A list of 100 children's books to read selected by the Amazon Book Editors.
The 60s kids classic:
A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L’Engle
Recommended Age: 11
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 7-8
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
Inspiring readers for centuries:
The Classic Treasury of Aesop's Fables
by Don Daily
Everyone has bad days:
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst
Recommended Age: 4
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Moving Beyond the Page Age 6-8 Literature Package
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps Kindergarten
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
Go down the rabbit hole:
Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll
Also: Angelicum Academy 1st Grade Good Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
Also: Veritas Press 3rd Grade Literature
Mixed-up housekeeper:
Amelia Bedelia
by Peggy Parish
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Reading Roadmaps 1st Grade
Also: Sonlight Grade 2 Readers
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Veritas Press 1st Grade Literature
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
Modern family:
And Tango Makes Three
by Justin Richardson
A spirited young woman:
Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
The ultimate parenting story:
Are You My Mother?
by P.D. Eastman
Also: Reading Roadmaps Kindergarten
The angst of adolescence:
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
by Judy Blume
A mischevious rabbit:
Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales
by Beatrix Potter
Also: Angelicum Academy Nursery Good Books
Also: Mater Amabilis Kindergarten Book List for Ages 5-6
Best friends:
Betsy-Tacy
by Maud Hart Lovelace
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
For animal lovers:
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell
Also: Angelicum Academy 3rd Grade Good Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner:
Bread and Jam for Frances
by Russell Hoban; illustrated by Lillian Hoban
Recommended Age: 4
Also: Memoria Press Kindergarten Read-Aloud Program
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps 1st Grade
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Veritas Press 1st Grade Literature
Friendship and loss:
Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
Recommended Age: 8
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
Monkey business:
Caps for Sale
by Esphyr Slobodkina
Recommended Age: 4
Also: Before Five in a Row Book List for Ages 3-4
Also: Mater Amabilis Pre-K Book List for Ages 4-5
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps 1st Grade
Also: Veritas Press 1st Grade Literature
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics)
Vintage Roald Dahl:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
by Roald Dahl
Timeless tale:
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
Also: Mater Amabilis Kindergarten Book List for Ages 5-6
Also: Mater Amabilis Level 1B Book List for Ages 6-7
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Moving Beyond the Page Age 7-9
Also: Reading Roadmaps 3rd Grade
Also: Sonlight Level B for Ages 6-8
Also: Veritas Press 3rd Grade Literature
Alphabet fun:
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault; illustrated by Lois Ehlert
Recommended Age: 2
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: What We Read: Trucks and Construction
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
It's raining…food:
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
by Judi Barrett
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
A ghostly story:
Coraline
by Neil Gaiman
The lovable bear:
Corduroy
by Don Freeman
Recommended Age: 4
Also: Before Five in a Row Book List for Ages 3-4
Also: Mater Amabilis Pre-K Book List for Ages 4-5
Also: Memoria Press Junior Kindergarten Read-Aloud Program
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps Kindergarten
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Veritas Press 1st Grade Literature
Gods and goddesses:
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
by Ingri d'Aulaire
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
For reluctant readers:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney
One funny bird:
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
by Mo Willems
Recommended Age: 3
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Seuss classics:
Dr. Seuss's Beginner Book Collection
by Dr. Seuss
A child's first detective story:
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
by Donald J. Sobol
Also: Reading Roadmaps 3rd Grade
Also: Veritas Press 2nd Grade Literature
A story of immigration in the 1930s:
Esperanza Rising
by Pam Munoz Ryan
Museum mystery:
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
by E.L. Konigsburg
Recommended Age: 11
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
Also: Sonlight Level E for Ages 9-12
First published in 1947:
Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown
Recommended Age: 1
Also: Before Five in a Row Book List for Ages 3-4
Also: Mater Amabilis Pre-K Book List for Ages 4-5
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Top 10 Books for Babies
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
Bedtime for the building-obsessed:
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
by Sherri Duskey Rinker
Favorite fairy tales:
Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales
by Jacob Grimm
Also: Veritas Press 3rd Grade Literature
A father's love:
Guess How Much I Love You
by Sam McBratney
Also: Memoria Press Junior Kindergarten Read-Aloud Program
Imagination opens doors:
Harold and the Purple Crayon
by Crockett Johnson
Recommended Age: 3
Also: Five in a Row Book List for Ages 4-8
Also: Moving Beyond the Page Age 4-5 Literature Package
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Top 10 Books for Toddlers
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics)
A budding journalist:
Harriet the Spy
by Louise Fitzhugh
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
Meet the boy wizard:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
by J.K. Rowling
Unusual punishment:
Holes
by Louis Sachar
Recommended Age: 9
Also: Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children's Literature
Also: National Book Award Young People's Literature Winners
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
Alone on an island:
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O’Dell
Recommended Age: 9
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 7-8
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
A game comes to life:
Jumanji
by Chris Van Allsburg
Recommended Age: 9
Also: Caldecott Medal Winners
Also: National Book Award Children's Book Winners
Also: Reading Roadmaps 1st Grade
Childhood on the frontier:
Little House on the Prairie
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Also: Angelicum Academy 2nd Grade Good Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Reading Roadmaps 3rd Grade
Also: Veritas Press 2nd Grade Literature
The March sisters:
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott
Also: Angelicum Academy 4th Grade Good Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 7-8
Rhyming reassurance:
Llama Llama Red Pajama
by Anna Dewdney
Twelve little girls:
Madeline
by Ludwig Bemelmans
Recommended Age: 4
Also: Five in a Row Book List for Ages 4-8
Also: Mater Amabilis Kindergarten Book List for Ages 5-6
Also: Memoria Press Junior Kindergarten Read-Aloud Program
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps 1st Grade
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Veritas Press 1st Grade Literature
Also: What We Read: France
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
A garden of ducks:
Make Way for Ducklings
by Robert McCloskey
Recommended Age: 3
Also: Caldecott Medal Winners
Also: Five in a Row Book List for Ages 4-8
Also: Mater Amabilis Pre-K Book List for Ages 4-5
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: My Father's World Kindergarten Literature Collection
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps 1st Grade
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in Make Way for McCloskey: A Robert McCloskey Treasury)
The boy who runs:
Maniac Magee
by Jerry Spinelli
Recommended Age: 11
Also: Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children's Literature
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
Old-fashioned hard work:
Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel
by Virginia Lee Burton
Recommended Age: 4
Also: Five in a Row Book List for Ages 4-8
Also: Mater Amabilis Pre-K Book List for Ages 4-5
Also: Memoria Press 1st Grade Read-Aloud Program
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps 1st Grade
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: What We Read: Trucks and Construction
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in Mike Mulligan and More)
Performing pets:
Mr. Popper's Penguins
by Richard Atwater
Also: Mater Amabilis Level 1B Book List for Ages 6-7
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Sonlight Level B for Ages 6-8
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Helping your neighbor:
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
by Robert C. O’Brien
Recommended Age: 9
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
Magical cures for bad habits:
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
by Betty MacDonald
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Courage and independence:
My Side of the Mountain
by Jean Craighead George
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
Precocious pig:
Olivia
by Ian Falconer
Recommended Age: 4
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps Kindergarten
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
A blankie turned hankie:
Owen
by Kevin Henkes
Recommended Age: 3
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
A Great Lakes journey:
Paddle-to-the-Sea
by Holling C. Holling
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: What We Read: Canada
First touch and feel book:
Pat the Bunny
by Dorothy Kunhardt
Recommended Age: 1
Also: Top 10 Books for Babies
Never-ending childhood:
Peter Pan
by J.M. Barrie
Also: Veritas Press 3rd Grade Literature
One smart, clever girl:
Pippi Longstocking
by Astrid Lindgren
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Mater Amabilis Level 1B Book List for Ages 6-7
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Reading Roadmaps 3rd Grade
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Reader participation:
Press Here
by Hervé Tullet
Also: New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2011
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
An accidental wish:
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
by William Steig
Recommended Age: 4
Also: Caldecott Medal Winners
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Moving Beyond the Page Age 6-8 Literature Package
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
Wicked good fun:
The Bad Beginning
by Lemony Snicket
Tiny people under the floor:
The Borrowers
by Mary Norton
Also: Mater Amabilis Level 1B Book List for Ages 6-7
Also: Memoria Press 3rd Grade Read-Aloud Program
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
An orphan mystery:
The Boxcar Children
by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Also: Reading Roadmaps 3rd Grade
Also: Sonlight Level A for Ages 5-7
Also: Veritas Press 2nd Grade Literature
Of dogs and men:
The Call Of The Wild
by Jack London
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers
Also: Angelicum Academy 4th Grade Good Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 7-8
A monkey, a man, a yellow hat:
The Complete Adventures of Curious George
by H. A. Rey
Also: Former Sonlight Books
A musical cricket in NYC:
The Cricket in Times Square
by George Selden
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Reading Roadmaps 3rd Grade
Also: Sonlight Level C for Ages 7-9
If crayons could talk:
The Day the Crayons Quit
by Drew Daywalt
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
The power of a story:
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
by William Joyce
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Classic dystopia:
The Giver
by Lois Lowry
Recommended Age: 12
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 7-8
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
A boy, a bear, a honeypot:
The House at Pooh Corner
by A. A. Milne
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Reading Roadmaps 3rd Grade
Visionary illustration:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures
by Brian Selznick
Recommended Age: 10
Also: Caldecott Medal Winners
Famous animal fables:
The Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling
Also: Angelicum Academy 1st Grade Good Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
Monsters, Mythology, and a boy:
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)
by Rick Riordan
Discover Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia)
by C. S. Lewis
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
Also: Veritas Press 3rd Grade Literature
I think I can:
The Little Engine that Could
by Watty Piper
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Reading Roadmaps Kindergarten
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Top 10 Books for Toddlers
Also: Veritas Press 1st Grade Literature
Unique and universal:
The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 7-8
A daring mouse:
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
by Beverly Cleary
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Reading Roadmaps 3rd Grade
Everyday machines:
The New Way Things Work
by David Macaulay
Role reversal:
The Paper Bag Princess
by Robert Munsch
An odd and original journey:
The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Classic nursery rhymes:
The Real Mother Goose
by Blanche Fisher Wright
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Moving Beyond the Page Age 4-5 Literature Package
Also: Our Favorite Mother Goose Collections
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
A hidden wonder:
The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Also: Angelicum Academy 3rd Grade Good Books
Also: Memoria Press 3rd Grade Read-Aloud Program
For children of all ages:
The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew, Book 1)
by Carolyn Keene
A day of exploration:
The Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats
Recommended Age: 2
Also: Before Five in a Row Book List for Ages 3-4
Also: Caldecott Medal Winners
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Top 10 Books for Toddlers
Also: What We Read: Winter and Snow
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
Little elephant, big city:
The Story of Babar: The Little Elephant
by Jean De Brunhoff
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
A gentle bull:
The Story of Ferdinand
by Munro Leaf
Recommended Age: 4
Also: Five in a Row Book List for Ages 4-8
Also: Mater Amabilis Pre-K Book List for Ages 4-5
Also: Memoria Press Kindergarten Read-Aloud Program
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: My Father's World Kindergarten Literature Collection
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps 1st Grade
Also: Reading Roadmaps Kindergarten
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: What We Read: Spain and Portugal
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
A great adventure:
The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
Recommended Age: 8
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
Solving mysteries since 1927:
The Tower Treasure (The Hardy Boys No. 1)
by Franklin W. Dixon
Baby's first book:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
by Eric Carle
Recommended Age: 1
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: Reading Roadmaps Kindergarten
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Top 10 Books for Babies
Civil rights story:
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Witty coming-of-age novel:
The Wednesday Wars
by Gary D. Schmidt
A twisty mystery:
The Westing Game
by Ellen Raskin
Recommended Age: 12
Also: Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children's Literature
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
Mole, Toad, Rat, and Badger:
The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
Also: Angelicum Academy Kindergarten Good Books
Over the rainbow:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
"buccaneers and buried gold":
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Also: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers
Also: Angelicum Academy 3rd Grade Good Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 7-8
The lure of immortality:
Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbit
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 4-6
A tale of family:
Walk Two Moons
by Sharon Creech
Recommended Age: 11
Also: Newbery Medal Winners
Rabbits on a journey:
Watership Down
by Richard Adams
Also: NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books
Fantasy and Folklore:
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
by Grace Lin
Also: Sonlight Level F for Ages 10-13
A boy and his dogs:
Where the Red Fern Grows
by Wilson Rawls
Also: Former Sonlight Books
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades 7-8
The joys of imagination:
Where the Sidewalk Ends
by Shel Silverstein
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Let the wild rumpus start!:
Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak
Recommended Age: 4
Also: Caldecott Medal Winners
Also: Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Grades K-3
Also: New York Public Library’s List of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Also: Sonlight Preschool Book List for Ages 3-4 (in 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury)
Kindness counts:
Wonder
by R. J. Palacio
A list of 100 children’s books to read selected by the Amazon Book Editors.