Jennifer + JuneBEDTIME STORIES: OUR FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK LIST
As a parent, I’m always in search of unique books for bedtime stories. In our house, it doesn’t matter if you are busy or tired, the bedtime story is a ritual that we’ve kept long before our little girl even understood the words.
At age seven, our bedtime ritual has changed with the advent of June learning to read on her own. Sometimes I read the book and sometimes she reads it to me. One of my favorite parts of maintaining our longstanding ritual has been watching her transform from a listener to the reader herself. I can see my little girl grow through books, and as she grows, so does our book collection.
After years of reading children’s books, we’ve compiled a list of some of our modern favorites, as well as some of the classics that have withstood the test of time.
When I was a little girl, I adored my copy of “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein. Today, one of my greatest pleasures is to see my little girl laugh at the same poems that I loved as a child. For a brief moment, we are the same two children, decades apart.
Reading binds people together. It transcends generations when an old book is seen with young eyes. It lets you go on a journey with your child to “Where the Wild Things Are” or learn together how to keep trying after your greatest failures, as told in “Rosie Revere, Engineer.”
The following books are our favorite bedtime stories that we wanted to share with you in hopes you may treasure them in your own home. This is a living list of books that we plan to keep growing, just as our children continue to grow from listeners to readers.
Please feel free to add your own recommendations in the “Comments” section. We are always in search of a new adventure and we’d love to share it with you.
Maurice Sendak
Shel Silverstein
3. A Beginner's Guide to Bear Spotting.
Michelle Robinson and David Roberts
Dr. Seuss
5. What Do You Do With an Idea?
Kobi Yamada
Margaret Wise Brown
7. How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
Jane Yolen
Margery Williams
9. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.
Charlie Mackesy
Adam Rubin
11. Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel.
Adam Rubin
12. A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars.
Seth Fishman
Anna Dewdney
14. Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth.
Oliver Jeffers
15. The Lorax.
Dr. Seuss
16. The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Eric Carle
Dr. Seuss
Corrina Luyken
19. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
Mo Williams
Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
21. The Day the Crayons Came Home.
Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston
Jessica Love
24. Weeheehee: A Collection of Pretty Funny Jokes and Pictures.
The WeeSociety
Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
26. What Do You Do With a Chance?
Kobi Yamada
27. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.
Francesca Favilli and Elena Cavallo
Munro Leaf
Shel Silverstein
30. One.
Kathryn Otoshi
31. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
32. Charlotte's Web.
E.B. White
Dr. Seuss
Kelly DiPucchio
35. The Sneetches.
Dr. Seuss
36. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type.
Doreen Cronin
37. Corduroy.
Don Freeman
38. The Complete Tales of Winnie-The-Pooh.
A. A. Milne
39. Sofia Valdez, Future Prez.
Andrea Beaty
40. Guess How Much I Love You.
Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram
41. Maybe: A Story About the Endless Potential in All of Us.
Kobi Yamada
Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
43. Black Beauty.
Anna Sewell
44. James and the Giant Peach.
Roald Dahl
Dr. Seuss
46. The Giving Tree.
Shel Silverstein
47. I Am Enough.
Grace Byers
48. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Roald Dahl
49. Stellaluna.
Janell Cannon
50. Peter Pan.
J.M. Barrie