10 Timeless Children’s Classics

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. and Lois Ehlert
The consummate sing-song alphabet standby. With alphabet letters doing silly things, big colorful pictures, and physical actions kids can mimic, this book is a crowd pleaser. If kids haven’t already met the book in preschool, or at storytime, they will for sure become familiar with it in kindergarten. There’s also a sequel about numbers, for readers who are overflowing with Chicka Chicka love love.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
It doesn’t matter if it’s a Brown Bear, a Polar Bear, a Panda Bear or a Baby Bear, little kids go crackers for these books. I have sat in many a circle time watching kids yell and guess and cheer with each page. Bring home any or all of them, and you’ll be seeing that kind of excitement with every reread.

Goodnight Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann
This adorable board book features a gorilla with sticky fingers who does not want to go to sleep. So when the zookeeper says goodnight to all of the animals, our trouble-making monkey is tiptoeing right behind him (with the zookeeper’s key ring) and letting out all his friends. A funny bedtime read perfect for tucking in your wild animals.

Frog and Toad Are Friends, by Arnold Lobel
These guys are the Oscar and Felix of the children’s book world. Frog—the greener of the two—is tall, friendly, relaxed. Toad is squatty, anxious, and serious—and they both wear some pretty fly pants. While the pairing of a grouch with a free spirit is nothing new, the deep, caring relationship between these two will warm your heart. See why this was named one of the Top 100 Picture Books of all time in a School Library Journal poll.

Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan
This first in a series of five novels is the perfect way to introduce your child to the Witting family. In this 19th century–set tale, Anna and Caleb lost their mother when Caleb was just a baby, and now Papa seeks a wife to help him care for the farm and the children. Sarah, who is plain and tall (and sings!), arrives for a month to visit with the family. The children deal with loss, abandonment, and love as Sarah helps them rediscover the importance of family.

Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White
You simply can’t create a list of classic children’s books without including this one. Right from the very first pages, when Fern saves Wilbur from her father’s axe, you know the two are going to have something special. And then there’s Charlotte the kindly spider, Templeton the cranky rat, and the other barn animals who join together to not only save Wilbur from slaughter, but encourage him as he grows into Zuckerman Farm’s prize pig. Never mind that the reader will sob their way through the ending; this book remains one of the most beloved and bestselling children’s paperbacks of all time.

Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
A 2001 Newbery Honor book, this is a story for anyone who has ever loved a rescued animal. Opal is lonely after her mother abandons the family, and her father, the Preacher, resettles them in a trailer park in Florida. Lonely, that is, until the day a dog wrecks a grocery store and Opal decides to adopt him as her own. She names the dog Winn-Dixie (after the store, of course), and Winn-Dixie becomes Opal’s constant companion. But this is not just Opal’s story. It’s also that of Franny Block, a librarian with a sad family history. And Amanda, whose nastiness is hiding a family tragedy. It’s also the story of recovering alcoholic Gloria Dump, and the Preacher. Through Winn-Dixie, Opal discovers everyone has a story, and that by telling those stories, we learn from one another.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E. L. Konigsburg
This one is an absolute classic. Claudia, like many young girls, is trying to learn more about who she is. In an act of rebellion, she runs away with her younger brother Jamie and hides in New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. But when she comes across a mystery, she learns a lot more about herself than she bargained for. This one is a lovely story that will take your children on a journey to unusual places, where they’ll meet unusual, unforgettable people.

The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes
Bullying is something too many of us have experienced, and in The Hundred Dresses, young girls get an up close look at characters experiencing it, characters doling it out, and characters who are caught in the crossfire. A girl named Wanda is teased because she wears the same faded dress to school every day, despite telling her classmates she has a hundred beautiful dresses at home. One girl named Peggy begins to tease her daily, and Peggy’s best friend, Maddie, joins in, even though she knows it’s not right. The story is full of compassion and love and can help any child experiencing bullying and teasing, no matter what side of it she’s on.

Matilda, by Roald Dahl
Matilda is brilliant, but her genius has gone unnoticed by her self-centered, disinterested parents. It’s actually her teacher, Miss Honey, at Crunchem Hall Primary School who notices her prodigious talent. A warm and nurturing soul, Miss Honey has “that rare gift for being adored by every small child under her care”—a wonderful characteristic many kids might attribute to their own favorite teachers. Miss Honey encourages, supports, and believes in Matilda, despite her being turned down for advanced placement by the school’s horrid Headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. But after Miss Trunchbull goes after Matilda’s beloved teacher, the gifted little girl decides to use the psychic powers she has learned to tap into to seek revenge against Miss Trunchbull and her boorish parents once and for all.