101 Good Reads

The following list of children’s books, recommended by local author Stephen Eaton Hume, first appeared in Island Parent Magazine five years ago—and has been sought after ever since! Here, back by popular demand, is a selection of children’s books (along with a few updates) that you’ll enjoy just as much as your kids.

Picture Books
The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen
The Story of Little Black Sambo/The Story of Little Babaji, Helen Bannerman
Madeline’s Rescue, Ludwig Bemelmans
Is My Friend At Home? Pueblo Fireside Tales, retold by John Bierhorst (and other native folklore stories)
The Five Chinese Brothers, Claire Bishop and Kurt Wiese
The Snowman, Raymond Briggs
Changes, Anthony Browne
Gorilla, Anthony Browne
Granpa, John Burningham
A Christmas Memory, Truman Capote (in the adult collection, not illustrated)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
The Hockey Sweater, Roch Carrier
The Korean Cinderella, Shirley Climo (and Cinderella stories from other cultures)
Not So Fast, Songolo, Niki Daly
A Treasury of Illustrated Children’s Books: Early Nineteenth-Century Classics from the Osborne Collection, edited by Leonard de Vries
The Famous Adventures of Jack, Berlie Doherty
Ho Yi the Archer and Other Classic Chinese Tales, retold by Shelley Fu
Millions of Cats, Wanda Gag
The Little Red Hen, Alan Garner
The Complete Tales of the Brothers Grimm, various editions
Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales, told by Virginia Hamilton
The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business, Werner Holzwarth
Mama Don’t Allow, Thacher Hurd
Rose Blanche, Roberto Innocenti
Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson
The Cowboy and the Black-Eyed Pea, by Tony Johnston
The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats
The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf
Swimmy, Leo Lionni
The Poky Little Puppy, Janette Sebring Lowrey
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault
The Salamander Room, Anne Mazer
Waiting for the Whales, Sheryl McFarlane
A Treasury of the Great Children’s Book Illustrators, ed. Susan Meyer
Love You Forever, Robert Munsch
In My Mama’s Kitchen, Jerdine Nolen
My Very First Mother Goose, edited by Iona Opie
The Little Engine That Could, Watty Piper
Thank You, Mr. Falker, Patricia Polacco
The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter
The Little Red Caboose, Marian Potter
Yo! Yes?, Chris Raschka
Curious George, H.A. Rey
The 20th Century Children’s Book Treasury, selected by Janet Schulman
The Stinky Cheese Man, Jon Scieszka
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, Jon Scieszka
Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, Dr. Seuss
Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein
Starry Messenger, Peter Sis
Caps for Sale, Esphyr Slobodkina
Dr. DeSoto, William Steig
Pete’s A Pizza, William Steig
The Amazing Bone, William Steig
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig
The Princess and the Pea, Sucie Stevenson
Many Moons, James Thurber
Faithful Elephants, Yukio Tsuchiya
Long Nellie, Deborah Turney-Zagwyn
The Bracelet, Yoshiko Uchida
Sarah and the People of Sand River, Bill Valgardson
The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg
The Wreck of the Zephyr, Chris Van Allsburg
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst
When the Wind Blew, Margaret Wise Brown
The Runaway Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown
Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown
The Indoor Noisy Book, Margaret Wise Brown
Some from the Moon, Some from the Sun: Poems and Songs for Everyone, compiled by Margot Zemach

Young Adult Novels
Skellig, David Almond
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi
Weetzie Bat, Francesca Lia Block
Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret, Judy Blume
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Ann Brashares
The Incredible Journey, Sheila Burnford
The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963, Christopher Paul Curtis
Parvana’s Journey, Deborah Ellis
Seek, Paul Fleischman
When She Was Good, Norma Fox Mazer
Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse
The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
Sarah Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan
Monster, Walter Dean Myers
The Black Pearl, Scott O’Dell
Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell
A Single Shard, Linda Sue Park
Bridge To Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
The Crazy Man, Pamela Porter
Holes, Louis Sachar
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
Go Ask Alice, Beatrice Sparks
Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli
No Cafes In Narnia, Nikki Tate
The Cay, Theodore Taylor
Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak