Reply To: Please Share Recommendations For Children’s Fiction

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I’ll share some of my kids’ favorites:

Picture Books: The _Little Bear_ series by Elsa Homelund Minarik is very sweet, but not cloying (the illustrations by Maurice Sendak help with this). _Chicka Chicka Boom Boom_ is a fun-to-read alphabet book. Dr. Seuss is also fun to read; my favorites to read aloud are _The Sneetches and Other Stories_ and _Fox in Socks_. Esther1 mentioned _Chrysanthemum_; my kids also liked _Owen_ and _Wemberley Worried_ by the same author (Kevin Henkes). My children also liked _Harry the Dirty Dog_ by Gene Zion. The Curious George series (by Margeret and H.A. Rey) is another my children liked (there are only about 5 original ones; I don’t think the others are as good).

My younger kids also like _The Light in the Attic_, children’s poetry by Shel Silverstein (not all poetry by Shel Silverstein is suitable for kids).

Picture books for older kids: My children really enjoyed _The Magic Schoolbus_ series by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. I found the picture books more fun to read aloud, but one of my kids liked the chapter books too. These books introduce science concepts; except for those that deal with evolution I’d think most would find them appropriate.

Chapter Books (younger readers): My kids like _The Littles_ series by John Peterson. I didn’t like them as much, mostly because the concept (tiny people live, unrecognized, in the houses of regular people, living off their leftovers and castoffs) seemed ripped off from _The Borrowers_ series by Mary Norton, which I read as a child and my oldest daughter likes.

Chapter Books (somewhat older readers/ older readers): Beverly Cleary wrote a number of great childrens books, including the Beezus and Ramona books, the Henry Huggins series, and the Mouse and the Motorcycle series. Almost everything she wrote would likely be considered appropriate in any home where secular books are read. Roald Dahl’s books, including _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_ and its sequel, are easy to read aloud but my kids liked reading them on their own too. They also liked E.B. White’s _Charlotte’s Web_, _Stuart Little_, and the _Trumpet of the Swan_.

My oldest daughter liked the Great Brain series ICOT mentioned and _From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler_, which Esther1 mentioned.

My oldest son likes books about animals, especially dogs. One that’s not so well-known is _Stone Fox_ by John Reynolds Gardiner. As in most books in the genre, the dog does die in the end.

My oldest kids like Chaim Walder’s _Kids Speak_ series too. And they also enjoy reading the Little Medrash Says on the Torah and The Family Medrash says on Nevi’im Rishonim. My younger and older kids like hearing it read aloud (very nice for long Shabbos evenings) and the older ones can read it themselves too.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I’d appreciate any more that anyone would care to share.