The Kindergarten Canon: The 100 Best Children's Books
Click here to download this list as a PDF.
One of the great joys of parenthood is reading to my two young sons. Partly it’s the visceral experience: Little guys curled up on my lap, in their PJ’s, soft light overhead, the day winding down, sleep coming (well, one can hope). But it’s also about the books: An endless treasure trove of stories to share, pictures to enjoy, traditions to pass along.
So I got to wondering: Is there a list of the must-read picture books for preschoolers? The greatest classics, old and new? A “canon,” if you will? I couldn’t find one, so I decided to create one. You can find the books on Amazon with this wishlist. With help from some friends, I now present to you the Kindergarten Canon:
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1 is One - Tasha Tudor |
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - Judith Viorst & Ray Cruz |
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Anansi the Spider - Gerald McDermott |
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Bear Called Paddington, A - Michael Bond |
Amazing Grace - Mary Hoffman & Caroline Binch
Are You My Mother? - P.D. Eastman
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Bear Snores On - Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman |
Beauty and the Beast, The - Brothers Grimm* |
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Big Red Barn, The - Margaret Wise Brown |
Birthday for Frances, A - Russell Hoban & Lillian Hoban |
Blueberries for Sal - Robert McCloskey |
Bremen Town Musicians, The - Brothers Grimm* |
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? - Bill Martin, Jr. & Eric Carle |
Caps for Sale - Esphyr Slobodkina |
Carrot Seed, The - Ruth Krauss & Crockett Johnson |
Cars and Trucks and Things that Go - Richard Scarry |
Cat in the Hat, The - Dr. Seuss |
Chair for My Mother, A - Vera B. Williams |
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Bill Martin, Jr. (author), John Archambault (author), and Lois Ehlert |
Cinderella - Brothers Grimm* |
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type - Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin |
Corduroy - Don Freeman |
Curious George - Margret Rey & H.A. Rey |
Dear Zoo - Rod Campbell |
Emperor's New Clothes, The - Hans Christian Andersen* |
Fisherman and his Wife, The - Brothers Grimm* |
Frederick - Leo Lionni |
Freight Train - Donald Crews |
Frog and Toad are Friends - Arnold Lobell |
George and Martha - James Marshall |
Gingerbread Man, The - Fairy Tale* |
Giving Tree, The - Shel Silverstein |
Go, Dog. Go! - P.D. Eastman |
Goldilocks and the Three Bears - Brothers Grimm* |
Good Night, Gorilla - Peggy Rathmann |
Good Night, Moon - Margaret Wise Brown & Clement Hurd |
Green Eggs and Ham - Dr. Seuss |
Guess How Much I Love You - Sam McBratney & Anita Jeram |
Hansel and Gretel - Brothers Grimm* |
Harold and the Purple Crayon - Crockett Johnson |
Harry and the Dirty Dog - Gene Zion & Margaret Bloy Graham |
Horton Hears A Who! - Dr. Seuss |
The House on East 88th Street - Bernard Waber |
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie - Laura Numeroff & Felicia Bond |
In the Night Kitchen - Maurice Sendak |
Jack and the Beanstalk - Fairy Tale* |
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub - Audrey Wood & Don Wood |
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale - Mo Willems |
Lion and the Mouse, The - Aesop's Fable* |
Little Bear - Else Holmelund Minarik & Maurice Sendak |
Little Engine that Could, The - Watty Piper |
Little Red Hen, The - Fairy Tale* |
Little Red Riding Hood - Brothers Grimm* |
Madeline - Ludwig Bemelmans |
Make Way for Ducklings - Robert McCloskey |
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Lee Burton |
Millions of Cats - Wanda Gag |
Mother Goose - Traditional |
Olivia - Ian Falconer |
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish - Dr. Seuss |
One Morning in Maine - Robert McCloskey |
Owl and the Pussycat, The - Edward Lear* |
Pat the Bunny - Dorothy Kunhardt |
Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi* |
Poky Little Puppy, The - Janette Sebring Lowrey & Gustaf Tenggren |
Princess and the Pea, The - Hans Christian Andersen* |
Puss in Boots - Charles Perrault* |
Put Me in the Zoo - Robert Lopshire |
Rainbow Fish, The - Marcus Pfister |
Rapunzel - Brothers Grimm* |
Runaway Bunny, The - Margaret Wise Brown |
Sleeping Beauty - Brothers Grimm* |
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Brothers Grimm* |
Snowy Day, The - Ezra Jack Keats |
Stellaluna - Janell Cannon |
Stone Soup - Fairy Tale* |
Story about Ping, The - Marjorie Flack & Kurt Wiese |
Story of Babar, The - Jean de Brunhoff |
Story of Ferdinand, The - Munro Leaf & Robert Lawson |
Strega Nona - Tomie dePaola |
Swimmy - Leo Lionni |
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig |
Tale of Peter Rabbit, The - Beatrix Potter |
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly - Simms Taback |
There's a Nightmare in My Closet - Mercer Mayer |
Three Billy Goats Gruff, The - Fairy Tale* |
Three Little Pigs, The - Brothers Grimm* |
Thumb elina - Hans Christian Andersen* |
Tikki Tikki Tembo - Arlene Mosel & Blair Lent |
Time for Bed - Mem Fox & Jane Dyer |
Tootle - Gertrude Crampton & Tibor Gergely |
Tortoise and the Hare, The - Aesop's Fable* |
Ugly Duckling, The - Hans Christian Andersen* |
Velveteen Rabbit, The - Margery Williams & William Nicholson |
Very Hungry Caterpillar, The - Eric Carle |
When We Were Very Young - A. A. Milne |
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak |
Winnie-the-Pooh - A. A. Milne |
* You can find myriad versions of these classic folk stories, fairy tales, and fables.
While this is, to my knowledge, the first ever Kindergarten Canon, there are certainly other worthy lists of great children’s books. These include the Caldecott Medal and Honor books; the Core Knowledge Foundation’s selection of recommended books for Kindergarteners; the American Library Association's Notable Children's Books list; and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards. I also found some solid recommendations in The Educated Child, by William J. Bennett, Chester E. Finn, Jr., and John T. E. Cribb, Jr.
Yet none of these lists amounts to a canon, per se. A canon, after all, isn’t simply a critic’s selection of the greatest books ever written; they also have to be books that everyone reads. You may or may not think Moby Dick was the premier work of American fiction, but you still had to read it because you couldn’t be considered culturally literate without it. Likewise with, say, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. There are plenty of children’s stories more compelling, in my opinion. But if you’ve never read Goldilocks, you’ll miss myriad references in literature, pop culture, newspaper editorials, and so forth. Which makes Goldilocks a must.
It’s worth noting that recently-published books struggle to reach canonical status; they simply haven’t been around long enough. And plenty of excellent books never get there either. Peruse the list of Caldecott winners, for instance, and I bet you’ll spot many unfamiliar titles. The books have merit in the eyes of “those who know”—but they don’t catch on in the marketplace. A canon is a quirky thing—connected to quality, but also to commercial success.
So are these the right books? What did I omit? What doesn’t belong here? The comments section is open.
Most of all, parents, I hope this list leads to many happy story times (and bedtimes) for you and yours.
Also by Mike Petrilli: "In praise of PBS kids"
