Hot take: Children's Book Week

This week marks the 99th annual Children's Book Week in the US. What's your favorite children's book? Will you be doing anything fun to participate this week?

Leaning towards the 9-12 ages,

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan

And I've a silly fondness for At the Back of the North Wind.

Oh, so many!

Het oneindige verhaal
Vlo en Stiekel (recent)
Robbert Jan en de geheimzinnige Mr. X and lots of other Enid Blyton books (Hey, why is the touchstone not working? It's The ratatat mystery in English.)
Kruistocht in spijkerbroek
De inwijding
Kimiko
De weglopers
Yoko Tsuno
De witte wolf
Superjuffie (recent)

>2 Cecrow: Nice to see another The Last Unicorn fan! Though I was introduced to the book via the film—a VHS copy I studiously watched every weekend until I wore out the tape!

>3 Ennas:, The Neverending Story, absolutely. One of my favourite themes ever, the wonders (and dangers) of escapism through fantasy fiction.

>5 Crypto-Willobie:, this might interest you: https://www.tor.com/2012/04/26/a-pig-achieves-greatness-freddy-the-detective/

>7 Cecrow: I think I might have seen that before -- or perhaps it was a similar tribute. But thanks! I like the whole series, but that's the one that got me started...

I have very fond memories of The Jolly Mon, a volunteer read it to us in class in some elementary grade and the song stuck with me for years. I also really love The Baby Unicorn, I remember having awesome dreams related to the storyline the first time I read it.

Those are both on the younger side of things though... When I was a little older I loved What Eric Knew and Sixth Grade Secrets, and I can't talk about children's books without mentioned Wait Till Helen Comes, the first actual ghost story I ever read.

A favorite for all ages of children, from 0 to 110 - The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear

Besides Dr. Seuss, these are the surefire hits for the younger set in our house now, and always a pleasure to read (a rare quality):

The Gruffalo
Milk and Cookies
But No Elephants!
The Big Road Race
We're Going on a Bear Hunt

I'm going to buck the trend of "I only read stuff to my kids that I fondly remember from my OWN childhood" and name some titles that my five-year-old enjoys, that were actually written during his lifetime.

The Book with No Pictures
Ada Twist, Scientist
The Day the Crayons Quit

(And yes, we do read him fondly-remembered books as well - he loves Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day right now - but newer books means he's more likely to see kids that look like him, and even families that look like ours where it's not the whole point of the story.)

My sister reminded me recently that I had lent her a book. She lent to a friend and never got it back. Fortunately, I keep multiple copies to pass on. I read it once to middle schoolers and was shocked at how engaged they were from week to week; they remembered precisely where we'd left off.

Maniac Magee

Too, too many to list. I love the classics, and I love the new ones. I fall for books with great illustrations, and those which present something interesting to learn about. When I buy books for each new child in the family, I try to get something old, something new, something to chew on, and something for when they are of an age to read for themselves. Absolutely love choosing books!

Picture Book: McElligot's Pool (I love all those Seuss stories where the kid's imagination is allowed to just run wild).

Chapter Book: Moominsummer Madness To this day I'll buy copies of any of the Moomin books in stores just to cast my vote for keeping them in print. I put them in my Little Free Library, where they last about an hour and a half before someone snatches them up.

Middle Grade: Farmer Boy -- I know, not the usual Laura Ingalls Wilder book, but I was a city girl in love with the descriptions of farm life.

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl is a favorite of mine from childhood, and I very much enjoyed reading Matilda with my son.

David and the Phoenix and The Cay would be my top two. The first I read and re-read as a child and as an adult. The second was on a reading list for my son when he was in grade school. I've read it multiple times as well.

>16 southernbooklady:, Farmer Boy is the one volume of that series that I missed as a kid, have never gone back. But I have kids to read to, now ... that's a good candidate, thanks for the reminder.