Top Ten Tuesday: Picture Books I’ll Force Upon My Future Children

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is books I want my children to read. I don’t have any kids, but if I ever acquire some, here’s what I’ll read to them. Most of these books were my favorites as a kid.

Picture Books My Children Will Read

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle

A much-loved classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar has won over millions of readers with its vivid and colorful collage illustrations and its deceptively simple, hopeful story. With its die-cut pages and finger-sized holes to explore, this is a richly satisfying book for children.

Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak

One night Max puts on his wolf suit and makes mischief of one kind and another, so his mother calls him 'Wild Thing' and sends him to bed without his supper. That night a forest begins to grow in Max's room and an ocean rushes by with a boat to take Max to the place where the wild things are. Max tames the wild things and crowns himself as their king, and then the wild rumpus begins. But when Max has sent the monsters to bed, and everything is quiet, he starts to feel lonely and realizes it is time to sail home to the place where someone loves him best of all.

The Polar Express – Chris Van Allsburg

Late on Christmas Eve, after the town has gone to sleep, a boy boards a mysterious train that waits for him: the Polar Express bound for the North Pole. When he arrives there, Santa offers him any gift he desires. The boy modestly asks for one bell from the reindeer's harness. It turns out to be a very special gift, for only believers in Santa can hear it ring.

The Stinky Cheese Man And Other Fairly Stupid Tales – Jon Scieszka

A revisionist storyteller provides his mad, hilarious versions of children's favorite tales in this collection that includes Little Red Running Shorts, The Princess and the Bowling Ball, Cinderumpelstilskin, and others.

The Dumb Bunnies – Sue Denim

Meet the Dumb Bunnies. They eat lunch in a carwash. They go bowling in a library. And they ice-skate on the bottom of a lake. Everything the dumb bunnies do is REALLY dumb.

  

I Want My Hat Back – Jon Klassen

The bear’s hat is gone, and he wants it back. Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes across, one by one, whether they have seen it. Each animal says no, some more elaborately than others. But just as the bear begins to despond, a deer comes by and asks a simple question that sparks the bear’s memory and renews his search with a vengeance.

Puff, the Magic Dragon – Peter Yarrow

Welcome to Honalee, an enchanted land of imagination and love. 

In this special place, you can share in the adventures of Jackie Paper and his childhood friend, Puff, the magic dragon.

The Rainbow Fish – Marcus Pfister

Eye-catching foilstamping, glittering on every page, offers instant child-appeal, but it is the universal message at the heart of this simple story about a beautiful fish, who learns to make friends by sharing his most prized possessions, that gives the book its lasting value.

The Butter Battle Book – Dr. Seuss

A cautionary Cold War tale (first told by Dr. Seuss back in 1984), The Butter Battle Book still has a lot to teach about intolerance and how tit-for-tat violence can quickly get out of hand.

Last Stop on Market Street – Matt de la Peña

Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don't own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn’t he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty—and fun—in their routine and the world around them.

Which picture books would you force upon your children?