Some things never go out of style, and classic children’s books are one of them. These are the books our parents read to us when we were kids, and that now, we’re reading to our kids. Here are five of the most enduring stories that remain favorites to kids and parents alike time after time.
Goodnight, Moon – What parents hasn’t read Goodnight, Moon at bedtime over and over? This classic children’s book by Margaret Wise Brown is the perfect nighty-night book, as kids watch little bunny going to bed and parts of the room, and the world at large, getting darker and sleepier. This will be one of those books that you’ll read to your grandkids one day and reminisce about the time you read it to their parents.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle’s delightfully illustrated book tells the tale of a wee caterpillar, who upon emerging from his egg goes on a binge eating fest, until he’s just too big. He then curls up into this cocoon, and SPOILER ALERT: turns into a beautiful butterfly (gasp!)
Guess How Much I Love You? – This endearing tale by Sam McBratney is the story of Little Nut Brown Hare who tries to tell Big Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him with a series of grand physical gestures, only to always be out-gestured by Big Nutbrown Hare. This classic story of a parents’ love for their child is sure to warm hearts both young and old.
The Giving Tree – This touching Shel Silvestein classic is one that the kids (and parents) will read for years to come, and it shares a message that never gets old. The tree in the book gives and gives to the young boy who grows up to become a grown man, only to become ignored as time passes on. But when the boy, who is now an old man, needs him the most, he is still there for him. This is story of enduring and unconditional love has even been known to bring some readers’ to tears (ok, maybe it was me.)
Green Eggs and Ham – Who doesn’t know this Dr. Seuss favorite, and the oft-repeated line, “I am Sam, Sam I am?” This rollicking story – like most Dr. Seuss books – take the reader here, and there, and everywhere, with little Sam trying to convince his reluctant friend to try green eggs and ham. His friend manages to refuse for many, many, pages, until…you guessed it, it tries them and LOVES them. Kids love the repetition, the rhyming, and general mania of this book, and will beg you to read it over and over again (perhaps much to your chagrin.)
– Esther Carlstone
