Created in 1999 by The National Education Association, this list from teachers shares their top 100 children’s books.
Many of the picture books in this list have companion
hands-on art activities found in my book,
Storybook Art.
Each is marked with yellow highlighter in the list.
Top 100: Teacher Pick, Picture Book
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (4–8 years)
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (4–8 years)
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (4–8 years)
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (4–8 years)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Baby–Preschool)
Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch (4–8 years)
The Mitten by Jan Brett (4–8 years)
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (Baby–Preschool)
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (4–8 years)
Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss (4–8 years)
Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola (4–8 years)
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst (4–8 years)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr. (Baby–Preschool)
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (4–8 years)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss (4–8 years)
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka (4–8 years)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault (4–8 years)
The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne (4–8 years)
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff (4–8 years)
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (4–8 years)
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister (Baby–Preschool)
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman (4–8 years)
Corduroy by Don Freeman (Baby–Preschool)
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (4–8 years)
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka (4–8 years)
Are You My Mother? by Philip D. Eastman (4–8 years)
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (4–8 years)
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (4–8 years)
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Baby–Preschool)
The Napping House by Audrey Wood (4–8 years)
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (4–8 years)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (4–8 years)
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (4–8 years)
Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus (4–8 years)
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper (4–8 years)
Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey (4–8 years)
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox (4–8 years)
Arthur series by Marc Tolon Brown (4–8 years)
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes (4–8 years)
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (4–8 years)
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (Baby–Preschool)
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish (4–8 years)
The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola (4–8 years)
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (4–8 years)
Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell (4–8 years)
Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss (4–8 years)
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney (Baby–Preschool)
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch (4–8 years)
Top 100: Teacher Pick, All Ages
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (All ages)
Where the Sidewalk Ends: the Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein byShel Silverstein (All ages)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (All ages)
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (All ages)
Heidi by Johanna Spyri (All ages)
Top 100: Teacher Pick, Chapter Books(Grades 3-6)
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (ages 9-12)
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (9–12 years)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (9–12 years)
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (9–12 years)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (9–12 years)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (9–15 years)
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (9–12 years)
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (9–12 years)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9–12 years)
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner (9–12 years)
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (9–12 years)
Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks (9–12 years)
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (9–12 years)
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (9–12 years)
The BFG by Roald Dahl (9–12 years)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (9–12 years)
James and the Giant Peach: A Children’s Story by Roald Dahl (9–12 years)
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (9–12 years)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (9–12 years)
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner (9–12 years)
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (9–12 years)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien (9–12 years)
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (9–12 years)
Matilda by Roald Dahl (9–12 years)
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume (9–12 years)
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (9–12 years)
The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White (9–12 years)
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (9–12 years)
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (9–12 years)
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (9–12 years)
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (9–12 years)
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (9–12 years)
Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (9–12 years)
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar (9–12 years)
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (9–12 years)
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (9–12 years)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater (9–12 years)
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (9–12 years)
Stuart Little by E. B. White (9–12 years)
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (9–12 years)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (9–12 years)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (9–12 years)
Top 100: Teacher Pick, YA (Young Adult)
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (Young Adult)
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (Young Adult)
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls (Young Adult)
The Cay by Theodore Taylor (Young Adult)
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare (Young Adult)
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