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Top 30 Baby Books

•1. Anderson Halperin, Wendy. Love is…. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2001. Picture book. Designed for all ages.

The words from this book are adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. I love this book because it’s all about love and loving no matter what happens in your life. The words are few, and the pictures speak for themselves. Each page is illustrated with pencil and watercolor, with about 11 little pictures that tell a story about people loving on each page.  

•2. Buehner, Caralyn, and Mark Buehner, illustrator. I did it, I’m Sorry. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1998. Picture book. Ages 2 to 5.

This illustrated book with pictures made of oils and acrylics by husband of the author, Mark Buehner, is again, a really different book compared to the rest in the books on my list. The characters are animals like beavers, hoggs, flamingos, and polar bears that experience moral dilemmas such as “virtues of honesty, thoughtfulness, and trustworthiness.” Each page presents each animal’s dilemma and then three answers. The reader is encouraged to choose the right answer.

•3. Bunyan, John. Pilgrim Progress. Moody Press, 1964. Novel. Ages 12 to 16.

This novel tells adventurous story of a pilgrim named Christian who leaves his family to journey to the Celestial City. He faces a spiritual battlefield, alone to choose the right paths that will lead him in the right direction to the Celestial City. He struggles with physical and mind “obstacles” along the way. This is a classic novel that I strongly suggest for classroom use and discussion for young readers.

•4. Chambers, Aidan. The Present Takers. W.W. Norton & Company, 2005. Children’s novel. Ages 8 to 12.

This novel touches on the issue of how children can become abusive. This story is “based on the actual events in the life of a friend’s daughter who was being bullied at school.”  

•5. Crews, Nina. The Neighborhood Mother Goose. Greenwillow Books, 2004. Photography picture book. Ages 3 to age 6.

This book is a compilation of the popular and not as well known nursery rhymes, lullabies, and poetry for children. It is illustrated by full color photography, edited with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. The illustrations are of a city setting, designed to enhance each of the nursery rhymes.  

•6. Estes, Eleanor, and Louis Slobodkin, illustrator. The Hundred Dresses. Harcourt Children’s Books, 2004. Chapter book. Ages 6 to 10.

This story is about a Polish girl, Wanda, who claims to have a hundred dresses, all different styles and colors. Yet, she wears the same blue dress to school everyday. The other girls tease and ask her questions about her hundred dresses. Wanda doesn’t seem to be phased; she continues with her story of a hundred dresses and still only wears her faded blue dress. She wins a class drawing award after she has moved away, and the rest of her classmates learn a lot about Wanda. This is a great story for teaching a moral lesson.

•7.  Heap, Sue. Cowboy Baby. Candlewick Press, 1998. Picture book. Ages 2 to 4.

This book is another bright and colorful one, with illustrations done with acrylic and watercolor, by the author. This book is useful for helping children learn they need to go to bed. Sheriff Pa comes up with a plan to get Cowboy Baby and his pals to go to bed.  

•8. Hindley, Judy, and Brita Granstrom, illustrator. Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes. Candlewick Press,1999. Picture Book. Ages 2 to 5.

Illustrated by Brita Granstrom, this bright and colorful book is all about toddlers learning all the different things they can do with their eyes, nose, fingers, and toes. I really like this book and think the large font and colorful pages, along with the readers interaction makes for a really fun time. This book was different than most because all the backgrounds to the illustrations look like kids drawings out of crayon or chalk and the kids are done with sharp edges and more detail.

•9. Hoban, Tana. Colors Everywhere. Greenwillow Books, 1995. Wordless picture book. Ages 3 to 6.  

The pictures in this book are photographs, which have also been displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The idea of this book is for children to see all the colors around us and see them in new ways. Hoban wants everyone who looks at this book to obtain "awareness and vision." The world will never be seen the same.

•10. Katz, Karen. Counting Kisses. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2002. Picture book. Infant to age 4. One of the Classic Board Books Series.

This “kiss and read” book is so fun for mommies, children, and the whole family! It is a countdown of kisses to help bring a peaceful goodnight to the baby. The mommy starts by kissing ten kisses on the baby’s toes, then sister, grandma and daddy each kiss something on baby, such as baby’s dimples, and chin, and the family cat even licks “three fuzzy kisses on sweet little ears.” This story is so cute and would be awesome to read to an infant with the whole family involved. What a great way to unite a family.

•11. Krumgold, Jospeh. Onion John. John Newberry Medal. Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1959. Chapter book. Ages 9 to 12.

This story is about a boy named Andy, whose best friend is Onion John. Onion John eats onions like anyone would eat an apple. Their peers try to change Onion John and everyone close to him in his life. This book shows a boy growing up and dealing with conformity and the world.  

•12. Konisburg, E.L. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Newbery Medal Winner. Simon & Schuster 1970. Novel. Ages 9 to 12.

This fictional story of a brother and sister is a funny and fascinating story about family and growing up. Claudia feels unappreciated by her family and takes her brother and runs away from home, to live in a museum for about a week. Through it all she discovers what she is searching for and learns a big lesson.  

13. Konigsberg, E.L., The View from Saturday. John Newbery Medal. Atheneum Books,1996. Chapter book. Ages 8 to 12.

This is a cute story of four students who become good friends. Their teacher is a paraplegic who chooses them to represent their sixth grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.  

•14. Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Pulitzer Prize. Warner Books, Incorporated, 1988. Novel. Ages 10 to 14.

To Kill a Mockingbird is another classic novel, dealing with issues of The Great Depression, racism, and the pubescent coming of age life lessons. Scout and Atticus, brother and sister, learn about trust and trusting one’s own thoughts; they learn what they actually believe for themselves. This is an awesome book for teaching about theme and moral issues.  

•15. Lobel, Arnold. Mouse Tales. HarperCollins Publishing, 1978.  

Picture/Chapter Book. Ages 6 to 8. One of I Can Read Book Series: Level 2.

This book and series is intended to help children learn to read and enjoy reading in chapter book format, but wish pictures also and not an overwhelming chunk of words all at one time. These are great books for children who like animals and their adventures.

•16. Markes, Julia, and David Parkins, illustrator. Shhhhh! Everybody’s Sleeping. HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. Picture book. Ages 3 to 6.

This story is about a young child who is encouraged to sleep by the thought of everyone else sleeping. It shows different people sleeping, such as a teacher, a baker, a postman, a baker, the president, and a farmer. The pictures, illustrated by David Parkins are bright, big, and colorful; the text is large and looks captivating to a child.

•17. McGhee, Alison, and Peter H. Reynolds, illustrator. Someday. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2007. Picture book. Ages 4 to 8.

This inspiring book is about a mother’s love for her children and the hope to see them live their lives to the fullest potential. This mom wants to see her child’s dreams come true.

•18. Patron, Susan, and Matt Phelan illustrator. The Higher Power of Lucky. Newbery Medal. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. Novel. Ages 9 to 12.

Lucky is a girl with a lot of unanswered questions, searching for something in this world. She runs away from home, but is certain she will be captured and taken to an orphanage. Lucky wants “higher powers” to help her get through her situation. This is a fun and quirky story for children trying to figure out life.

•19. Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows. Great Stone Face Award. Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1961. Novel. Ages 10 to 14.

I loved this book when I was in grade school. It made me laugh, smile, and cry! It is about a boy growing up in the Ozarks, who obtains to redbone hounds. They become his best friends and best companions, as they go on adventurous, hunting and exploring the woods they lives in.

•20. Sachar, Louis, and Adam McCauley, illustrator. Sideways Stories from Wayside School. HarperCollins Publishing, 1985. Chapter book. Ages 9 to 12. One of a series.

This is a really fun chapter book, with each chapter telling a short story of “humorous episodes” in a Wayside School classroom. The teachers and the students are uniquely strange and there is always something bizarre going on.  

•21. Scieszka, Jon, and Lane Smith, illustrator. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. Caldecott Medal. Viking, 1992. Ages 5 to 11.

This was one of my absolute favorites as a child. It has all the classic fairytales every kid grows up reading, but rewritten in a humorous and somewhat twisted way. I think most ages can enjoy revisions of their favorite classic children’s stories, with pictures as silly as their rewrite.  

•22. Sebold, Alice. Lovely Bones. Little, Brown & Company, 2002. Third place fo the Discover Great New Writers Award. Novel. Ages 13 to 25.

This is a fictional story, purely for entertainment about a family who experiences a murder and the journey they take to regain peace and closure after such a devastating time in their lives. What makes this murder mystery a unique piece of its kind is that the girl who was killed is placed in heaven, where she can see her family going through all this pain and trying to figure out who killed herself, Susie Salmon.

•23. Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. Caldecott Medal. HarperCollins Publishing, 1963. Picture book. Ages 4 to 12.

This is a story which takes you into the imagination of a young boy’s mind. Commonly referred to as a “darker” themed book taking you into the emotions of a defiant night in one kid’s world. This pictures are symbolic and the message is deeper than the surface level images and words. Max doesn’t want to go to bed, so in his room becomes a wild forest with the “wild things.”

•24. Silverstein, Shel. Giving Tree. HarperCollins Publishing, 1986. Ages 4 to 8. Picture book.

A young boy is loved by a tree that gives and gives, and continues to give. He plays with this tree, swinging on her branches, and eating her fruit. As the boy keeps growing bigger and older, he begins to want more from the tree. The book is about teaching to not only receive but to give back. The message is deeper than you might think the first time you read it; a great story for teaching young children how to give.

• 25. Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends. HarperCollins Publishing, 1974. Ages 9 to 12. Compilation of poety.

Known to be one of Shel Silverstein’s most popular books full of poems and illustrations, it is hilarious and funny for all ages really. He really knows how to make people laugh through his poems and related drawings. This book is unique and will capture any kid. Teachers have given it good reviews for using this book in a classroom to help brighten the mood.

•26. Slater, Dashka, and Hiroe Nakata, illustrator. Baby Shoes. Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2006. Picture book. Ages 2 to 5.

This is a fun book, illustrated with water color by Hiroe Nakata, about a baby and his mommy. They go walking around the city doing different things, like shopping, playing with chalk, crossing the street, walking through the park with grass. Everywhere and everything he does gets a new color on his new white shoes and then they don’t look new anymore.

• 27. Stevenson, James. July. Greenwillow Books, 1990. Picture book. Ages 9 to 12.

The biographical children's story is about the author’s adventures during the summers him and his brother spent at their grandparent’s house near the beach. There are many pictures on every page, designed with watercolor.  

•28. Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. Dover Publications,1996. Novel. Ages 10 to 18. This is an adventurous and fanciful story of a man named Lemuel Gulliver who travels to strange lands and comes across abnormal people situations. Such things happen to him like meeting a land of six inch people, then a land of giants, and later a land of horselike creatures who rule over the humanlike creatures.

•29. Williams, Margery, and William Nicholson, illustrator. Velveteen Rabbit. Random House Children’s Books, 1958. Picture book. Ages 4 to 8.

A classic tale of a stuffed rabbit who gets tossed in the trash by his owner. The rabbit has wished to become real his whole stuffed animal life and finally his wish comes true.

•30. Yourgrau, Barry, and Neil Swabb, illustrator. Yet Another NASTYbook: MiniNasties, Vol. 3. HarperCollins Publishing, 2007. Ages 9 to 12. One of a series.

NASTYbook is a compliation of fun, very short stories. “This third in the NASTYbook series is the funniest, grossest, most wild and weird yet,” a note from the publisher. The characters in this book have things happen to them like swallowing a cell phone and eating up all the furniture.

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Notes on Books for Babies

As we consider books for the very young, we must remember that for babies, reading is social-it’s an experience shared with adults.

There are some basic ideas that the baby must learn when it comes to the reading experience:

•A book is to be looked at and read, not eaten

•A book must be held in a specific way

•A story must be read from left to right (in English)

•A baby must be able to understand up from down

•Representations of objects have to be learned

•This can be tricky-movement has to be represented by the illustrator. How does a baby know that a character is moving?

•Go to the library or to your own personal library and pick out a few baby books.

I would recommend We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Rosen & Oxenbury). This is a great book-there’s even a smaller board book version-I found this at T.J. Maxx.

Some interesting observations about this book:

•In one of the black and white spreads, the characters are shown from their waist up because they’re walking in the grass. To the baby, however, the characters may simply look as if they have no legs.

•There’s definitely a sound element to this text-very appealing to the young child.

•Other things to consider:

•The size of the figures fluctuates

•There are multiple perspective changes

•What do particular marks mean? (snow, text, etc.)

•A child must learn to understand sequence and cause and effect. Example: First this happened, then this happened, etc.

•Images of fear: does the child understand?

•Static (not moving) representations of things that move in real life could be complicated for babies.

•Material in books: things never encountered in real life.

Even though these elements of the book may be complicated, it’s a learning experience for the baby.

With a double spread in a picture book, the characters on the left page may be represented as moving to the scene on the right page. The reader must be aware that this is what is happening.

However, a young child may think a girl in the second picture is different from the same girl in the first picture.

The reader has to fill in gaps in a book. For example, the reader has to fill in the gap that the characters on one page are the same characters on the following page, though they may be doing different things. Generally, readers have to fill in multiple “gaps” during the reading experience. These gaps represent an element of the text that only makes sense to the reader by using previous knowledge.

More book reviews find in articles:

http://ecatlibrary.weebly.com/blog/fahrenheit-451

https://writtenonthewind.tumblr.com/post/159152851248/classic-english-literature-brideshead-revisited

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Baby Books

Discuss the three baby books you read, and explain why you think these are examples of “good” children’s literature for babies. What makes the baby book a good reading experience? Why did you choose it? Be sure to let us know the full title and author/illustrator. What kind of exposure to books should babies receive? Studies have found that babies “respond” when they are read to while still in the womb-what do you think about this? I wrote this book review to understand how children literature influence on our child’s development.

“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” was published in 1806. Why do you think this poem has become a classic? Point out the differences between several of the “Twinkle…” selections.  

The first book I chose is called Cowboy Baby, written and illustrated by Sue Heap. I chose this book initially because it was illustrated with bright bold colors and the title had the word baby in it. I thought it would be appropriate. I like the message of the book too, however. Every little toddler goes through the nap stage and the not wanting to go to bed at night stage. Kids want to stay up with their parents and always be involved in whatever is happening with the parents at night time. This story is great because it is about Sheriff Pa coming up with a plan to get Cowboy Baby and his other toddler friends to go to bed.

The second book I picked is called Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes written by Judy Hindley, and illustrated by Brita Granstrom. I also liked this book because of the bright colorful illustrations and thought the title seemed really appropriate for kids who are young and learning to talk; also learning to relate their body parts with motion and activity. Usually some of the first words and objects kids learn are body parts. This book is all about kids learning the different things they can do with their nose, fingers, eyes, toes, and all their other parts. This book would be especially fun for the reader and the kid, if there was interaction and freedom to move and be active with the kid.  

The third book I read is called Baby Shoes, written by Dashka Slater, and illustrated by Hiroe Nakata. This is a cute book about mommy and son walking around town doing different activities like walking through the park, playing with chalk, shopping, and walking across the street. His new white shoes get dirty with all kinds of different colors from the day and at the end he takes and bath and washes his shoes.  

I think a good reading experience for children would be when the reader is enthusiastic, both reader and child are involved and engaged. They really want to hear the story and maybe there is even interaction, like pointing, demonstration, asking the kids questions about the story or what they think. Anything that creates fun and excitement for learning with children is awesome! I love it when parents talk to their babies in the womb, read to them, and play music to them. I think it is effective and necessary. I also think children should be taught the importance of reading and learning as soon as they can understand what that means.  

These different versions of “Twinkle, Twinkle” are nothing alike. They are about different topics such as Ringo Starr and wondering if he is really underneath all that hair, and if he’s really even there. “Twinkle, Twinkle Firefly” is about a firefly flying all across the sky, over a river, and twinkling for the traveler passing by.