In 2010 librarians from the New York Public Library compiled this list of what they considered to be the very best children's books for toddlers through sixth graders.
Art and Max
by David Wiesner
Category: Picture Books
A Beach Tail
by Karen Lynn Williams
Category: Picture Books
Big Red Lollipop
by Rukhsana Khan
Category: Picture Books
Big Rig Bugs
by Kurt Cyrus
Category: Picture Books
Chalk
by Bill Thomson
Category: Picture Books
Children Make Terrible Pets
by Peter Brown
Category: Picture Books
City Dog, Country Frog
by Mo Willems
Category: Picture Books
Clever Jack Takes the Cake
by Candace Fleming
Category: Picture Books
Cooking With Henry and Elliebelly
by Carolyn Parkhurst
Category: Picture Books
Eight Days: A Story of Haiti
by Edwidge Danticat
Category: Picture Books
Flora's Very Windy Day
by Jeanne Birdsall
Category: Picture Books
Goal!
by Mina Javaherbin
Category: Picture Books
Here Comes the Garbage Barge!
by Jonah Winter
Category: Picture Books
Interrupting Chicken
by David Ezra Stein
Category: Picture Books
Also: Cybils Award Winners
Lucky Beans
by Becky Birtha
Category: Picture Books
Mimi’s Dada Catifesto
by Shelley Jackson
Category: Picture Books
Mirror
by Jeannie Baker
Category: Picture Books
Also: What We Read: North Africa (Egypt and Morocco)
Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World)
by Mac Barnett
Category: Picture Books
Pecan Pie Baby
by Jacqueline Woodson
Category: Picture Books
A Pig Parade Is a Terrible Idea
by Michael Ian Black
Category: Picture Books
The Quiet Book
by Deborah Underwood
Category: Picture Books
A Sick Day for Amos McGee
by Philip C. Stead, Illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Recommended Age: 4
Category: Picture Books
Also: Caldecott Medal Winners
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Sneaky Sheep
by Chris Monroe
Category: Picture Books
Subway
by Christoph Niemann
Category: Picture Books
Wanted: The Perfect Pet
by Fiona Roberton
Category: Picture Books
Dust Devil
by Anne Isaacs
Category: Folktales and Fairy Tales
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
by Emma Chichester Clark
Category: Folktales and Fairy Tales
Joha Makes a Wish: A Middle Eastern Tale
adapted by Eric A. Kimmel
Category: Folktales and Fairy Tales
Once Upon a Time: Traditional Latin America Tales
by Rueben Martinez
Category: Folktales and Fairy Tales
Pea Boy and Other Stories from Iran
by Elizabeth Laird
Category: Folktales and Fairy Tales
Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes
by Salley Mavor
Category: Folktales and Fairy Tales
The Carnival of the Animals
New verses by Jack Prelutsky
Category: Poetry and Song
GUYKU: A Year of Haiku for Boys
by Bob Raczka
Category: Poetry and Song
In the Wild
by David Elliott
Category: Poetry and Song
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse
by Marilyn Singer
Category: Poetry and Song
Nest, Nook and Cranny
by Susan Blackaby
Category: Poetry and Song
Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems
selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Category: Poetry and Song
Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors
by Joyce Sidman
Category: Poetry and Song
Anna Hibiscus
by Atinuke
Category: Stories for Younger Readers
Animal Rescue Team: Gator on the Loose!
by Sue Stauffacher
Category: Stories for Younger Readers
Bink and Gollie
by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee
Category: Stories for Younger Readers
Cloud Tea Monkeys
by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham
Category: Stories for Younger Readers
Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs
by Ursula Vernon
Category: Stories for Younger Readers
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!
by Grace Lin
Category: Stories for Younger Readers
The PS Brothers
by Maribeth Boelts
Category: Stories for Younger Readers
The Adventures of Nanny Piggins
by R.A. Spratt
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Boom! (or 70,000 light years)
by Mark Haddon
Category: Stories for Older Readers
The Crowfield Curse
by Pat Walsh
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Crunch
by Leslie Connor
Category: Stories for Older Readers
The Dreamer
by Pam Munoz Ryan
Category: Stories for Older Readers
The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester
by Barbara O’Connor
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Heart of a Samurai
by Margi Preus
Category: Stories for Older Readers
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book 1: The Mysterious Howling
by Maryrose Wood
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Keeper
by Kathi Appelt
Category: Stories for Older Readers
A Long Walk to Water
by Linda Sue Park
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Also: Sonlight Level F for Ages 10-13
Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze
by Alan Silberberg
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Mockingbird
by Kathryn Erskine
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Also: National Book Award Young People's Literature Winners
A Nest for Celeste
by Henry Cole
Category: Stories for Older Readers
The Night Fairy
by Laura Amy Schlitz
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Ninth Ward
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Category: Stories for Older Readers
One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Also: Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners
Out of My Mind
by Sharon M. Draper
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Also: TIME: The 100 Best Children's Books of All Time
Palace Beautiful
by Sarah DeFord Williams
Category: Stories for Older Readers
The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang
by Amy Ignatow
Category: Stories for Older Readers
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
By Tom Angleberger
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Also: Cybils Award Winners
A Tale Dark and Grimm
by Adam Gidwitz
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Thomas and the Dragon Queen
by Shutta Crum
Category: Stories for Older Readers
The Water Seeker
by Kimberly Willis Holt
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Where the Streets Had a Name
by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Windblowne
by Stephen Messer
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Zora and Me
by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
Category: Stories for Older Readers
Binky to the Rescue
by Ashley Spires
Category: Graphic Books
Ghostopolis
by Doug TenNapel
Category: Graphic Books
Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye 1: Hamster and Cheese
by Colleen AF Venable
Category: Graphic Books
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword
by Barry Deutsch
Category: Graphic Books
Smile
by Raina Telgemeier
Category: Graphic Books
Thunder from the Sea: Adventure On Board the HMS Defender
by Jeff Weigel
Category: Graphic Books
Zeus: King of the Gods
by George O’Connor
Category: Graphic Books
Ballet for Martha
by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Category: Nonfiction
Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World
by Lita Judge
Category: Nonfiction
The Chiru of High Tibet
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Category: Nonfiction
Clemente!
by Willie Perdomo
Category: Nonfiction
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
by Laban Carrick Hill
Category: Nonfiction
Natural and Man-Made Catastrophes Through the Centuries
by Brenda Z. Guiberson
Category: Nonfiction
The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)
by Barbara Kerley
Category: Nonfiction
Fearless: The Story of Racing Legend Louise Smith
by Barb Rosenstock
Category: Nonfiction
How the Sphinx got to the Museum
by Jessie Hartland
Category: Nonfiction
Also: What We Read: North Africa (Egypt and Morocco)
How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships
by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Category: Nonfiction
Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow
by Gary Golio
Category: Nonfiction
Just One Bite: 11 Animals and Their Bites at Life Size!
by Lola Schaefer
Category: Nonfiction
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot
by Sy Montgomery
Category: Nonfiction
Kubla Khan: The Emperor of Everything
by Kathleen Krull
Category: Nonfiction
Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum
by Meghan McCarthy
Category: Nonfiction
Project Seahorse
by Pamela S. Turner
Category: Nonfiction
She Sang Promise: The Story of Betty Mae Jumper, Seminole Tribal Leader
by Jan Godown Annino
Category: Nonfiction
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
by Andrea Pinkney
Category: Nonfiction
Sparky: The Life and Art of Charles Schulz
by Beverly Gherman
Category: Nonfiction
Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook
by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter
Category: Nonfiction
The War to End All Wars: World War I
by Russell Freedman
Category: Nonfiction
What in the Wild? Mysteries of Nature Concealed...and Revealed
by David M. Schwartz and Yael Schy
Category: Nonfiction