hello lighthouseSophie Blackall
• Me JanePatrick McDonnell
• JourneyAaron Becker

Newbery Medal Winners

• Doctor De SotoWilliam Steig
• Dear Mr. HenshawBeverly Cleary
• Millions of CatsWanda Gág
• Pecos BillSteven Kellogg
• Charlotte's WebE. B. White
• A visit to William Blake's innNancy Willard, Alice Provensen
• Show wayJacqueline Woodson
• Annie and the Old One.Miska Miles
• The secret riverMarjorie Kinnan Rawlings
• The ABC bunnyWanda Gág
• All AloneKevin Henkes
• Zlateh the goat and other storiesIsaac Bashevis Singer
• The Hundred DressesEleanor Estes, Louis Slobodkin
• The Cricket in Times Square (Chester Cricket and His Friends)George Selden
• The bears on Hemlock MountainAlice Dalgliesh
• Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the NightJoyce Sidman
• The Hundred Penny BoxSharon Bell Mathis
• A Day On SkatesHilda van Stockhum, Hilda Van Stockum
• Sarah Plain Tall Saga Book
• Like Jake and MeMavis Jukes

Coretta Scott King Award Winners

• FirebirdMisty Copeland
• The stuff of starsMarion Bauer
• MosesCarole Boston Weatherford
• The talking eggsRobert D. San Souci
• Mufaro's Beautiful DaughtersJohn Steptoe
• Knock Knock : My dad's dream for meDaniel Beaty
• Dave, the potterLaban Carrick Hill
• Thunder RoseJerdine Nolen
• Before She was Harriet (Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books)Lesa Cline-Ransome, James E. Ransome
• The patchwork quiltValerie Flournoy
• My Rows and Piles of CoinsTololwa M. Mollel
• Freedom in Congo SquareCarole Boston Weatherford, R. Gregory Christie
• Sukey and the Mermaid (Aladdin Picture Books)Robert D. San Souci
• When I Am Old With YouAngela Johnson
• Just Us WomenJeannette Caines
• Mirandy and Brother WindPatricia McKissack
• Ellington Was Not a Street
• The bat boy & his violinGavin Curtis
• The ShrikerJanet Lee Carey
• I Have a Sister–My Sister Is Deaf (Reading Rainbow Book)Jeanne Whitehouse Peterson
• God bless the childBillie Holiday
• Finding LangstonLesa Cline-Ransome, Dion Graham
• Words with wingsNikki Grimes
• Josephine, The Dazzling Life of Josephine BakerPatricia Hruby Powell, Patricia Hruby Powell
• One Crazy SummerRita Williams-Garcia