Bannockburn Nursery School

by Ayesha Court

As a children’s book reviewer, I’m often asked for my favorite children’s books but I have so many favorites, choosing ten is quite difficult. As I think everyone already knows how wonderful all the writings of A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh), Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) and Dr. Seuss (One Fish, Two Fish) are, I tried to go beyond them to books equally as good but perhaps not as well known.

1.) Mr. Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham

The perfect read-aloud book. The tension as Mr. Gumpy’s boat fills up with animals and children who really shouldn’t be in close quarters with one another, keeps little eyes riveted. The opportunity to create bizarre voices to match Burningham’s uniquely odd drawing style adds to the fun. And when it all goes wrong—note the cat struggling desperately to walk on water—listeners can’t help but cry out, “I told you so!” to Mr. Gumpy. (Luckily, he doesn’t listen – and takes the same motley crew out again in Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car. You can’t go wrong with John Burningham’s picture books.)

2.) Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

This is a book to read over and over. Johnson’s sly language jokes throughout this tale of Harold and his walk in the moonlight are absorbed as if by osmosis. An ode to creative, and fearless, thinking, Harold can do anything he wants because he “keeps his wits, and his purple crayon.”

3.) Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illus. Clement Hurd

This is an excellent first book for young ones to sit and page through with a reader and on their own. The gentle rhyming text soothes and the pictures have enough going on in them to merit close examination over and over. Brown and Hurd collaborated on two other classic preschool books -- The Runaway Bunny and My World -- that can be found with Moon in Over the Moon: A Collection of First Books. (And spot that runaway bunny in Goodnight Moon!)

4.) The Complete Adventures of Curious George by H.A. and Margaret Rey

The original is often the best and when it comes to Curious George, this is especially true. This is the complete collection of the original works by husband and wife team, H.A. and Margaret Rey, which includes each of the original stories of the irrepressible monkey from Africa. Skip recent books made from the TV show – the language and themes pale in comparison.

5.) The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Carle’s books are used in schools to lay the groundwork for literacy not just because they provide an enjoyably predictable sequence—in Caterpillar, the days of the week and counting—but also because his art invites children to touch it and his simple language draws kids in and invites them to repeat the words themselves. It’s difficult to choose just one Eric Carle book, but this tale of a caterpillar with a big appetite edges out The Very Busy Spider (barely!) because of the holes perfect for little fingers.

6.) Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

“In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.” Who isn’t charmed by Madeline? She’s fearless and mischievous and lives in a fairy-tale world to most modern American children. Bemelmans’ rhyming verse pairs effortlessly with his art depicting famous Paris locales. Find all six of the original series in Mad About Madeline: The Complete Tales.

7.) The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

This wordless picture book is drawn in comic book format, but it is much more than a comic. After a young boy carefully makes a huge snowman all day, he can’t bear to leave it. Getting up in the middle of the night to check on it, the snowman introduces himself and is invited in to explore the boy’s room, the kitchen and even his sleeping parents. He returns the favor, flying the boy to the land he came from. A remarkable animated film of the book, also wordless, is available on DVD.

8.) Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág

The oldest American picture book still in print (firs published in1928) Gag’s rhythmic, hand-lettered prose hasn’t aged a bit.  When a lonely elderly couple decide to get a cat, the husband travels to a far-off hillside covered in “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats” and, much to the dismay of his wife, they all follow him home. Unable to decide among them—while the cats are ravaging the countryside to eat and drink—the cats are asked to determine which is the prettiest. When the fur settles, only a scrawny little kitten who hadn’t thought she was pretty is left. She soon becomes sleek and beautiful and a much-loved companion.

9.) Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

If your children aren’t monkeying around enough, this book will cure that. Caps is a funny-- and potentially loud -- tale of a hat peddler who walks around with all his wares stacked up, up, up on his head, until, that is, he takes a fateful nap under a tree filled with monkeys who love to imitate.

10.) The Little Train by Lois Lenski

Both of my children have loved this book to bits, literally. The simple story of Engineer Small taking his engine on a trip from Tinytown to Union Station introduces young children to the magical world of trains in simple language and pictures that entrance. We usually read this with Lenski’s The Little Fire Engine but you can’t go wrong with any of Lenski’s many, many books. 

Beyond the top 10:

• Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathman 
• The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, illus. Clement Hurd 
• Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, and Ten Apples Up on Top all by Dr. Seuss
• When We Were Very Young, Now We Are Six, and The House at Pooh Corner all by A.A. Milne
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Chicka, Chicka, 1,2,3 by Bill Martin, Jr.
• In the Night Kitchen, Chicken Soup with Rice, and Pierre by Maurice Sendak
• Busy, Busy Town by Richard Scarry
• Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
• Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
• We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury
• Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• Zoology and Almost Everything by Joëlle Jolivet

About the author: Ayesha Court is a current Bannockburn Nursery School parent and was the Life Editor for USATODAY.com. She also covered book publishing and children's books for USA TODAY until she left to have her first child. Now she focuses on writing her own children's literature blog and novels for children and adults.