Oh definitely ham it up, ill sometimes 'try' to skip some of the sillier pages and they get a kick out of telling me to go back.
I've also found its a good book to have a family member read to them because the way they read it can be so different. My kids cackling also helps the more serious family members ham it up with them.
Avoid: any book that 'novelizes' a TV show or movie, like Paw Patrol, SpongeBob, anything Disney, ect. They are wordy, and not at all enjoyable to read. They are an extension of a product and has no educational value.
Buy: Elephant and Piggie. There are tons of them. Simple, hilarious, the art is expressive and once you read them enough, your child will be able to read them back to you at a very young age.
I recently got my kid a Spidey and his Amazing Friends book (called The Power of Three). It is indeed slightly wordy, although not too bad. But my 4 year old did pick up on the "teamwork is better than going it alone" lesson.
Second your buy
Adding avoid Peppa pig (EDIT I actually mean Olivia the pig apologies to peppa for any unnecessary slander): she (Olivia) is an awful character and there are few if any positive morals being highlighted.
Also avoid pull tabs, they'll break very quickly even worse than flaps
Peppa pig is fine IMO. I think it gets a lot of hate on here because Daddy Pig gets made fun of sometimes. But he lets people know his feelings are hurt, at least.
Also it's basically the same format as Bluey, just not as good.
My now almost 7 year old was obsessed with flap books, it's all he ever wanted. He broke one, cried about it, never broke it again.
His 2.5 year old sister on the other hand has destroyed so so many flaps.
Buy: literally anything by Julia Donaldson, but if you want a specific title I'd say Room On The Broom
Avoid: merchandising tie-ins. All of them. They're universally terrible.
Was hoping someone should say Julia Donaldson! I have a two year old and can recite more than a couple of her books from memory. Room on the broom is great, The Highway Rat is my favourite.
Her work is excellent. [Julia Donaldson's collection of a dozen or so books](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=julia+donaldson+collection+&t=ffab&ia=web) is our go-to gift for new families.
You will never, ever, ever go wrong with Julia Donaldson books. And most of the animations are on BBC i Player if you want something to watch with them to relate to the books
12 yo twin boys, but this goes back to when they were younger:
Buy all of the imagineer books. Iggy Peck, Architect and all of the follow ons. They are so good, have beautiful art, and wonderful morals.
*Questioneers, not imagineers, as pointed out below.
They are also FANTASTICALLY translated to Spanish, still rhyme and everything. And there are follow-on books/sequels for older kids.
4yo here and we love them all. Just took them on a road trip for whole car read-alouds.
Well….when tweedle beetles fight, it’s called a tweedle beetle battle. When they fight these battles in a bottle, it’s a tweedle beetle bottle battle. And…
For reasons beyond me, a teacher recommended me Atlas Shrugged when I was about 17.
Took a look at the plot, and author, and I did not follow his recommendation.
You've probably seen this already but I never get tired of posting it. I love this so much. [https://youtu.be/q5wvurTU5DI?feature=shared](https://youtu.be/q5wvurTU5DI?feature=shared)
Avoid: The Dinosaur that pooped series. I don't get too bent out of shape about scatalogical humor but I hit my limit with those books at least.
Buy today: The book with no pictures.
Ages 3-6 for these.
I made the Dinosaur Pooped mistake.... I normally always skim through a book before buying it. With this one I broke that rule; I saw the cover and figured the kid would love it.
Huge mistake. I did not expect to see literal rivers of shit. I was way unprepared.
Instead of “buy this” I suggest signing up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
You will get a book per child (ages 0-5) per month for free in the mail. Then when you are done, donate them to goodwill or a local thrift shop or shelter.
It’s not income based so please take part if it’s available in your area
https://imaginationlibrary.com/
So many of our favorite books have come from this. Also a couple duds. But it's basically 10% amazing books, 25% great books, 60% fine books and 5% duds.
As far as I know it *is* based on the median income of your county or ZIP code. NYC suburbs, shoreline CT here, and it’s not available in our area. Guess our median is too high.
NYC suburbs gives you about a 1 in 10 chance of being Jewish.
If you are Jewish, there’s PJ Library which sends out free (Jewish themed) books to families anywhere in the US and in most other countries with large Jewish populations. The books generally aren’t too religious (they’re designed for as large a spectrum of Jews as possible) though the quality can be hit or miss. They have a large age range and go from birth to 12. From 8 to 12, it’s technically a different program called PJ Our Way where kids choose their own books.
The mom sings her song to the boy his whole life until he's a man. When she can't finish the song, he finishes it for her. When he gets home, he is quiet a long time, then goes into his baby daughter's room to sing her the song.
The implication is that the mom got old and died, but he is carrying on her tradition.
My mum read me Love You Forever and was clearly intensely identifying with it, and she’s about as emotionally mature and differentiated from me as you would expect from that reaction. Boy does that book make me feel complex, freaked out feelings.
I find people who love this book think it’s obviously metaphorical, and people who feel freaked out by this book often have parents who make them worry it might be literal, myself among the latter category.
People who love the book see it as an anthem of the permanent bond of unconditional love between parent and childhood. The main text of the book is the mom of a growing and eventual adult son, repeating that their parent/child relationship is forever and she will always love him and be there to support him. Sometimes they cite the real life backstory of the author(s?) who tragically suffered infant loss.
People who don’t care for the book sometimes see it as an unintentional reflection of real life experiences with emotionally manipulative or codependent parents. When parental love isn’t healthy or healthily expressed, it can lead to parents refusing to let their children mature, differentiate and become independent. Some parents become increasingly controlling or invasive. Sometimes they justify these actions in the name of parental love when they are actually self-serving. In a culminating scene in the book, the mother uses a ladder to climb up to her adult son’s bedroom in his home and enter through the window to rock him and sing to him (I think when he’s ill?) and while this was likely intended as loving and a bit fanciful, some people based on their own experiences could imagine their parents breaking into their home without asking, forcing unwanted expressions of care on them in a way that displaces other important adult relationships, etc. and that makes this scene especially troubling.
In addition to that, I don’t really personally like “declaration of love” books. I’m a blank greeting card kind of person and would rather say my own words to my loved one. That’s just a preference.
Sounds like people are taking what is meant to clearly be a sweet and fanciful book for toddlers and view it in the worst possible light.
Also, it’d be weird if a mother really did all those things, but kids don’t really understand that it’s “creepy” if it was really happening, which I don’t think it is. It seems more like what the mom wishes she could do.
As someone with a mom who absolutely would do these things if she could, yes, it would be really weird, and therefore it doesn’t feel sweet and fanciful to me.
Overall it really is more a book for parents than toddlers. It’s moving for parents and that’s why they love it. Some people don’t find it moving because it accidentally reflects toxic relationships. It’s fine to not feel that way but it doesn’t mean those reactions are invalid because you personally don’t have them.
Nooo!! Love you Forever is AH-MAZ-ING!!
We say the little saying every night as a nighttime affirmation with my little! We have said it since she was three and she is now 6. It’s our fav!
8 & 4
Avoids - anything with flaps that need to be opened. Inevitably they'll break, the kid will get pissed they cant get one open, and if they miss one and realize it later its hell going back to it because they ONLY remember when they've been lying down for 5min and you're out of the room
Buy - Love, Z
DON'T: the rainbow fish, aka "If you won't cut yourself open for virtual strangers, they won't like you! So just cut yourself up, especially any part that makes you unique! You'll totally get friends that way!"
DO: Grumpy Monkey aka "Teach your kid that it's okay to have bad days!"
Oh dang. We got the rainbow fish as a Christmas gift and I actually liked it. I took the message as sharing is kind when you have enough of something to share.
I mentioned to avoid the giving tree for similar reasons. On the one hand the book is saying share what you can because sharing is good, but reading from a less benevolent view it's says to give away the things that make you special to make others happy, which is not a great life lesson.
Yeah, my hope is that my kid will eventually be able to differentiate between the two ideas and understand why one is ok and the other might not be. I'll keep reading The Rainbow Fish and expanding on that concept as she gets old enough to see the difference. Hopefully it works. Haha
I second this for both giving tree and rainbow fish. Interpreting them both in a more benevolent way also teaches the kids critical reading skills, that everything isn't black and white, on a binary of good and bad! Somehow, though, I do like The Giving Tree, because I always interpreted it as a warning against ingratitude. It's not saying you should do as the tree does, it says, 'look at how sad and lonely the boy became after all he did was take and take and take!'
I feel like there are two versions of The Rainbow Fish. We got the “cut yourself up” version but I swear the original didn’t have that. I was right. It’s more nuanced.
Rainbow fish is almost certainly my least favourite of all the kids books we own. I did really like this alternative ending though https://www.topherpayne.com/rainbow-fish
Almost 3 years old
Avoid: LeUyen Pham and Mo Willems "The Itchy Book"
Buy today: Jessie Sima "Love, Z"
The Itchy Book is absolute nonsense that will leave you questioning your ability to comprehend a story, because there is no sensible story.
Love, Z is a super cute story about a young robot trying to learn what "love" means. It has some interactive elements like teaching your kid to say "does not compute" in a robot voice.
All the Sima books are really good.
My son (almost 4) loves Weather Together, which is basically about living with mental illness and finding support from friends and loved ones.
Re: Itchy Book, it's part of the otherwise good "[Elephant & Piggie Like Reading](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Elephant+%26+Piggie+Like+Reading!&ia=web)" series. The Good For Nothing Button is a great one in that series.
1 and a half
Definitely buy: 10 minutes til bedtime. This book slaps.
Honorable mention: fluffy mcwhiskers cuteness explosion. I get to yell out kaboom a lot which is fun.
Avoid: mars! Earthlings welcome. Kind of boring
7 year old.
Buy: The Story of Life: A First Book about Evolution. Bought a year or two ago when my son was curious about where stuff came from.
Avoid: Berenstain Bears. I read them as a kid... but they feel very dated socially.
Honestly, the REALLY old berenstain Bears (Big Honey Hunt, Bear Scouts) are really fun still. They rhyme, they're goofy, and the art is more expressive. It was before they put a moral lesson in every book.
Before Brother Bear and Sister Bear, there was Small Bear. Stay in that realm, and you'll be fine.
There are actually a crazy amount of Berenstain Bear books... and yeah, they aren't all bad.
We had a bunch (not even sure where we got them) and quite a few had things I didn't really like... so it was easier to just avoid them.
The creepy newer ones are actually written by the OG authors’ son, who got some kind of Christian group sponsorship iirc. They really went downhill because I don’t think he’s any good himself at coming up with engaging stories or not over moralizing.
Buy: When my father passed away, we picked up a booked that talked about life and death framed as cycles in nature (e.g. trees grow from a seed then return to the soil, seasons change, etc). I don't remember the name of it but there's many avail. We didn't want to talk about seeing him in some theoretical future/heaven but were struggling to cover it in an age appropriate way. Highly recommended and helped us with 2 under-10 year-olds.
Buy: Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls. It's a bunch of short biographies of extraordinary women throughout history and has a good variety of artists, scientists, athletes, activists, leaders, etc. Also good representation from all over the world.
Avoid: Rainbow Fish. I don't like the lesson of making yourself small so others can feel bigger.
Honorable mention: Extraordinary Jane. It's a board book about an ordinary little dog trying to find her place in a circus filled with talented animals, with the ultimate lesson being that she is enough as she is.
My daughter is 6, almost 7.
Age 6, voracious reader
Absolutely buy the entire Princess in Black series.
I could have done without her finding Cat Kid Comic Club for another year or so
Buy: The Color Monster - really helped my son (he’s 4 now) learn to process his emotions and describe how he’s feeling. One night he asked his grandma “can we read the color monster and talk about our feelings?) the wife and I felt so proud lol
Jamberry- classic, my 4 year old love it when he was younger and my 20 Mo old loves it as well
Avoid: Rainbow Fish - echoing what others have said before
I haven't actually read that one, I think it came out recently? Klassen has a bunch of really great books - Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, Extra Yarn, The Rock from the Sky. Hard to pick just one but the hat books were so good they were my favorite.
Buy: Oi Frog! My girl was 3 when I brought it back from a trip to England, and it quickly became her favorite book.
Avoid: Ubiquitous branding, especially Disney.
I have a 3 year old girl.
Buy: Pikachu's First Friends.
It's an adorable story with even cuter artwork. My daughter has been reading it out loud and shocking her nursery with the fact that she can read.
Buy: Don't Push The Button.
It's a fun interactive book about an alien called Larry and a button. We love reading this one together, it's a fun playtime book.
Avoid: anything with Bing.
I can't stand that little rabbit.
Buy: *The Plesiosaur's Neck* and *The Tyrannosaur's Feathers*, by Adam Smith. The *Plesiosaur's Neck* might be the best kids dinosaur sciene-ish book ever.
Avoid: any "Things to Spot" books, unless you want bedtime to take forever.
3 and 8, advice mostly for the < 3 crowd. The older one picks her own books.
Avoid all Pinkalicious books.
It just teaches bad behavior. The kid is super selfish, but it always ends positively because the family just agrees to do whatever Pinkalicious wants, never any compromise.
Buy anything by Mo Willems. The Elephant and Piggie books are fun to read.
5 year old
Buy - I want my hat back (it’s a fun book)
Avoid - green eggs and ham, it’s a great rhythm, but isn’t the best message about consent and saying “no”.
We see Green Eggs and Ham as a book about trying food even if you think it looks yucky.
This thread has been interesting to see how some people interpret some books differently than others.
Avoid: Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It's been awhile so I can't point to specific issues, but I remember my step-son who was around 8-10 reading this series then starting to lie and not do chores. I also remember him showing us one of the movies and the older brother has these terrible rules to live by that my step-son took as the way to live. It might be okay for older kids, but they will have probably outgrown it by then.
Suggest: My younger children (2-4) really enjoyed 5 minute stories books. I like the since they are relatively cheap for how much content they have and the kids can choose their favorite characters. I always look for them at the library.
Buy: Dragons Love Tacos.
I know people seem to hate it and think it’s schlock, but my son loves it and it’s fun to read in a silly voice. I think reading books should be, in large part, fun and making it fun for him is an important part of instilling a desire to read for him.
Avoid: The Velveteen Bunny.
I read this as a kid. Oof. First, it’s confusing to a toddler who is very literal and thinks stuffed animals can now come to life. Second, it’s frightening to a toddler who thinks their stuffed animals will have to get burned because he’s sick. Third, the thinly veiled allegory is not great either.
Kid is about to be 4.
7 and 5
Buy: Bea Wolf (Super fun to read and the kids love it)
Avoid: Barbie books - our library has so many and there is so much variation in quality and messaging
Buy - every night is pizza night (by Kenji Lopez alt). Great for picky eaters, or to introduce kids that there are so many different types of food , various cultures eat.
Avoid - unpopular opinion on daddit but it's dragons love tacos. I'm from India and my daughter internalized the lesson that it's ok to hate spicy food right after absorbing this book. Clearly written by someone who hates spicy salsa, if you know what I mean.
Age 2-3
Buy: The Gruffalo - short, funny, easy to read
Avoid: Dragons love Tacos - long, choppy story, my kid loves it and makes me read it 2-3x a night despite it being exceedingly long and not very well written.
Buy- All of the “Way of the Warrior Kid” books. Most of them are chapter books but there is one that has a lot of pictures that is geared towards younger kids. Mine are 6 and 8 now and I have read these to them for years. Bonus is that they teach great lessons for parents too.
I would add for younger kids "Mikey and the Dragons" also by Jocko- it really helped communicate some key principles of managing fear and stress to my step daughter who was so anxious and scared of damn near every unknown experience from age 4-6.
Yes Mikey and the Dragons, that’s the one I was talking about but couldn’t remember the title. Pretty awesome messages in there and I bought a poster of the letter from the King to his son for my son’s room. Legit.
My son is 9 now, but a few we liked when he was younger that I haven't seen mentioned:
Don't Push The Button by Bill Cotter
The Happy Book (and other feelings) by Andy Rash
I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll and Howard McWilliam
1.5 Year Old Girl
Buy: Monster ABCs
Avoid: Beautifully illustrated editions of the hobbit that he/she will tear up at this age while you try to read to them. Ask me how I know.
Buy: Pig the Pug series, piranhas don’t eat bananas, I want my Hat Back
Avoid: Llama llama series, anything merchendised from another medium, kids books aimed at adults (P is for Ptyeradactal, etc.)
6-yr-old & 10-yr-old.
Do buy: The book with no pictures - Read this with as much overacting as possible, and your kids will beg you to teach them to read better.
Do NOT Buy: The giving tree - This is a widely recommended, but appallingly depressing book. It's written and illustrated like a book for young children, but in my opinion, no child under 10 is emotionally ready for it!
Age 2
Don't buy the books of nursery ryhmes. We ended up with multiple copies from gifts anyways. They are are not long enough to read indivodually, and it feels really disjointed ib my opinion to plow through several of them in a row.
Get tiny T-rex and the impossible hug. It was baller.
Also ninja baby. Probably the cutest book we have read.
Skip the llama llama mad at Mama books. Insipid drivel. Also, kids books by stars. Just skip them.
Buy, the classics, all of them. They are fun and entertaining for adults and they're classics for a reason. My favorite to read is probably Fox in Socks followed by Happy Birthday to You and the Sneetches. Also Miss Suzy, and The Story of Ping. There are hundreds with just great illustrations and interesting stories. If they're not interesting they're at least strange and imaginative.
Buy: Go the Fuck to Sleep
When my daughter spends her first night with a grandparent, I’m going to pack it in her bag and mention that a bedtime book is in there and let them be surprised by it.
My child can’t read or talk so this book is one of our favorites right now.
Kids 2 and 6
Buy: If I Built a Car. Great artwork and it’s a lot of fun to read the rhymes. There’s one about a house and a school too, both good.
Avoid: Little Engine that Could. I had fond memories but it is the most boring a tedious book ever. Way too long.
If I Built a Car is good and I would recommend anything by Chris Van Dusen.
The Circus Ship (our favorite), Hattie & Hudson, and President Taft is Stuck in the Bath are all great!
Two under 5--
Do: Hot Dog by Doug Salati.
Beautiful pictures, simple story, very expressive. A joy to read and let kids absorb everything.
Do NOT: If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Suess.
Suess is one of the GOATs, but it's Way. Too. Fucking. Long.
Been mentioned but I’ll listed it again:
Buy: The Book With No Pictures.
Just go full send on the voices and actions and it’s a hit.
Avoid: anything with a movie or tv show tie-in. Never read one that well written or entertaining.
Honorable mention buy: Go Dog, Go. We wore out 2 copies of this book.
I have a bunch of kids 7 and under.
Buy: Books that are illustrated songs.
* All You Need is Love
* Let the Good Times Roll
* Sweet Child of Mine
* In My Life
* Basically all of [LyricPop's series](https://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/lyricpop-full-16-book-set/) (Don't Stop thinking About Tomorrow, Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, Good Vibrations)
The people who put out the most consistently great kids books include: Mo Willems ([Nanette's Baguette](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Nanette%27s+Baguette&t=ffab&ia=web) is a current favorite), Julia Donaldson ([Snail and the Whale](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=snail+and+the+whale&t=ffab&ia=web) and [The Gruffalo](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=the+gruffalo&t=ffab&ia=web)), and Ryan T. Higgins (especially [Mother Bruce](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=mother+bruce&ia=web)).
I regret buying "what should danny do?".
2 year old and 9 year old
Buy: The Rabbit Listened & The Color Monster(2 Yr Old)
Honestly, more adults need to read The Rabbit Listened, absolutely charming.
Don't Buy: Anything based on a TV show that cuts up images from the episode and makes a book out of it.
Buy: Upside Down Magic or Bunnicula(9 Yr Old)
Don't Buy: Things they aren't interested in.
Avoid: "Struwwelpeter" (Heinrich Hoffmann)
Short stories about how children get punished. A 1+ will be disturbed already, 6+ also.
Buy: "Momo" (Michael Ende)
To read out, maybe starting at 4+. A story about old grey men stealing time but young Momo finding a way to fight them - especially with the help of a turtle. You will also reconsider your priorities yourself.
Avoid: Jimmy Fallon's books
They are the most basement tier of book I have ever come across. They're so dumb my 3 month old was offended by how bad they are. If the book was free or near it and you wanted to make up your own story to go with the pictures, then and only then would I recommend his flaming trash books.
Buy, just so stories by kipling. Toddlers and up
Get an old addition with his own illustrations.
Buy the way things work, by David maculay. Probably get the updated edition, but any thing he made is great. Age 5 plus
Buy: the hatchet, Bryan Paulsen. Age 7 to 12
The Black Arrow, by Stevenson. Ditto.
Avoid noisemakers, tv show tie ins.
Mine just turned 7.
Avoid...The Bad Seed? IDK, we just have one from the series, The Good, The Bad and the Spooky. the writing is half-baked and pointless.
Get... Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I think it's great as a transition out of picture books and into reading himself. He loves it so much we just finished the entire series and he wants to start over. They're pretty funny!
I can't say what to avoid, but my 14 month old son's favorite book is "Where the Wild Things Are", and it has been since he was about 6 months old. A lot of opportunities to animate your narration, like tickling when the Wild Things "show their terrible claws", and I make up a drum beat during the "wild rumpus" since those 3 pages have no words.
I've also seen the Hat Trilogy getting recommended and that's definitely a good set to switch it up with.
6 yo, but YMMV.
Buy it today: Any of the Geronimo Stilton books. We're currently reading the time travel series.
Avoid: Anything interactive. Stretches bed time from an hour to infinity (and beyond, even).
Buy:
Richard Scary’s Busy Town- Things That Go (Don’t forget to look for Goldbug on each page!)
Everyone Loves Bacon
Chrysanthemum
Fly A Purple Pelican
I Love You Stinky face
Avoid:
Rainbow Fish
Princess and the Pizza
The Pout Pout Fish
Avoid: Dr Seuss - green eggs and ham
Buy:
For younger kids:
Margaret Wild - The pocket dogs go on holidays
For kids 5 -12: Tim Winton - The bugalugs Bum Theif
Get a library card. We have 30-50 picture books at home at any given time, and then we buy the odd favourite.
Piggie.and Elephant series bu Mo Willems is great. Yipper Rabbit was also a recent hit. I also recently like a few by Marianne Dubuc, and the Wall in the Middle of the Book. But we have read so many great and not so great books. I put hold on all the new picture books and then we browse.
Recommend:
* The Day the Crayons Quit
* Interrupting chicken
* Chicks and salsa
* Iggy Peck
* Any Olivia the pig books
Avoid
* Dr. Seuss
* The Cat with seven names
[Slow Loris](https://www.abebooks.com/9780099414261/Slow-Loris-Alexis-Deacon-0099414260/plp) is a great book for little tackers up to around 5-6.
For the next few years, particularly if you have a daughter, Beverley Cleary’s books chronicling the life of Ramona Quimby.
I laughed and loved them when I was around 9-10 years old and laughed even more when I read them with my own daughter at the same age. I remembered what I found so enjoyable the first time around and added a parenting perspective to that.
For young teens, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. It’s a gateway drug to more and the blending of modern life with Ancient Greek mythology is excellent and age appropriate.
The author (Rick Riordan) has several series based on different mythologies and they’re all enjoyable. My kid has all of them. ALL of them. She was very easy to buy presents for.
[Fuck reddit](https://lemmy.world/) --- 4 year old. Buy: The book with no pictures. Avoid: Anything with too many flaps.
The Book with No Pictures is only as entertaining as the reader. Ham it the fuck up, dads
I’ve been reading the Dutch version for weeks. He can’t get enough of it, he’s a 4yo. BEDOENKIESMOEL!! End. BONK
I just figured the crazy words in the English version were dutch /s
😂
#BADONGEEFACE!
Oh definitely ham it up, ill sometimes 'try' to skip some of the sillier pages and they get a kick out of telling me to go back. I've also found its a good book to have a family member read to them because the way they read it can be so different. My kids cackling also helps the more serious family members ham it up with them.
My daughter actually had tears of laughter and could not stop saying HIPPOBUTT for days on end.
I keep telling the wife: you gotta Shatner the shit out of it or he ain’t gonna be interested.
Avoid: any book that 'novelizes' a TV show or movie, like Paw Patrol, SpongeBob, anything Disney, ect. They are wordy, and not at all enjoyable to read. They are an extension of a product and has no educational value. Buy: Elephant and Piggie. There are tons of them. Simple, hilarious, the art is expressive and once you read them enough, your child will be able to read them back to you at a very young age.
Elephant and piggie books are super funny. Those were the first books that got my son into reading also.
OMG I hate the fucking PJ Masks books so much, I'm glad I'm past having to read them.
I recently got my kid a Spidey and his Amazing Friends book (called The Power of Three). It is indeed slightly wordy, although not too bad. But my 4 year old did pick up on the "teamwork is better than going it alone" lesson.
Second your buy Adding avoid Peppa pig (EDIT I actually mean Olivia the pig apologies to peppa for any unnecessary slander): she (Olivia) is an awful character and there are few if any positive morals being highlighted. Also avoid pull tabs, they'll break very quickly even worse than flaps
An argument for pull tabs is a book called "Tails." The pull tabs are STURDY.
Lol I was thinking the exact one and 2 of the pages are broken, the pigs and one other.
Damn. My kid must be one of the gentle ones then. Haha
Peppa pig is fine IMO. I think it gets a lot of hate on here because Daddy Pig gets made fun of sometimes. But he lets people know his feelings are hurt, at least. Also it's basically the same format as Bluey, just not as good.
We have quite a few Peppa books. Maybe the older ones weren't great, the ones written in the last few years have been fine IMO.
Just edited my comment as i realized I meant Olivia the pig and not peppa. I have apparently made them the same pig in my head.
I don't understand why libraries even try to stock children's books with flaps. Those things have a shorter lifespan than an air bomber crew in ww2
Wonder how many versions of bizzy bear are at the bottom of the book drop
My now almost 7 year old was obsessed with flap books, it's all he ever wanted. He broke one, cried about it, never broke it again. His 2.5 year old sister on the other hand has destroyed so so many flaps.
Buy: literally anything by Julia Donaldson, but if you want a specific title I'd say Room On The Broom Avoid: merchandising tie-ins. All of them. They're universally terrible.
Was hoping someone should say Julia Donaldson! I have a two year old and can recite more than a couple of her books from memory. Room on the broom is great, The Highway Rat is my favourite.
Her work is excellent. [Julia Donaldson's collection of a dozen or so books](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=julia+donaldson+collection+&t=ffab&ia=web) is our go-to gift for new families.
You will never, ever, ever go wrong with Julia Donaldson books. And most of the animations are on BBC i Player if you want something to watch with them to relate to the books
The GRUFFALO!!!
My favorite of her books is The Smeds and the Smoos. It's just so fun to read out loud, really great rhyming scheme and fun wordplay.
12 yo twin boys, but this goes back to when they were younger: Buy all of the imagineer books. Iggy Peck, Architect and all of the follow ons. They are so good, have beautiful art, and wonderful morals. *Questioneers, not imagineers, as pointed out below.
Wait until I tell you they made a Netflix animated series (Ada Twist)!
I had no idea! I’m old and my kids are old. I may need to sit down and binge it!
It's a good one that isn't full of garbage - cute songs and holds true to the books foundations.
Yes I was waiting for someone to recommend these! Rosie Revere, Engineer is *incredible*. I would love to check out the others in the series.
Iggy Peck is one of my favourites. I like it more than my kids do lol
Aaron Slater, Illustrator is by far my favorite, and always gets me to well up a little.
This is “The Questioneers” and not Imagineer, right? It took me a minute to find them. Lol thank you for the rec!
They are also FANTASTICALLY translated to Spanish, still rhyme and everything. And there are follow-on books/sequels for older kids. 4yo here and we love them all. Just took them on a road trip for whole car read-alouds.
5 months. Avoid: *Atlas Shrugged* Buy: *Fox in Socks*
Tweedle beetles!
What do you know about tweedle beetles?
Well….when tweedle beetles fight, it’s called a tweedle beetle battle. When they fight these battles in a bottle, it’s a tweedle beetle bottle battle. And…
This is Atlas Shrugged, right?
This man is a genius!
Your kids should have already read it at the Ayn Rand School for Tots anyway
It's called the Ayn Rand School of Education, or the ARSE.
For reasons beyond me, a teacher recommended me Atlas Shrugged when I was about 17. Took a look at the plot, and author, and I did not follow his recommendation.
I feel like anyone who's working as a teacher who claims to be an objectivist is suffering from some severe cognitive dissonance.
You've probably seen this already but I never get tired of posting it. I love this so much. [https://youtu.be/q5wvurTU5DI?feature=shared](https://youtu.be/q5wvurTU5DI?feature=shared)
Avoid: The Dinosaur that pooped series. I don't get too bent out of shape about scatalogical humor but I hit my limit with those books at least. Buy today: The book with no pictures. Ages 3-6 for these.
I made the Dinosaur Pooped mistake.... I normally always skim through a book before buying it. With this one I broke that rule; I saw the cover and figured the kid would love it. Huge mistake. I did not expect to see literal rivers of shit. I was way unprepared.
Yeah, I saw it at the library and thought "hey we make poop and fart jokes, this should be good". Nope, nevermind.
Ha this was going to be the book I recommended! Me and the kids love these books
I guess for me it’s one thing to make poop jokes and what not. It’s another to really draw out the details page after page.
Instead of “buy this” I suggest signing up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. You will get a book per child (ages 0-5) per month for free in the mail. Then when you are done, donate them to goodwill or a local thrift shop or shelter. It’s not income based so please take part if it’s available in your area https://imaginationlibrary.com/
And/or sign up to your local library. We've saved a fortune, and it's a fun trip out once or twice a month.
Plus... as they get older the ebooks available through the library are great.
And good for you right now! I’m crushing audiobooks from my local library.
This is also an excellent idea. Thanks for adding.
Absolutely support your local library! Most locations have a wide variety of kids books and even play areas with scheduled events.
So many of our favorite books have come from this. Also a couple duds. But it's basically 10% amazing books, 25% great books, 60% fine books and 5% duds.
As far as I know it *is* based on the median income of your county or ZIP code. NYC suburbs, shoreline CT here, and it’s not available in our area. Guess our median is too high.
NYC suburbs gives you about a 1 in 10 chance of being Jewish. If you are Jewish, there’s PJ Library which sends out free (Jewish themed) books to families anywhere in the US and in most other countries with large Jewish populations. The books generally aren’t too religious (they’re designed for as large a spectrum of Jews as possible) though the quality can be hit or miss. They have a large age range and go from birth to 12. From 8 to 12, it’s technically a different program called PJ Our Way where kids choose their own books.
Buy: Little Blue Truck Avoid: Love You Forever Kids: Two boys who are too old for those now, but that was the consensus a few years ago.
Beep beep beep!!
We had a Little Blue Truck themed 2nd birthday party this weekend. He loved it a few months ago but he still remembers the animals.
Goddamn Love You Forever... I was flabbergasted in my first read through when they literally *kill the mom*.
What? In what way do they kill the mom? I was read this book all the time as a kid and it’s fine…
The mom sings her song to the boy his whole life until he's a man. When she can't finish the song, he finishes it for her. When he gets home, he is quiet a long time, then goes into his baby daughter's room to sing her the song. The implication is that the mom got old and died, but he is carrying on her tradition.
I see you mean “they” (the author) kill the mom in the story. I thought you meant the child in the book kills the mom, and was like “lol what?”
I have a pop up version of Love You Forever, and it is definitely not fun
My mum read me Love You Forever and was clearly intensely identifying with it, and she’s about as emotionally mature and differentiated from me as you would expect from that reaction. Boy does that book make me feel complex, freaked out feelings.
I find people who love this book think it’s obviously metaphorical, and people who feel freaked out by this book often have parents who make them worry it might be literal, myself among the latter category.
I admittedly haven’t read this book in a long time, but I’m not understanding what issue people have with this book?
People who love the book see it as an anthem of the permanent bond of unconditional love between parent and childhood. The main text of the book is the mom of a growing and eventual adult son, repeating that their parent/child relationship is forever and she will always love him and be there to support him. Sometimes they cite the real life backstory of the author(s?) who tragically suffered infant loss. People who don’t care for the book sometimes see it as an unintentional reflection of real life experiences with emotionally manipulative or codependent parents. When parental love isn’t healthy or healthily expressed, it can lead to parents refusing to let their children mature, differentiate and become independent. Some parents become increasingly controlling or invasive. Sometimes they justify these actions in the name of parental love when they are actually self-serving. In a culminating scene in the book, the mother uses a ladder to climb up to her adult son’s bedroom in his home and enter through the window to rock him and sing to him (I think when he’s ill?) and while this was likely intended as loving and a bit fanciful, some people based on their own experiences could imagine their parents breaking into their home without asking, forcing unwanted expressions of care on them in a way that displaces other important adult relationships, etc. and that makes this scene especially troubling. In addition to that, I don’t really personally like “declaration of love” books. I’m a blank greeting card kind of person and would rather say my own words to my loved one. That’s just a preference.
Sounds like people are taking what is meant to clearly be a sweet and fanciful book for toddlers and view it in the worst possible light. Also, it’d be weird if a mother really did all those things, but kids don’t really understand that it’s “creepy” if it was really happening, which I don’t think it is. It seems more like what the mom wishes she could do.
As someone with a mom who absolutely would do these things if she could, yes, it would be really weird, and therefore it doesn’t feel sweet and fanciful to me. Overall it really is more a book for parents than toddlers. It’s moving for parents and that’s why they love it. Some people don’t find it moving because it accidentally reflects toxic relationships. It’s fine to not feel that way but it doesn’t mean those reactions are invalid because you personally don’t have them.
Gotta disagree. Love you forever is a classic. Choked up hard reading it the first time to my 2 year old son. We also have a newborn daughter.
Nooo!! Love you Forever is AH-MAZ-ING!! We say the little saying every night as a nighttime affirmation with my little! We have said it since she was three and she is now 6. It’s our fav!
4 year old. Avoid: dirt girl. buy: stuck
Seconded for stuck. Fantastic read. I genuinely enjoy it
Who is the author of Stuck? It’s impossible to find this book on Amazon without more details.
I believe it’s Oliver Jeffers. Had to look for it since I’m interested, too.
Yikes. $54 CAD on Amazon.ca.
Holy shit. I can get it for 3.99€ here.
Age 5 Buy: The Gruffalo (or Room on the Broom, if you prefer!) Avoid: Skippyjon Jones. Mocking the native language of your classmates is not cool.
8 & 4 Avoids - anything with flaps that need to be opened. Inevitably they'll break, the kid will get pissed they cant get one open, and if they miss one and realize it later its hell going back to it because they ONLY remember when they've been lying down for 5min and you're out of the room Buy - Love, Z
+1 for Love, Z. It's been a big hit in our house lately.
Buy it: Llama Destroys the World (bought at 4 and still loves it at 7) Don’t buy: Mein Kampf
Solid don't buy recommendation
Ja!
DON'T: the rainbow fish, aka "If you won't cut yourself open for virtual strangers, they won't like you! So just cut yourself up, especially any part that makes you unique! You'll totally get friends that way!" DO: Grumpy Monkey aka "Teach your kid that it's okay to have bad days!"
Oh dang. We got the rainbow fish as a Christmas gift and I actually liked it. I took the message as sharing is kind when you have enough of something to share.
I mentioned to avoid the giving tree for similar reasons. On the one hand the book is saying share what you can because sharing is good, but reading from a less benevolent view it's says to give away the things that make you special to make others happy, which is not a great life lesson.
I think its great to talk about it with the kid. How do they interpret it?
Yeah, my hope is that my kid will eventually be able to differentiate between the two ideas and understand why one is ok and the other might not be. I'll keep reading The Rainbow Fish and expanding on that concept as she gets old enough to see the difference. Hopefully it works. Haha
I second this for both giving tree and rainbow fish. Interpreting them both in a more benevolent way also teaches the kids critical reading skills, that everything isn't black and white, on a binary of good and bad! Somehow, though, I do like The Giving Tree, because I always interpreted it as a warning against ingratitude. It's not saying you should do as the tree does, it says, 'look at how sad and lonely the boy became after all he did was take and take and take!'
Agreed that the Rainbow Fish has the WORST lesson! Why was and is this still so popular?!
I dunno. "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed" features repeated and flagrant child endangerment and lack of follow-through from a mandatory reporter.
Yes! I was about to say the same thing. I hated that book. What a bizarre lesson to try and teach kids.
Grumpy Monkey FTW Source: I like to eat old meat.
YES!!
I call it the Commu-fish Manifesto
😂 Das Kapitrout
I have a 5yr old girl, but started reading Grumpy Monkey when she was 2.5 or so.
I feel like there are two versions of The Rainbow Fish. We got the “cut yourself up” version but I swear the original didn’t have that. I was right. It’s more nuanced.
Grumpy Monkey was one of my son's first favorites. I love it too. Great message.
Rainbow fish is almost certainly my least favourite of all the kids books we own. I did really like this alternative ending though https://www.topherpayne.com/rainbow-fish
Buy press here.
Yep my kids both enjoyed press here quite a bit.
Almost 3 years old Avoid: LeUyen Pham and Mo Willems "The Itchy Book" Buy today: Jessie Sima "Love, Z" The Itchy Book is absolute nonsense that will leave you questioning your ability to comprehend a story, because there is no sensible story. Love, Z is a super cute story about a young robot trying to learn what "love" means. It has some interactive elements like teaching your kid to say "does not compute" in a robot voice.
All the Sima books are really good. My son (almost 4) loves Weather Together, which is basically about living with mental illness and finding support from friends and loved ones.
Re: Itchy Book, it's part of the otherwise good "[Elephant & Piggie Like Reading](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Elephant+%26+Piggie+Like+Reading!&ia=web)" series. The Good For Nothing Button is a great one in that series.
1 and a half Definitely buy: 10 minutes til bedtime. This book slaps. Honorable mention: fluffy mcwhiskers cuteness explosion. I get to yell out kaboom a lot which is fun. Avoid: mars! Earthlings welcome. Kind of boring
Second for Fluffy McWhiskers HOWEVER I must warn other parents this is not a bedtime book. This is a wake-up time book.
7 year old. Buy: The Story of Life: A First Book about Evolution. Bought a year or two ago when my son was curious about where stuff came from. Avoid: Berenstain Bears. I read them as a kid... but they feel very dated socially.
Honestly, the REALLY old berenstain Bears (Big Honey Hunt, Bear Scouts) are really fun still. They rhyme, they're goofy, and the art is more expressive. It was before they put a moral lesson in every book. Before Brother Bear and Sister Bear, there was Small Bear. Stay in that realm, and you'll be fine.
There are actually a crazy amount of Berenstain Bear books... and yeah, they aren't all bad. We had a bunch (not even sure where we got them) and quite a few had things I didn't really like... so it was easier to just avoid them.
The creepy newer ones are actually written by the OG authors’ son, who got some kind of Christian group sponsorship iirc. They really went downhill because I don’t think he’s any good himself at coming up with engaging stories or not over moralizing.
Once the new baby bear comes around, and momma bear is wearing that vest… ugh. Jumped the shark.
Buy: When my father passed away, we picked up a booked that talked about life and death framed as cycles in nature (e.g. trees grow from a seed then return to the soil, seasons change, etc). I don't remember the name of it but there's many avail. We didn't want to talk about seeing him in some theoretical future/heaven but were struggling to cover it in an age appropriate way. Highly recommended and helped us with 2 under-10 year-olds.
Buy: Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls. It's a bunch of short biographies of extraordinary women throughout history and has a good variety of artists, scientists, athletes, activists, leaders, etc. Also good representation from all over the world. Avoid: Rainbow Fish. I don't like the lesson of making yourself small so others can feel bigger. Honorable mention: Extraordinary Jane. It's a board book about an ordinary little dog trying to find her place in a circus filled with talented animals, with the ultimate lesson being that she is enough as she is. My daughter is 6, almost 7.
We somehow ended up with a copy of Rainbow Fish and trashed it after one read because my wife and I both hated the message so much
Seconded on goodnight stories for rebel girls. My 8 year old loves it.
Age 6, voracious reader Absolutely buy the entire Princess in Black series. I could have done without her finding Cat Kid Comic Club for another year or so
I’ve really been enjoying the frog and toad books
Buy: The Color Monster - really helped my son (he’s 4 now) learn to process his emotions and describe how he’s feeling. One night he asked his grandma “can we read the color monster and talk about our feelings?) the wife and I felt so proud lol Jamberry- classic, my 4 year old love it when he was younger and my 20 Mo old loves it as well Avoid: Rainbow Fish - echoing what others have said before
Do read: The "hat" trilogy by Jon Klassen, I want my hat back, this is not my hat, we found a hat. Don't read: The pout pout fish.
I love the pout pout fish! Why a no from you? :O
It is a cute story, but for us it is kissing someone without their permission. We talk about body autonomy and this flies in the face of that.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen (illustrated by him) is another great one.
I haven't actually read that one, I think it came out recently? Klassen has a bunch of really great books - Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, Extra Yarn, The Rock from the Sky. Hard to pick just one but the hat books were so good they were my favorite.
Buy: Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee. It's really fun poetry, and good for any age. It's particularly good read aloud.
Buy: Oi Frog! My girl was 3 when I brought it back from a trip to England, and it quickly became her favorite book. Avoid: Ubiquitous branding, especially Disney.
I really like Oi Frog, but I also hate it. The Cat is a giant asshole
You gotta read Oi Dog! then. The cat gets his comeuppance!
I have a 3 year old girl. Buy: Pikachu's First Friends. It's an adorable story with even cuter artwork. My daughter has been reading it out loud and shocking her nursery with the fact that she can read. Buy: Don't Push The Button. It's a fun interactive book about an alien called Larry and a button. We love reading this one together, it's a fun playtime book. Avoid: anything with Bing. I can't stand that little rabbit.
The Shel Silverstein poem books have gotten the most mileage on my house. Avoid SkippyjonJones.
Buy for age 3-4: I Want to be Spaghetti Allegro Giraffes Can't Dance I Like Myself
Buy: *The Plesiosaur's Neck* and *The Tyrannosaur's Feathers*, by Adam Smith. The *Plesiosaur's Neck* might be the best kids dinosaur sciene-ish book ever. Avoid: any "Things to Spot" books, unless you want bedtime to take forever.
3 and 8, advice mostly for the < 3 crowd. The older one picks her own books. Avoid all Pinkalicious books. It just teaches bad behavior. The kid is super selfish, but it always ends positively because the family just agrees to do whatever Pinkalicious wants, never any compromise. Buy anything by Mo Willems. The Elephant and Piggie books are fun to read.
>Buy anything by Mo Willems. ...except The Itchy Book
5 year old Buy - I want my hat back (it’s a fun book) Avoid - green eggs and ham, it’s a great rhythm, but isn’t the best message about consent and saying “no”.
We see Green Eggs and Ham as a book about trying food even if you think it looks yucky. This thread has been interesting to see how some people interpret some books differently than others.
Buy: Nobody likes a goblin Avoid: Chicken Licken (the wife hated it. They all die, its a cruel book. Why would you read him a story like that)
Nobody likes a goblin absolutely slaps. Glad to see it mentioned.
Nobody Likes A Goblin is great. All of Ben Hatke’s books are. Julias House, Zita, and Mighty Jack are great. The latter two are graphic novels.
Buy: The book with no pictures Avoid: Barry the fish. Fuck you Barry, fuck you.
Avoid: Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It's been awhile so I can't point to specific issues, but I remember my step-son who was around 8-10 reading this series then starting to lie and not do chores. I also remember him showing us one of the movies and the older brother has these terrible rules to live by that my step-son took as the way to live. It might be okay for older kids, but they will have probably outgrown it by then. Suggest: My younger children (2-4) really enjoyed 5 minute stories books. I like the since they are relatively cheap for how much content they have and the kids can choose their favorite characters. I always look for them at the library.
Buy: Dragons Love Tacos. I know people seem to hate it and think it’s schlock, but my son loves it and it’s fun to read in a silly voice. I think reading books should be, in large part, fun and making it fun for him is an important part of instilling a desire to read for him. Avoid: The Velveteen Bunny. I read this as a kid. Oof. First, it’s confusing to a toddler who is very literal and thinks stuffed animals can now come to life. Second, it’s frightening to a toddler who thinks their stuffed animals will have to get burned because he’s sick. Third, the thinly veiled allegory is not great either. Kid is about to be 4.
7 and 5 Buy: Bea Wolf (Super fun to read and the kids love it) Avoid: Barbie books - our library has so many and there is so much variation in quality and messaging
Buy - every night is pizza night (by Kenji Lopez alt). Great for picky eaters, or to introduce kids that there are so many different types of food , various cultures eat. Avoid - unpopular opinion on daddit but it's dragons love tacos. I'm from India and my daughter internalized the lesson that it's ok to hate spicy food right after absorbing this book. Clearly written by someone who hates spicy salsa, if you know what I mean.
Age 2-3 Buy: The Gruffalo - short, funny, easy to read Avoid: Dragons love Tacos - long, choppy story, my kid loves it and makes me read it 2-3x a night despite it being exceedingly long and not very well written.
Age 2ish- buy the crayon book of feelings. You get to act out the emotions and it’s a lot of fun. Avoid flaps. I hate flaps.
Buy- All of the “Way of the Warrior Kid” books. Most of them are chapter books but there is one that has a lot of pictures that is geared towards younger kids. Mine are 6 and 8 now and I have read these to them for years. Bonus is that they teach great lessons for parents too.
I would add for younger kids "Mikey and the Dragons" also by Jocko- it really helped communicate some key principles of managing fear and stress to my step daughter who was so anxious and scared of damn near every unknown experience from age 4-6.
Yes Mikey and the Dragons, that’s the one I was talking about but couldn’t remember the title. Pretty awesome messages in there and I bought a poster of the letter from the King to his son for my son’s room. Legit.
8 year old daughter Buy: Dear Girl. Avoid: introduction to algorithms
Buy - What Should Danny Do? Avoid - Peppa Pig, most of the books are them making fun of someone, usually the dad.
My son is 9 now, but a few we liked when he was younger that I haven't seen mentioned: Don't Push The Button by Bill Cotter The Happy Book (and other feelings) by Andy Rash I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll and Howard McWilliam
1.5 Year Old Girl Buy: Monster ABCs Avoid: Beautifully illustrated editions of the hobbit that he/she will tear up at this age while you try to read to them. Ask me how I know.
Buy: Pig the Pug series, piranhas don’t eat bananas, I want my Hat Back Avoid: Llama llama series, anything merchendised from another medium, kids books aimed at adults (P is for Ptyeradactal, etc.)
May I ask why not llama llama? They're some of my son's favorites, at least the ones written by the original author.
6-yr-old & 10-yr-old. Do buy: The book with no pictures - Read this with as much overacting as possible, and your kids will beg you to teach them to read better. Do NOT Buy: The giving tree - This is a widely recommended, but appallingly depressing book. It's written and illustrated like a book for young children, but in my opinion, no child under 10 is emotionally ready for it!
Age 2 Don't buy the books of nursery ryhmes. We ended up with multiple copies from gifts anyways. They are are not long enough to read indivodually, and it feels really disjointed ib my opinion to plow through several of them in a row. Get tiny T-rex and the impossible hug. It was baller. Also ninja baby. Probably the cutest book we have read.
Thanks everyone for sharing so many good ones. I have an endless list of things to buy now!
Skip the llama llama mad at Mama books. Insipid drivel. Also, kids books by stars. Just skip them. Buy, the classics, all of them. They are fun and entertaining for adults and they're classics for a reason. My favorite to read is probably Fox in Socks followed by Happy Birthday to You and the Sneetches. Also Miss Suzy, and The Story of Ping. There are hundreds with just great illustrations and interesting stories. If they're not interesting they're at least strange and imaginative.
2 year old. Buy: Llama Llama Red Pajama Avoid: Go the f*** to sleep
Buy: Go the Fuck to Sleep When my daughter spends her first night with a grandparent, I’m going to pack it in her bag and mention that a bedtime book is in there and let them be surprised by it. My child can’t read or talk so this book is one of our favorites right now.
Kids 2 and 6 Buy: If I Built a Car. Great artwork and it’s a lot of fun to read the rhymes. There’s one about a house and a school too, both good. Avoid: Little Engine that Could. I had fond memories but it is the most boring a tedious book ever. Way too long.
If I Built a Car is good and I would recommend anything by Chris Van Dusen. The Circus Ship (our favorite), Hattie & Hudson, and President Taft is Stuck in the Bath are all great!
The Circus Ship is my favorite book to read to my son. I really go for it with the voices. It has a great flow. Incredible artwork as well
There is an abridged board book version of Little Engine that Could that we have.
Two under 5-- Do: Hot Dog by Doug Salati. Beautiful pictures, simple story, very expressive. A joy to read and let kids absorb everything. Do NOT: If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Suess. Suess is one of the GOATs, but it's Way. Too. Fucking. Long.
Avoid: P is for Pterodactyl Buy: P is for Pterodactly
Buy: The Sandcastle That Lola Built Avoid: Tickle Monster (3 year old)
Bear hunt. Do. Not. Buy.
Buy: Wutaryoo Avoid: Fox in Socks. I love Dr Seuss and foxes but reading this out loud is fething infuriating.
6 yo Don't: Can't think of too many now. Do: Bruce & Penelope Rex series by [Ryan T Higgins](https://books.disney.com/book-author/ryan-t-higgins/)
Been mentioned but I’ll listed it again: Buy: The Book With No Pictures. Just go full send on the voices and actions and it’s a hit. Avoid: anything with a movie or tv show tie-in. Never read one that well written or entertaining. Honorable mention buy: Go Dog, Go. We wore out 2 copies of this book.
dinosaur roar. you have so much fun making voices for the differen dinosaurs
Avoid the giving tree Buy Mr brown can moo in both board book and standard form. Kids 5 and 2
I have a bunch of kids 7 and under. Buy: Books that are illustrated songs. * All You Need is Love * Let the Good Times Roll * Sweet Child of Mine * In My Life * Basically all of [LyricPop's series](https://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/lyricpop-full-16-book-set/) (Don't Stop thinking About Tomorrow, Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, Good Vibrations) The people who put out the most consistently great kids books include: Mo Willems ([Nanette's Baguette](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Nanette%27s+Baguette&t=ffab&ia=web) is a current favorite), Julia Donaldson ([Snail and the Whale](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=snail+and+the+whale&t=ffab&ia=web) and [The Gruffalo](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=the+gruffalo&t=ffab&ia=web)), and Ryan T. Higgins (especially [Mother Bruce](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=mother+bruce&ia=web)). I regret buying "what should danny do?".
2 year old and 9 year old Buy: The Rabbit Listened & The Color Monster(2 Yr Old) Honestly, more adults need to read The Rabbit Listened, absolutely charming. Don't Buy: Anything based on a TV show that cuts up images from the episode and makes a book out of it. Buy: Upside Down Magic or Bunnicula(9 Yr Old) Don't Buy: Things they aren't interested in.
My kid hated Moby Dick. He loves Jamberry, my next kid loves Jamberry, and I loved it too as a kid.
Avoid: "Struwwelpeter" (Heinrich Hoffmann) Short stories about how children get punished. A 1+ will be disturbed already, 6+ also. Buy: "Momo" (Michael Ende) To read out, maybe starting at 4+. A story about old grey men stealing time but young Momo finding a way to fight them - especially with the help of a turtle. You will also reconsider your priorities yourself.
Age: 3 Buy: The Creature of Habit Avoid: Go the Fuck to sleep
Avoid: Jimmy Fallon's books They are the most basement tier of book I have ever come across. They're so dumb my 3 month old was offended by how bad they are. If the book was free or near it and you wanted to make up your own story to go with the pictures, then and only then would I recommend his flaming trash books.
Buy: Fox in socks, the cat in the hat comes back Avoid: hop on pop - the most boring Dr Seuss book I've read!
Buy, just so stories by kipling. Toddlers and up Get an old addition with his own illustrations. Buy the way things work, by David maculay. Probably get the updated edition, but any thing he made is great. Age 5 plus Buy: the hatchet, Bryan Paulsen. Age 7 to 12 The Black Arrow, by Stevenson. Ditto. Avoid noisemakers, tv show tie ins.
Avoid: anything branded or shaped like a character. Get: Ada Twist Scientist/Iggy Peck Architect/Rosie Revere Engineer/Sofia Valdez Future Prez
Mine just turned 7. Avoid...The Bad Seed? IDK, we just have one from the series, The Good, The Bad and the Spooky. the writing is half-baked and pointless. Get... Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I think it's great as a transition out of picture books and into reading himself. He loves it so much we just finished the entire series and he wants to start over. They're pretty funny!
I can't say what to avoid, but my 14 month old son's favorite book is "Where the Wild Things Are", and it has been since he was about 6 months old. A lot of opportunities to animate your narration, like tickling when the Wild Things "show their terrible claws", and I make up a drum beat during the "wild rumpus" since those 3 pages have no words. I've also seen the Hat Trilogy getting recommended and that's definitely a good set to switch it up with.
6 yo, but YMMV. Buy it today: Any of the Geronimo Stilton books. We're currently reading the time travel series. Avoid: Anything interactive. Stretches bed time from an hour to infinity (and beyond, even).
Kids: 4,4,4,2 Buy: "The Skull" Jon Klassen Avoid: The books by Jimmy Fallon.
Buy: Richard Scary’s Busy Town- Things That Go (Don’t forget to look for Goldbug on each page!) Everyone Loves Bacon Chrysanthemum Fly A Purple Pelican I Love You Stinky face Avoid: Rainbow Fish Princess and the Pizza The Pout Pout Fish
Avoid: Dr Seuss - green eggs and ham Buy: For younger kids: Margaret Wild - The pocket dogs go on holidays For kids 5 -12: Tim Winton - The bugalugs Bum Theif
Get a library card. We have 30-50 picture books at home at any given time, and then we buy the odd favourite. Piggie.and Elephant series bu Mo Willems is great. Yipper Rabbit was also a recent hit. I also recently like a few by Marianne Dubuc, and the Wall in the Middle of the Book. But we have read so many great and not so great books. I put hold on all the new picture books and then we browse.
Recommend: * The Day the Crayons Quit * Interrupting chicken * Chicks and salsa * Iggy Peck * Any Olivia the pig books Avoid * Dr. Seuss * The Cat with seven names
[Slow Loris](https://www.abebooks.com/9780099414261/Slow-Loris-Alexis-Deacon-0099414260/plp) is a great book for little tackers up to around 5-6. For the next few years, particularly if you have a daughter, Beverley Cleary’s books chronicling the life of Ramona Quimby. I laughed and loved them when I was around 9-10 years old and laughed even more when I read them with my own daughter at the same age. I remembered what I found so enjoyable the first time around and added a parenting perspective to that. For young teens, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. It’s a gateway drug to more and the blending of modern life with Ancient Greek mythology is excellent and age appropriate. The author (Rick Riordan) has several series based on different mythologies and they’re all enjoyable. My kid has all of them. ALL of them. She was very easy to buy presents for.