Snuggling up to read some of the classic children’s picture books with a small child is truly one of life’s simple pleasures. Exploring a world full of adventure, kindness, courage, and truth broadens her understanding of life itself.

As a former elementary school teacher and ardent picture book lover, I already had a large collection of picture books when I was ready to begin homeschooling my daughter, Caroline. But I knew there were many other books out there I didn’t want us to miss. So I began researching reading lists from books, authors and organizations I considered trustworthy. This classic picture books list is the result of that quest.

Classic Children’s Picture Books

The resources I utilized included:

• Ambleside Online Year 0 Reading List
• Hillsdale Academy Kindergarten Read Aloud List
• Sonlight.com
• The Educated Child: A Parents Guide From Preschool Through Eighth Grade by William J. Bennett
• The Read-Aloud Handbook by Tim Trelease

While this is not an exhaustive list of books, it will provide an excellent starting point for reading a wide variety of quality picture books during the kindergarten year.

I have included links directly to Amazon to make it easy to research the books. Some books were not on Amazon, but might be available through your local library or through another service such as Alibris, ebay, or other local used bookseller.

All books should be reviewed to determine if they meet your family’s guidelines for quality reading. There are books on the list I have not read and there are books on the list that I personally don’t like. But I wanted to provide a variety of ideas because families and children are all quite different in terms of what they enjoy. So please do not consider the inclusion of a book or link in this list an endorsement of everything there.

Classic Children’s Picture Book List

A Books

• A Child’s Garden of Verses, Robert Louis Stevenson (illustrated by Eulalie, Jessie Wilcox Smith, or Alice and Martin Provenson)
• A Child’s Book of Art: Discover Great Paintings by Lucy Micklethwait
• A Fly Went By by Mike McClintock
• A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman
• A Treasury of Mother Goose Rhymes by Linda Yeatman
• A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
• All About Alfie by Shirley Hughes
• Angus and the Ducks by Marjorie Flack
• Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
• Arthur’s Chicken Pox by Marc Brown
• Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack

B Books

• Barn Dance! by Bill Martin, Jr.
• Beatrix Potter illustrated books such as Beatrix Potter: The Complete Tales
• Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban
• The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
• The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader
• The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward
• Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
• The Boy Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed by Helen Cooper

C Books

• Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
• Capyboppy by Bill Peet
• The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krause
• The Case of the Hungry Stranger by Crosby Bonsall
• The Cat in the Hat and other books by Dr. Suess
• Chewy Louie by Howie Schneider
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.
• The Children’s Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett
• The Chick and the Duckling by Mirra Ginsburg
• City Mouse – Country Mouse (And Two More Mouse Tales From Aesop) by John Wallner
• The Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit by Joel Chandler Harris
• Corduroy by Don Freeman
• Curious George by H.A. Rey

D Books

• Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff
• The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
• Dr. Seuss’s ABC by Dr. Seuss

E Books

• Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• Eric Carle’s Animals Animals by Eric Carle

F Books

• Family-Time Bible in Pictures by Kenneth Taylor
• First Thousand Words by Heather Amery
• The Fox and the Crow by Val Biro
• Frederick by Leo Lionni
• Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel
• Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London

G Books

• The Gingerbread Boy by Retold by Richard Egielski
• The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice and Martin Provenson
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
• Good-Night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins

H Books

• Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
• Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox
• How Do You Lift a Lion? by Robert E. Wells

I Books

• If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura J. Numeroff
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura J. Numeroff
• If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura J. Numeroff
• If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura J. Numeroff
• Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? by Robert E. Wells
• It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw

J Books

• Jump, Frog, Jump! by Robert Kalan

L Books

• Little Bear and additional Little Bear titles by Else Holmelund Minarik
• The Llama Who Had No Pajama: 100 Favorite Poems by Mary Ann Hoberman
• The Lion and the Mouse, adapted by Mary O’Toole
• The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book by Bob Hartman
• The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
• The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
• The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone

M Books

• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
• Mary Had a Little Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale
• May I Bring a Friend? by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
• May We Sleep Here Tonight by Tan Koide
• The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley
• Mind Your Manners by Peggy Parish
• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
• The Monkey and the Fisherman by Val Biro
• Moses in the Bulrushes by Warwick Hutton
• Mushroom in the Rain by Mirra Ginsburg
• My First Bible in Pictures by Kenneth Taylor, illustrations by Richard and Francis Hook
• My Little Golden Book About God by illustrated by Eloise Wilkin

N Books

• The New Baby Calf by Edith Newlin Chase and Barbara Reid
• No Roses for Harry! by Gene Zion

O Books

• Old Mother Hubbard by Alice and Martin Provensen
• On Market Street by Anita Lobel
• One Monday Morning by Uri Shulevitz
• One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
• The Ox-Cart Man by Barbara Cooney

P Books

• People by Peter Spier
• Poems and Prayers for the Very Young by Martha Alexander
• Eloise Wilkin’s Poems to Read to the Very Young illustrated by Eloise Wilkin
• The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
• The Princess and the Pea by Cliff Moon

R Books

• Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever! by Richard Scarry
• Richard Scarry’s Please and Thank You Book by Richard Scarry
• The Rooster Crows: A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles by Maud and Miska Petersham
• Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
• Roxaboxen by Barbara Cooney
• Rumpelstiltskin by Cliff Moon
• The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

S Books

• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
• Stories from Around the World by Heather Amery
• The Story about Ping by Marjorie Flack
• The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
• The Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman

T Books

• The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
• The Tale of Three Trees by illustrated by Angela Elwell Hunt
• The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Margaret H. Lippert
• Then and Now, by Heather Amery
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback
• Things People Do by Anne Civardi
• Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

U Books

• Uncle Wiggily’s Story Book by Howard R. Garis

V Books

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

W Books

• Wake Up, Sleepy Bear by Christine Morton-Shaw
• We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
• What’s Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? by Robert E. Wells
• What’s Under the Sea? by Sophy Tahta
• Where’s My Teddy? by Jez Alborough
• Where’s Spot? by Erin Hill
• Why Do Tigers Have Spots? by M. Unwin
• Winnie-the-Pooh Series by A. A. Milne
• Wynken, Blynken, & Nod by Eugene Field or illustrators Susan Jeffers or Barbara Cooney

Y Books

• The Year At Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen

Collections

• Collection of classic stories and folktales such as The Little Red Hen, The Gingerbread Man, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff
• Collection of Aesop’s Fables
• Mother Goose Collection
• Illustrated Classic Poetry for Children