Books Kids Need and Love to Read

Kids love to read! Especially when they are exposed to reading in the right way.

I love to read!

I wasn't born with that love of reading, but I swear it wasn't too far after birth that it developed. I was lucky enough to be read to daily by my older sister, mother, grandmother and other great humans.

I found out that books can be friends, and that they can be teachers, and that they shape who we are. And of course literacy is an amazing gift as far as getting employment and coping with life.

Below you will find twenty-five great kids books. They are loosely organized with the books for younger readers at the beginning of the lens, although a well written children's book can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Kids should read books that instruct without preaching - and they will love books that touch their hearts and maybe make them giggle.

Creative Commons photo of children with precious books from a North Carolina bookmobile in the 1950's

Choosing twenty five children's books that kids will both love to read and need to read is of course an impossible task. You could fill many libraries with all the worthwhile children's books there are.

And of course this is a personal list. I do not read any language besides English, so there are many foreign language children's books that are lost to me. I am somewhat out of the loop as well, as my own children are adults now.

But I do love children's books, and try to show you at least some of the new quality books that are out there. And there are a lot of them. Ever heard about Ratburger?

For this lens I featured some of the books of authors that I have written about on Squidoo: Hans Christian Andersen, Dr. Seuss, and Lois Lenski.

I have included some of my own children's favorites like The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I chose books that made the List by the Library of Congress of 88 books written by Americans that have shaped Americans like To Kill a Mockingbird or Where the Wild Things Are

.

I have tried to cover some classics that children need to know because of their impact on history like A Christmas Carol and collections of stories that are embedded in our consciousness and literature like Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose and Arabian Nights

And I have just chosen some books because I want to. :) That is the great thing about reading: you have so much freedom to explore so many different places.

Believe me the hardest thing about writing this lens was reining in my enthusiasm!

Hop on Pop is Dr. Seuss's book for the youngest readers.

I am a total Dr. Seuss fan! He is a poet, a political writer (veiled) at times and always a wise story teller.

This is probably my all time favorite children's picture books: the beautiful story of a caterpillar as he progresses into a butterfly.

Not only are Mother Goose rhymes fun, it is essential that kids are exposed to them as that are referenced often in literature.

Do you remember the Mother Goose rhymes your grandmother read to you? I do, and this book will help you make that kind of memory.

Hans Christian Andersen was one of the world's best and most prolific children's author, so much so that he has been designated as the "saint" of International Children's book day. No childhood should go treasures like The Little Match Girl or The Emperor has No Clothes. Andersen's work was poignant, well-written and movingly illustrated. He truly was a genius, and every child deserves to be exposed to him.

I have written extensively about Hans Christian Andersen in my lens: International Children's Day.

This treasure of a book, The Ugly Duckling (Caldecott Honor Book) is a story of hope and promise that every child needs to hear.

American History and Culture through Story and Illustration

Lois Lenski is one of my favorite childhood authors and illustrators. She created almost 100 highly researched, memorable books for children - including my favorite Regional series. She won the Newbery Award with Strawberry Girl

Lois Lenski - Children's Illustrator, Children's Author
Lois Lenski was one of my favorite children's authors, and I think she certainly deserves to be better known. Although she was born at the turn of the centur...

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
One of my favorite children's novel was Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski This award winning children's novel featured the life of a little girl, her family and...

The Imagination Library is a wonderful program that actually puts books in the hands of kids who otherwise could not afford them. Dolly Parton started it because she was so deprived as a child.

The favorite book of the program is The Little Engine that Could.

Classic tale of a little steam engine that chugged as hard as it could up a big mountain to deliver toys to children saying all the time "I think I can, I think I can."

Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney have been phenomenally successful with kids. They started as installments on an online magazine - and have taken off as the author has sold millions with the book in print.

Absolutely - if we are talking about The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer.

Roald Dahl was born of Norwegian parents in Wales, and he lived from 1916-1990. He had a wonderful, adventurous life - and that certainly came through in his books for kids.

He was known as a wonderful storyteller, and his stories such as James and the Giant Peach and Matilda still amuse kids.

This is an Unabridged version of A Christmas Carol- probably Dicken's most popularly known book. This book is Chuck Fischer's latest pop-up creation with paper engineer Bruce Foster - not just for kids but true art. The text is broken up into five pamphlets for easier reading - but not a word is left out.

No desert island collection of children's books would be complete unless it included this classic.

International Children's Book Day
Hans Christian Andersen was a hugely talented Danish writer who turned the world of children's books on its head with the publication of his more than 200 ch...

The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss' s Butter Battle Book is a book that Theodor Seuss Geisel - aka Dr. Seuss wrote as a pointed criticism of the Cold War hostilities between the Unit...

Lois Lenski - Children's Illustrator, Children's Author
Lois Lenski was one of my favorite children's authors, and I think she certainly deserves to be better known. Although she was born at the turn of the centur...

Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk
The Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk by Tony DuShane is an initiation novel about a Jehovah's Witness kid from the San Francisco Bay area kid who came to ...

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss
All Dr. Seuss books are my favorites! The Cat in the Hat is one of the most famous characters that Dr. Seuss created, and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (Begi...

The tooth Book by Dr. Seuss
The The Tooth Book (Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners) is a fun book by Dr. Seuss that helps your kids as they deal with their teeth: thinking a...

Red Scarf Girl - by Ji-Li Jiang
Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang was one of those books that I could not put down once I picked it up. Even though it is a young adult's memoir, I totally found...

Oh Say Can You Say by Dr. Seuss
In the wonderful book: Oh, Say Can You Say? Dr. Seuss adds sense to nonsense by challenging children and their parents alike to read some of the most challen...

Write A Great Postcard that Your Friends and Family Will Enjoy and Remember
I love to write postcards, and I think the people who receive them from me are happy to get them. Postcards prove it isn't as much the quantity that you writ...

Thank a Mailman Day! February 4
Thank A Mailman! They are underappreciated for fighting snow, dogs, rain and leg cramps just to bring us our mail. My daddy was a mailman, so I guess I am pr...

Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
In the book Horton Hears A Who! the question is a "person a person no matter how small?" is answered. Horton the elephant thinks so, and he present...

The Literacy Site
I love to read! There is no skill more valuable than learning to read for a person's life. When you learn to read you have a chance at improving your financi...

The 16% Solution: How to get High Interest Rates in a Low Interest World with Tax Lien Certificates
Tax Lien and tax deed investing is supposed to be profitable and safe. What can we do as an investor? Can we really get 16% interest in this world? The autho...

Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard
In the book, Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream, by Adam Shepard the author sets out to answer that very question. Could he m...

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss
I love Dr. Seuss so I am happy to light a candle on his birthday cake.

Bloomingrose is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. She also receives affiliate commission from eBay and other affiliate programs on items that are for sale, unless specifically indicated.