If you answer to Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Auntie, Uncle or any other term of endearment, you may agree that finding that perfect gift—something meaningful for the kids in your life—can feel a lot like a scavenger hunt.
For lovers of books, the magic of words can be a great choice. Stories can transport readers to far-away places, ignite and invite a vivid imagination, make time travel a possibility, and build vocabulary or increase one’s knowledge about anything. Reading is a “passport” allowing anyone to go anywhere and learn anything. It becomes the vehicle that empowers exploration into the unknown, allowing the reader to dive into places they’ve never been and consider ideas they’re not familiar with.
Even before I wrote Chubbs: A Blind Cat Learns to Trust, I’ve loved the world of children’s books and have had the chance to discover treasures to share with my children and grandchildren. Below are a few choices of some great stories that just might spark a life-long reading habit that will fuel one’s curiosity and cravings for discovery.
Pick and choose something just right for you— and let the journey begin! Have books you’d like to recommend? Share them in the comments!
Young Readers (Assisted)
- The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin
- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
- Audrey Bunny by Angie Smith
- You Stole My Name by Dennis McGregor
- Hazel’s Amazing Mother by Rosemary Wells
- Pignic by Matt Phelan
- Never Let a Unicorn Scribble by Diane Alber
- Bad Monkey Business by Michael Hale
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
Early Readers
- What Do You Do With a Problem? and other books by Kobi Yamada
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
- Captain Underpants and Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
- Read and Find Out by various authors
- The Princess in Black by Dean and Shannon Hale
- What Should Darla Do? by Ganit & Adir Levy
- Seeds and Trees by Brandon Walden
- It Will Be Okay by Lysa TerKeurst
- Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beaty
- Robins! How they Grow Up by Wileen Christelow
- The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
Independent Readers
- The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
- The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
- Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary Schmidt
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Oldies but Goodies
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
- Fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
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