Best Children's Books
Best Children's Books of All Time
What Makes Young Readers Want to Pick up a Children's Book?
Whether you're looking for "100 best children's books" to read, or you're writing one, you should look to better understand the audience.
Children's book publishing has been a relatively steady market, with most major bookstores paying close attention to their children's book selections.
According to statistics, children younger than six years old have their books chosen for them by parents. Children of ages seven to twelve, and teenagers up to 17-years-old make for two additional, separate target groups.
If you thought that children didn't read much, you couldn't be more wrong! In fact, the most sold children's titles are those for the youngest readers, while teenagers and young adult audiences preferred reading by over 50% more compared to any other activity.
Younger children love picture book reading, and it's their favorite form of entertainment. Toddlers and pre-schoolers read not only to have fun but also to learn new words and life lessons.
Kiddie books carry a greater significance, with numerous moral and educational lessons as well as knowledge being shared with them in fun, light-hearted ways.
School children and young adults love adventures, thrilling stories, and unique characters and worlds they haven't heard about before. Fiction remains their genre of preference, with fairy tales being the top favorite!
The Beginnings of Literature for Young Readers: How Children's Literature Began
There weren't always specialized books for children. For the bulk of human history, stories and days were passed down orally through generations. When literature began to emerge around Middle Ages, it was educational and not entertaining. In fact, children will wait for many more centuries before they're given a place in libraries.
How Children's Literature Developed?
Children’s stories have been around forever, although not in the printed form that we know today. Before literature was printed for children, their parents and grandparents told them fables, stories, and folktales by word of mouth.
These stories didn’t only serve to entertain children. They also played an educational role and taught them important life and moral lessons. To a good degree, folktales also served to frighten children a little bit into obedience. You see, parents of the yesteryear were quite busy all day long, so they couldn’t watch their children as closely as we do today. They needed to find ways for children to be kept safe and out of trouble.
This is one of the more important reasons why scary stories were told to children. These stories often revolved around places that were otherwise unsafe for children to go, like rivers and forests.
Oral Stories
Also known as folktales, these stories were passed down through generations, with some traced back to hundreds of years BCE. In fact, the first oral story is noted to be the Panchatantra, an Indian 200 AD tale.
Written Stories and Instructions
The first forms of writing for children can be found in Latin and were written in Middle Ages. However, this literature was scarce and limited, since it wasn’t used for entertainment. Instead, textbook-like notes called Hornbooks were used to teach children prayers and the alphabet.
First Illustrations
The so-called “chapbooks” were small-sized with folded pages, and were given to children for entertainment. These books contained simple illustrations, tales, and passages from Bible. The concept of childhood didn’t really start to develop until the 1600s, meaning that the early 17th century was the first time when children’s entertainment books were printed.
Throughout the following centuries, illustrations started playing bigger roles in kiddie literature. The first official children’s book is often thought to be A Little Pretty Pocket-Book by John Newberry printed in the 1800s.
What Were the First Best Children's Books?
The bulk of literature for children that we cherish today comes from the early 20th century when the first modern children’s books were printed.
The early 20th century saw children’s books produced in color and became a successful industry thanks to growing rates of literacy. Some of the first modern-looking books printed for children were The Little Engine that Could, Curious George, Madeline, and others.
What Made Best Children's Books so Special?
Authors had children in mind when they wrote successful children's reading. Of course, this isn't an easy skill to gain. Those with a keen eye for what makes children happy are quick to notice some of the following elements that make for successful literature for children such as:
Charming Tale and Inspiring Story Appeal
Successful stories are both visually and literary appealing. They're made to showcase a scene that a child would want to be, live, or visit. The settings in which stories unfold are safe, protected, filled with nature and magic, and often whimsical.
Talking Animals
Some of the things we love the most about books we read as children are the fact that animals can talk, sing, walk on two feet, and do all sorts of amazing things in books.
This is called "humanizing" animals, and it helps build empathy and bonds between children and furry, feathery, and scaly friends. Why? If it weren't for the adorable illustrations in mind, children would probably grow up with a lot of fear of animals.
Showing gentle, smiling bears, rabbits, cows, horses, and others, makes them appear friendly and safe to children. On top of that, humanizing animals is an "upgrade" from what children usually get to see. So a tale becomes a special world for them to experience that's unburdened with bounds and limitations of reality.
Thrilling Adventure: Lost Father, Mother, Missing Brother
Not all children are lucky to have both parents, grandparents, or siblings. There are many who don't have one or more family members. Literature that shows children being separated from their parents and families helps children who experience the same to feel like a part of the story.
In general, the absence of a parent from a story, an element found in the majority of the well-known fairy tales, puts children in such positions that allow thrilling adventures to happen.
Children are in pursuit of their parents or seek to get themselves out of a difficult situation. Hence, they encounter new characters who'll help them on their journey, and the story unfolds.
Whole World Whirlwind Adventure
Changes in the environment are always interesting to children. When children travel to different worlds or the entire world of our own for different reasons, the presentation of different places and cultures is endlessly fun for them.
Happy Ending
The younger the child is, the more necessary it becomes for their stories to have happy endings. In fact, children who hear stories without happy endings, or sad endings even, get so sad and disappointed that they likely won't want to hear the story ever again.
Dangerous Quest
Children are sheltered and held safe, which is why the notion of adventures and dangerous quests holds such an appeal to them. When children read about characters who overcome dangers on their own, they empathize and identify with those characters.
Identifying with bright, resourceful characters who get themselves out of danger helps children feel powerful and useful, which is an escape from feeling controlled and powerless within their own sheltered environment.
Cautionary Tale
The same way children's stories talk about thrilling adventures, they also warn about risks from running away, talking to strangers, or putting themselves in dangerous positions. These cautionary tales help children understand how risky certain behaviors are, so they're less likely to repeat these behaviors.
Educational Book for The Whole World
There are many folktales and fairy tales that changed the protagonist's names and physical appearance but have stayed the same in essence. Many stories traveled the world and evolved on the way, so they're universally recognizable to children.
Colorful Illustrations: Vibrant Illustrations That Spark Emotional Exploration
Children love colors, simple and vibrant. They like soft, curvy, bubbly shapes, characters, and personalities. Well-made illustrations spread cheer, and children are all for it.
Children learn a lot from colors, mainly how to observe the world and express themselves emotionally. They assign different moods to different colors, and with that, different story characters' visual representation communicates emotional states to children.
School Library Journal and Boarding School Themes
School libraries aren't the only places for children to find an abundance of books. Only a century ago, it was common for wealthy children to be sent to expensive boarding schools where, ironically, they weren't always treated well.
Being at school or a boarding school was often solitary for children, so they organized in groups and made friends to help each other feel better. That way the young-adult trope of mysteries gained traction.
Stories about the adventures of children who leave their homes to study date back to the late 19th century, and persist in young adult fiction and science fiction to this day.
Adorable Picture Book(s)
Books aren't always about literature, especially for children. Picture book copies are often loved for their illustrations more than anything else. In fact, children often better remember how characters were drawn than they remember parts of stories.
Valuable Lesson
Each child takes away something different from their book. Even when taught the same lessons by their teachers, children will often see these lessons in different ways. This is why it's important to talk to children about the books they read and make sure that they "got" all the lessons correctly.
Simple Story for Young Readers
Simplicity is the main trait of every successful children's story. If you're writing your own children's story, don't publish until you've successfully compelled dozens of different young readers into listening carefully.
If there are parts of your story that children just don't get, find boring, or unlikable, it means that the story is too complex for them. In that case, you need to simplify your verbiage and make characters and plots more straightforward.
If you look at bestselling children's titles, you'll notice that they have something in common. The story itself is very simple, while the characters and the situations they're in are exciting, thrilling, educational, and more importantly, unique.
Best Selling Children's Books of all Time
Literature for children wasn't always what it is today. The books we know and love largely came from the past century's prominent writers. While literature for children is now much easier to access, particularly thanks to the blessings of self-publishing, the bar was high for children's literature authors to publish only some decades ago.
Writers and editors alike often wonder if the reason why the best-selling titles are those from past centuries is that the stories were truly the best, or it's because so few authors had access to publishing opportunities.
Why are we saying this? While there's a limited choice of children's books that are considered best by literary experts, that doesn't mean that you can't discover hidden gems with your own search, or even publish a children's book yourself!
In this article, we provided you with a list based on available accurate data, but the true beauty of literature is in its overlooked art, from those artists, who, for various reasons, never got the opportunities that they truly deserved.
When Parents Started Buying Best Children's Books for Their Youngsters
The very first copies of literature intended for children sadly reached not more than a selected few readers. Stitched together from handmade paper and hand-written, these expensive copies were a luxury for noble families. Even for them, books were scarce and hard to come by.
It would take weeks for a single book copy to be completed, so books were treated with a lot of attention and care.
The first children who got access to books were those in noble families who had the privilege of becoming literate. Their schooling was long and hard, though, since they learned to read by repeating and to write by copying letters, words, and sentences that were given to them.
Did the First Young Readers Love Literature?
It's very likely that initial book readers weren't that enthusiastic about reading, which can't be said for modern kiddos.
As historic data suggests, the very first book copies made for children were of educational nature, and at a time when there was no concept of childhood.
The idea of childhood, that a child is to be treated more kindly, affectionately, and gently than an adult actually dates back to the 16th century, when the first recognizable forms of entertaining books for children were found.
Before that, books served to teach children literacy and language skills and to pass down knowledge and moral lessons.
While we can't say for sure whether the youngsters of yesteryear liked learning the alphabet and scripture from their books. Knowing how important fun and play are for children, we can say that their first reading probably wasn't all too enjoyable.
Classic Story Books That Sell the Best: Children's Books in 2022
There are many steps to writing a quality children’s book. Children’s books might look simple and easy to craft, but they require much more work, creativity, insight, and sensitivity than writing literature for adults.
Why? Children’s minds are young, sensitive, curious, and easily excitable, but also easily bored. You can’t expect a child to like a book because its topic matters to society, or because of the author’s writing quality. A child will like a book they find exciting and heartwarming and dislike one that bores them.
On top of that, children learn things they’re not yet aware of through literature. The author’s role here is to also teach an unwilling student whose goal with reading is to have fun, not learn. With that in mind, it becomes clear why the world’s most popular children’s books are both simple and complex at the same time.
Of course, it’s always possible for authors to make certain mistakes while writing children’s literature that takes away from the appeal of their story, and ultimately, the success of their book.
A lot of work is involved for a light-hearted picture book to get to bookshelves, and even more for a said title to persist through decades and appeal to a young audience of different generations, even centuries.
With that in mind, successful children’s literature features these following key elements:
Targeted Audience
Be mindful of two different audience types you’re writing for: Children and their parents. Your book doesn’t only need to appeal to children of your target age group. It needs to win the favors of their parents because they’re the ones deciding whether or not to buy the book.
Mindfulness of Children’s Development Stage
Children’s books cover various age and interest groups, from toddlers to young adults. Most often, literature is referred to as ‘children’s’ if it’s written for the age group of zero to eight years.
However, different types and genres of children’s books, as well as their subcategories, have different rules when it comes to writing and design. In that sense, there are no unanimous criteria for how a particular children’s topic should be written about.
Instead, it’s all about figuring out a very specific age group, where the parents are most likely to stand when it comes to how they wish the topic to be represented, and of course, what’s the best way to present it to that particular children’s age group.
Some of the useful guidelines include:
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The older the reader is, the more detail, plots and subplots, world-building, creativity, and character-building are needed.
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On the other hand, the age group of up to eight years prefers an abundance of images, intense engagement, yet simple plots and characters.
Insight Into Children’s Literature
A good children’s book author is also a devoted children’s book reader. Luckily, quality models are easily accessible, and it won’t take much effort for you to access dozens, if not hundreds of picture books and fiction novels for children.
Read as many children’s books as possible, and not details that you find relevant when deciding what to include and what to exclude from your writing.
Delving into children’s literature also helps find motivation and inspiration for writing.
An Outline
Children's books require outlines that have the target reader group in mind. The younger your readers are, the more obvious and simple story needs to be.
Strategic Details
Every character, sentence, and plot within your book is there to serve a purpose and contribute to the story. Instead of creating a story around characters, create it around the topic and messages that you're trying to state.
Compelling Content
Children like interesting, heartwarming stories with a happy ending and a clear set of "good" and "bad characters." Readers younger than five can't really identify morally gray areas, so they need a clear positioning between good and bad actions and behaviors.
Modern children's literature, however, uses an interesting hack. It doesn't create an "evil" character. Instead, it shows what events caused a character to act in wrong, destructive ways, and explores how the protagonist helps the "villain" change their ways.
Revising
Like all other books, children's books, too, entail removing all elements that feel too much. All too often authors get attached to particular characters, points, sentences, or rhymes that they feel to be important and interesting, but editors don't.
You see, editors look at writing through the reader's eyes. Much unlike writers, who mainly do their own creative work, editors focus on readers, niche, and the industry. If the editor tells you that certain parts of your written content seem redundant, have the heart to let that content go.
After all, you can always preserve the content that didn't "make the cut" and use it more strategically for some other writing.
Editing and Design
Children's book design plays a huge role in how the book will be perceived. Your young readers, particularly those younger than five, need their stories visualized for them. That way, they can imagine characters and settings, and bond with your story.
Design and imagery are as important in children's reading as the writing itself. Keep that in mind, and carefully choose designers who'll paint the picture of your story.
Modern Classic Children's Book #1: Charlotte's Web: Award-Winning Book
Charlotte's Web is a sweet story for young kids who are overcoming loss, tragedy, or abandonment. It could easily be one of the most beloved children's book titles of all time, and not without reason.
It is a story of a group of animals finding ways to survive on a farm, and making supportive friendships along the way. Charlotte's Web is one of the most famous children's book choices, and not without reason.
It blends creativity of presenting talking animals with harsh realities of life, and it also shows how friends take care of one another in the best and worst of times.
Modern Classic Children's Book #2: Originally Published The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar tells the story, as the title suggests, of a young caterpillar who is very hungry. In most endearing ways, the renowned author Eric Tale takes your child on a journey of exploring growth, development, changes, and challenges.
Children's books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar are a prime choice for your little one’s first reading. They’re bound to entertain the child and make learning effortless with the author’s signature illustrations that spark children’s imagination.
Children's Book #3: Tootle
This book is often referred to as the best children's book for those kiddos who aren’t that fond of reading. Why? The 1945 children’s classic written by Gertrude Crampton features captivating illustrations by Tibor Gergely. These illustrations are colorful and vivid, and the story itself is thrilling and engaging.
Prepare for your child to find their favorite book within these covers, even if they don’t seem too eager in the beginning!
Children's Book #4: Goodnight Moon
Another children’s book classic, Goodnight Moon is a bedtime story for every little kiddo who refuses to go to bed. It is calming, endearing, and soothing for a child struggling to fall asleep. You can introduce your child to this book from the moment they start liking nursery rhymes.
Parents pick up Goodnight Moon often while sleep-training, particularly with toddlers who struggle to get on a healthy sleeping schedule. Whether your little one is afraid of being left alone or dislikes the dark, this book will certainly help them find their Z’s.
Children's Book #5: Originally Published Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Known mainly as 'Chocolate Factory', this reader favorite and cult classic saw a very popular movie adaptation back in 2005. This book takes your child on an adventure with Charlie Bucket, a boy rewarded with a tour of his favorite chocolate factory.
This book is thrilling, fun, and indeed, adorable. However, there are a few elements to the story that requires your inspection first, mainly relating to depictions of unsafe/dangerous situations, violence, and body shaming.
Children's Book #6: In The Great Green Room
Once your young adult is mature enough, you can take them on another side of literature and creativity, and perhaps, enjoy this reading together. The Great Green Room details unknown and unpublished writings by author Margaret Wise Brown.
A word of caution, though. This book wasn’t initially intended for children, or so give it only to your late teen, who is able to grasp more serious reading. On the plus side, you can enjoy this book together, since the title is mainly read by adults interested in literature.
Children's Book #7: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
Commonly known as 'Witch and the Wardrobe,' this book follows a young girl and boy on their adventure across different worlds. This book is the most popular among the seven titles that make the series The Chronicles of Narnia.
This title also saw a movie adaptation worth watching, which both children and adults found to be fun, exciting, and endearing.
Children's Book #8: A Bear Called Paddington: Beloved Book for a Young Girl and a Young Boy
This children’s book classic is another among the titles that are universally appealing to children of different genders and ages. The book also has the heartwarming appeal of nostalgia, with its 1956 charm piercing through the writing and illustrations.
This Michael Bond’s bestseller follows the adventures of a teddy bear found by a family at a railway station. If you wish your child to enjoy innocent adventures and have numerous heartfelt laughs, this book is the right choice!
Children's Book #9: The Young Boy Harry Potter Classic Book Series
J.K. Rolling’s famous Harry Potter book series has been a must-read for almost every young adult in the past decade. The series features the adventures of a young, orphaned boy Harry Potter.
Upon discovering that he’s a wizard, Harry is taken into a different world to study magic, where he’ll begin to unravel the mystery of his parent’s death.
The series features seven Harry Potter books for your teenager to enjoy, and eight movies to match the story.
Children's Book #10: Where The Wild Things Are
This 1963 Maurice Sendak’s classic book is well known for its 1988 screen adaptation as well, follows the adventures of a young Max who is sent to his room without supper. Max embarks on an adventure in one truly wild world, where lessons of love and forgiveness are taught.
While any child would love this book, your kiddo will particularly enjoy it if they struggle with balancing and processing feelings, as does the main character, Max.
Children's Book #11: Three Baby Owls
This is a book about three owl babies, Bill, Percy, and Sarah. The owls live in a tree, with their mother, happy and safe. However, they one day discover that their mother has disappeared, and start to get sad.
This sweet story will soothe your toddler and help them fall asleep, and also learn how to cope with separation anxiety. It is yet another book that you can use for sleep training or your evening routine, as well as if you’re teaching your little one to sleep alone in their room.
Children's Book #12: Winnie The Pooh, a Caldecott Honor Book
This heartwarming tale follows the life of Winnie, the Pooh Bear, and his friends. Anthropomorphized animals have amazing adventures in their sheltered environment, with many games played and challenges for your child to enjoy.
Although this book has been universally acclaimed, some critics noted a lack of female characters in the book.
Children's Book #13: Green Eggs and Ham
A fun nursery for the youngest of readers, this entertaining book will help your little one new words, enjoy their snack, fall asleep, or simply bond with you with some precious time.
Green Eggs and Ham follows Sam, the main character, as he offers a meal of green eggs in a variety of ways. Children find this book endlessly fun, and the rhyme itself is easy for children to learn.
Most Popular Children's Books: Caldecott Honor Book Choice From Eric Carle to Margaret Wise Brown
If you've been wondering about "Who the Number One Children's Book Author Is?" know that there are plenty to choose from. In fact, literary experts often disagree on their choice of the best author, so why choose?
Instead, read about top children's authors and decide for yourself what sort of writing your wish your kiddo to read.
Children's Book Best Author #1: Margaret Wise Brown
This children's book author created some of the best-known books, like The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon. Brown is often considered the top nursery author by both readers and literary experts.
Children's Book Best Author #2: Andrea. D. Pinkney
Andrea Davis Pinkney wrote numerous award-winning books, both fiction and non-fiction. Her works include historical fiction, novels, and picture books written for children. The author focuses on African American themes and important people in African American history.
Your child benefits from learning more about African American history and culture, particularly through literary content crafted with so much skill and sensitivity.
Children's Book Best Author #3: Lenore Look
Let your child learn about multi-cultural living with this superb author who includes and infuses Chinese and American culture. Look’s characters overcome numerous challenges related to heritage, family, and customs, with emphasis on the experiences of children who live in or come from mixed cultures.
Children's Book Best Author #4: Arnold Lobel
Your toddler, pre-schooler, and even a kindergartener will love Lobel’s illustrated tales about friendship, overcoming solitude, and the importance of acceptance. The most beloved characters from the author’s creation include Frog and Toad, who often find themselves with too much to do and too little time to do it.
The beauty of Look’s work is reflected in helping children understand that many struggles they face are universal, but some have cultural context and require a bit more understanding.
Children's Book Best Author #5: Grace Lin
Lin wrote over a dozen children’s literary pieces. Her works can give your child a perspective on Taiwanese American living in white communities and introduce them to Taiwanese culture.
If you wish for your child to better acquaint themselves with how their environment looks like someone with a mixed cultural background, or you have a child who you wish to read about someone having similar experiences like theirs, present them with Lin’s stories.
Children's Book Best Author #6: Kate Dicamillo
Dicamillo creates compelling, engaging worlds with a variety of publications, from novels to chapter books and picture books. Her stories offer a broad range of interesting characters that overcome challenges. With detailed attention to every word she uses, it’s no wonder that Dicamillo is thought of as one of the prime authors of children’s fiction.
Children's Book Best Author #7: Roald Dahl
Dahl wrote 21 books for kids and is very popular among millennials. If your child isn’t very interested in literature, and you’re putting in extra effort to get them to read books, perhaps Dahl’s dark comedy, with its plot twists and unexpected endings might get your young one to reconsider their perception of what literature is.
Children's Book Best Author #8: C.P. Curtis
Christopher Paul Curtis is an award-winning author whose work focuses on African American history. The author has great insight into how to communicate sensitive topics to young readers by creating well-rounded characters and writing about important events.
Children's Best Author: Children's Best Author #9: Jerry Pinkney
With over 60 years of experience in children’s fiction, this author made over 75 books alongside his wife, Gloria Pinkney. The most notable works by the author include The Lion and the Mouse.
If you don’t feel like researching each individual children’s book title, why not shop books for your little one from the same author? Specific authors have very individual, unique writing styles. Your child might like some authors more than others.
Furthermore, different authors have their own themes and philosophies that they’re writing about. If you like a specific author and their literary expression for your child, why not get more titles from them? With this in mind, here are the best-known children’s authors:
Children's Best Author #10: Judy Blume
Judy Blume has a special talent for writing about difficult topics while using humor. Some of her best works include Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Nothing, The Tales of a Fourth Grade, and others. Blume’s works are a great way for kiddos going through difficult times to feel like they’re not alone.
Children's Best Author #11: Yangsook Choi
This multiracial author reflected her experiences in her writing about a girl who is new to America having different cultural experiences, from worrying if her classmates will learn to pronounce her name, to introducing her traditions in to national holidays.
Children's Best Author #12: Eric Carle
Carle authored over 50 children’s books and continues to create them. He has a distinct illustrative style that uses hand-painted collage, which results in colorful, vibrant illustrations. Some of his notable works include The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear.
Children's Best Author #13: Beverly Cleary
Cleary wrote over 30 books helping teenagers cope with changes, shame, and embarrassing situations. Some of her notable works include Dear Mr. Henshaw, Beezus and Ramona, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and others.
Best Kids Books of all Time: Instant Classic Story to Pick up
What's the top reason to start from classics when introducing children to literature? They're universally proven to benefit all children. They're a secure, safe reference not only for your child to start building their taste in literature but also to learn how to recognize staple literary features.
With children's book classics, you're safe to know that your child will read only the best of the best when it comes to children's book choices. They're exposed to the purest ideas of goodness, friendship, loyalty, and the kind of healthy idea of emotional resilience that never, not even for a moment, becomes toxic or emotionally abusive.
With that in mind, you can proceed to make the best choices for your child.
How to Choose Bestselling Children's Books
Now, we come to the important part where you learn how to make the selection in the abundance of titles recommended for children. But, how to choose the first book, or two-three, from all of the appealing collections?
Here are some of our recommendations:
Child's Interest Instead of "The Most Read Children's Book?"
Every little toddler, pre-schooler, and young reader is unique in its own way. Don't think specifically about stereotypes when choosing a book for your child (e.g. boy, girl, tough, emotional, etc.), but instead, be really observant and honest about the type of content that the child likes.
Allow your child to develop their special, unique interests. Even if it means that you'll get a book that's atypical for what most readers of that age prefer, stay committed to encouraging your kiddo to be themselves when choosing literature.
Why? A child's authentic personality will largely manifest in the type of stories, characters, and plots they like. That way, your child will choose just the title that meets both their current needs and interests.
If you've been weighing between several different books, let the child decide. You won't regret it, since the child will intuitively choose the kind of reading they need.
Your Family Philosophy Instead of "What Book Should Your Kid Have?"
The book your kid should have is the one that aligns with your family's positive values and philosophies. Remember, all book titles suggested in this review are diverse and inclusive, and they feature positive, accepting, and encouraging morals and messages.
But each book fits slightly differently into the kind of philosophy represented specifically in your family. You're not alone, since each person, let alone a family, has a unique set of values.
In fact, even when people choose a very specific philosophy to live by, they do so in their unique way, which makes the philosophy entirely theirs.
If any of the book titles closely depict a situation present in your family, use it for some encouraging, teaching moments that will help your child overcome any challenges and difficulties that they're facing at home.
Specific Moral Lessons You Wish Your Child to Learn Versus "What's The Most Popular Children's Book to Buy"
Rather than getting your baby what everyone else reads, focus on their educational needs. See where they are when it comes to understanding the importance of kindness, understanding, acceptance, boundaries, and self-esteem. Then, choose the titles that give them the kind of influence that they need.
Books can greatly help teach your child moral lessons without having to have long conversations or having challenging situations occur before you're able to teach consequences. Instead, you can let the child learn morals from the book characters that they like.
You see, when a child likes the book character, they form an emotional bond. The book character becomes their imaginary friend of sorts, and they model their behaviors after what they see in their books.
Child's Development Stage Versus "What's an All-Time Most Successful Children's Book?"
No matter how successful or popular a children's book is, it still must meet children's development trademarks for your child to be able to understand and enjoy it.
Different development stages carry different reading skills, thinking characteristics, possibilities to imagine and visualize, and of course, the ability to form an emotional attachment.
Before you get your child their first books, make sure that they're able to understand what they're about. Whether or not you'll be reading to the child, talk to them about the story or present them with the picture book and see if they're interested in the story, if they can follow along, as well as if they're asking questions about it.
Those are the sure signs that a book is developmentally adequate for the child. If a children's book is too difficult for the child to follow, they will quickly lose interest or pay attention purely for the sake of illustrations.
If the book is too simple for the child, they'll likely enjoy it only briefly before they move on to a different story, without having learned anything useful.
What Were the Best-Selling Children's Authors
There are several writing traits that determined successful authors throughout history. Since the dawn of the children's books, authors were the ones with creative ideas, while parents chose whether or not to allow their children to read said books.
With that in mind, consider that popular children's book titles often depended on the moral philosophies of their era, as well as the kind of upbringing that was traditionally desirable at the time.
If you like a more traditional book, but your parenting choices are different and you believe the story to contain elements of bias, stereotyping, racism, or other beliefs that clash with yours, you can simply choose a different author.
However, if you like all of the author's work but a few details, there is a workaround. If you're reading the book to your child, you can alter the story in ways that seem fit. Or, if your child is old enough, you can point out that there are some parts to the story that don't seem right to you and explain the reasons why.
That way, an older child can learn critical thinking. They can learn how to appreciate the art form while also learning to be mindful that some of its elements are morally questionable. The choice is all yours!
Best-Selling Children's Picture books
Have ever wondered about choosing the best picture book for your baby or toddler? As it turns out, not all picture books are the same, nor does every child enjoy the most popular picture books. A lot more thought goes into making your baby's first reading choice than it appears.
For starters, it's necessary to distinguish several types of picture books to decide whether they'll work well for your toddler or baby.
Beautifully Illustrated Story Books for Growing Minds
Most distinct types of picture books:
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Alphabet Picture Book
As the title suggests, these picture books are intended for the youngest to learn the alphabet. There are different levels of complexity and difficulty, of course, and the books themselves can be designed around a specific theme.
For example, alphabet books can be plant, animal, or environment-themed. That way, your toddler or kindergartener doesn't only learn the alphabet. They learn more about the world around them.
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Concept Picture Book
Concept picture books revolve around one theme or a topic and usually start with the simplest terms and images. As the book continues, the images and their meanings, as well as the writing, become a bit more complex for the child to master multiple difficulty levels.
Most common concept picture books include those on plan and animal life, farm life, dinosaurs, fish, and others.
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Counting Picture Book
Books that teach numbers are very popular among the youngest readers. Usually, a number is shown on one side or corner of the page, while illustrations show fun objects that depict that number.
You can get counting picture books for kids as young as toddlers since that's the age when children develop an interest in counting.
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Early Readers Picture Book
Children who have the basic reading skills but haven't yet learned how to read complete sentences greatly benefit from this books. When a child is an early reader, that means that they can read few words at a time and make sense of their meaning in regards to the illustration.
Get your pre-schooler as many of these books as they like! They'll enhance reading skills while also learning important life lessons and social skills.
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Calendar Picture Book
Teaching children days of the week, months, and calendar days isn't all that fun. It takes a lot of patience and repetition, so why not get help?
Calendar picture books feature calendars with days and months printed on them, plus fun illustrations that help children learn about what the calendar is and how it's used.
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Nursery Rhymes Picture Book
Even babies benefit from nursery rhymes. They may not understand the rhymes yet, but they can associate fun pictures with your gentle voice as you read to them. As your baby approaches their first year, they'll start to understand the rhymes much better, so they'll greatly enjoy them.
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Toy Picture Book
Babies and toddlers also enjoyed picture books-turned toys. These picture books have playful features, like buttons, or the book itself is a part of a puzzle that a child can solve. There's a vast choice of toy picture books out there, for every kiddo to enjoy!
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Bells and Whistles Picture Book
Toy creators are ever-inventive. The more we know about children's development, the more content we can add to their books to make them more fun. You can find many picture books that have added textures, different materials, figures, and even multimedia elements!
You can get your baby, toddler, or kindergartener any type of entertaining picture book that they like. However, pay close attention to the age label on the packaging.
Make sure that your selected picture book doesn't have parts that can detach and choke or cut the child while they're playing.
Best Children's Books for Young Readers: Title Suggests a Happy Ending–Emotional Care
Emotional care is very important for all children, even more so for toddlers and "under-fives." Twos, threes, and fours survive real emotional rollercoasters each day, and their moods vary depending on their experiences, diet, and daily interactions.
Picture books can quell their daily anxieties with one simple message: There is a happy ending after all, no matter how sad or afraid they get.
Admittedly, there are few, if any, picture books without a happy ending. One could argue that a happy ending is a rule of children's book writing. Yet, be particularly mindful that a picture book you choose, particularly one showing characters going through struggles, has a cheerful ending that will leave your baby smiling.
Young Readers Favorite Books: Wonderful Story for a Young Boy, Board Book to Remember
Modern literature for kids aims to erase gender differences when it comes to book profiling, and to craft such skillfully written works as for any boy or girl to feel like the book was written specifically for them.
Yet, at times, and with some specialized books (e.g. potty teaching, puberty, etc.) children benefit from gender-specified books. If you're getting your boy a picture book solely for the purposes of teaching, pay attention if the content and illustrations match the book's intended purpose.
Young Reader's Favorite Books: Your Young Girl Board Book With Lovely Illustrations by Renowned Children's Author
If you're potty teaching, toilet training, or giving other types of lessons to your young girl, then some of her picture books should more closely reflect her looks.
That way, learning to change clothes, sit on the potty, or take a bath becomes much more personal.
Young Reader's Favorite Children's Books: Wonderful Book For a Young Child and a Board Book That Challenges Stereotypes With Beautiful Illustrations
Wish to teach your children diversity and help them overcome stereotypes in everyday life? At times, this is challenging to do since coming up with the right examples may actually feel like you're perpetuating stereotypes.
Why not use literature? There are many picture books that teach children of different ages those gender, race, culture, and other important insights that you, as a parent, want to instill.
When picking up picture books for your child, take a look at the many options on (or against) bullying. The older the children get, the harder it becomes to teach them about tolerance, empathy, problem-solving, and emotional awareness.
The difficulty comes from children's limited capacity to engage in abstract conversations. Picture books do an amazing job at displaying challenging situations and showing children how to voice their feelings, needs, and boundaries effectively.
Young Reader's Favorite Children's Books for Education: Young Kids Book and Board Book With Beautiful illustrations Found in Department Store
Getting ready for school can be tough on pre-schoolers, who each go through this transition in their own way.
Find picture books that teach about going to school, being in class, getting along with classmates, and other important topics. That way, you won't have to give your child a long, dull lesson about school.
Instead, they'll learn about it playfully and cheerfully from some of their favorite picture books.
How Beloved Children's Books Help Your Child and Grown-Ups
Have you ever wondered why both children and grown-ups benefit from reading a children's book? Children, in their own way, learn and develop with the help of books. A children's book is a unique opportunity for your little one to mentally and emotionally explore different experiences.
On top of that, children often feel alone when facing different challenges. From loss to trauma, health problems, emotional problems, and others children find comfort in knowing that there are characters that had similar experiences as them.
Adults, on the other hand, benefit from letting go of daily hurdles and relaxing as they read to their children.
Books That Teach on Multicultural Urban Life: Children's Fiction for Beginning Readers
Have you ever wondered how to teach diversity and acceptance? This isn't always easy for parents, especially when children are young and don't yet know many words. Notable books that teach multi-cultural ways of life help children in the following ways:
Own Skin in Picture Books
Children of color benefit from seeing characters that resemble them in books. Many publishers have taken up the task of diversifying their illustrations so that even the most traditional of tales now have diverse representations.
If you wish to give your child more commonly known titles, but you worry that there's not enough equality in representation, look up those publishers who pay closer attention to diversity.
Fabulous Mermaid Costume or Something Else?
Be careful with the illustrations you choose for your children. Admittedly, authors and publishers are very thoughtful of the messaging that's being sent through pictures used for children's book illustrations.
However, you should pay special attention in regards to body image and stereotyping that's possible to find in some of the older children's book copies.
Wild Things
The notion of 'wild things' has a special place in children's books and psychology. 'Wild things' are a staple for all things forbidden, yet desired by the ever-curious children. A little girl or little boy is always on the move.
Books like The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Where the Wild Things Are among others depict some of the most amazing, thrilling adventures you'll find.
However, make sure to allow the books only to children who are mature enough to grasp the idea of risks, and who are unlikely to try and go on an adventure on their own.
Although fictional, many of the children's book classics were written in different times, where there was less awareness of children's safety.
Keep this in mind when choosing the right children's book for your kiddo, and read it first to map out all the areas where extra mindfulness and explanations might be needed.
Want to Publish A Children's Book? Start Now With The Urban Writers!
You don't have to be a renowned children's book author to take your own vision and craft a book out of it. Here at The Urban Writers, we have an army of talented children's book writers who are ready and eager to show your kid how to play hide and seek, and teach your little boy or a little girl how to take a bath, eat on their own, or go to the toilet.
You don't have to be an Eric Carle to make some special illustrations either! We have you covered with our freelance designers who are trained to take your vision and create entirely authentic art for your children's book.
