100 Books Your Child Should Hear Before Starting School
When you read to your child you:
- improve listening and communication skills
- build vocabulary
- and teach that written word has meaning
- most importantly, you foster a love of reading
Our selected list of 100 Books Every Child Should Hear Before Starting School is intended to introduce you and your child to children’s literature in its many forms. We hope you will take advantage of this list and the many other ways that the William P. Faust Public Library of Westland can help your young reader grow.
- Where’s My Teddy?
Alborough, Jez - Miss Nelson is Missing
Allard, Harry - Happy Birthday, Moon
Asch, Frank - Ten, Nine, Eight
Bang, Molly - Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing
Barrett, Judi - The Three Bears
Barton, Byron - I Like Myself
Beaumont, Karen - Madeline
Bemelmans, Ludwig - The Mitten
Brett, Jan - Clifford, the Big Red Dog
Bridwell, Norman - Stone Soup
Brown, Marcia - Goodnight, Moon
Brown, Margaret Wise - Mr. Gumpy’s Outing
Burningham, John - Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Burton, Virginia Lee - The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Carle, Eric - Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Christelow, Eileen - Miss Rumphius
Cooney, Barbara - Freight Train
Crews, Donald - Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
Cronin, Doreen - Today I Feel Silly
Curtis, Jamie Lee - Strega Nona
De Paola, Tomie - Bed Hogs
DiPucchio, Kelly - Are You My Mother?
Eastman, P. D. - Feathers For Lunch
Ehlert, Lois - Go Away, Big Green Monster!
Emberley, Ed - Olivia
Falconer, Ian - Lunch
Fleming, Denise - The Magic Hat
Fox, Mem - Corduroy
Freeman, Don - Millions of Cats
Gag, Wanda - The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Galdone, Paul - Barnyard Song
Greene, Rhonda - Is Your Mama a Llama?
Guarino, Deborah - A First Picture Book of Nursery Rhymes
Harbour, Elizabeth (Illustrator) - Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
Henkes, Kevin - Where’s Spot?
Hill, Eric - Bread and Jam for Frances
Hoban, Russell - Is it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue? An Adventure in Color
Hoban, Tana - Miss Mary Mack
Hoberman, Mary Ann - Rosie’s Walk
Hutchins, Pat - Harold and the Purple Crayon
Johnson, Crockett - Splash!
Jonas, Ann - Jump, Frog, Jump!
Kalan, Robert - The Wolf’s Chicken Stew
Kasza, Keiko - The Snowy Day
Keats, Ezra Jack - The Caterpillar and the Polliwog
Kent, Jack - Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock
Kimmel, Eric - Leo the Late Bloomer
Kraus, Robert - The Carrot Seed
Krauss, Ruth - Over in the Meadow
Langstaff, John - The Story of Ferdinand
Leaf, Munro - Tacky the Penguin
Lester, Helen - A Color of His Own
Lionni, Leo - Frog and Toad are Friends
Lobel, Arnold - Froggy Gets Dressed
London, Jonathan - Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom
Martin, Bill - All By Myself
Mayer, Mercer - Guess How Much I Love You
McBratney, Sam - Make Way for Ducklings
McCloskey, Robert - Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore!
McPhail, David - Martha Speaks
Meddaugh, Susan - The Jacket I Wear in the Snow
Neitzel, Shirley - The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash
Noble, Trinka - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Numeroff, Laura - Amelia Bedelia
Parish, Peggy - The Kissing Hand
Penn, Audrey - The Rainbow Fish
Pfister, Marcus - The Little Engine That Could
Piper, Watty - The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Potter, Beatrix - Good Night, Gorilla
Rathmann, Peggy - Curious George
Rey, H. A. - We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Rosen, Michael - The Relatives Came
Rylant, Cynthia - Grandfather’s Journey
Say, Allen - Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
Scarry, Richard - Where the Wild Things Are
Sendak, Maurice - The Cat in the Hat
Dr. Seuss - Duck on a Bike
Shannon, David - Gregory, the Terrible Eater
Sharmat, Mitchell - It Looked Like Spilt Milk
Shaw, Charles - Caps for Sale
Slobodkina, Esphyr - Imogene’s Antlers
Small, David - Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Steig, William - And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon
Stevens, Janet - Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Taback, Simms - Who’s Counting
Tafuri, Nancy - Pigsty
Teague, Mark - Polar Express
Van Allsburg, Chris - Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day
Viorst, Judith - Lyle, Lyle Crocodile
Waber, Bernard - Farmer Duck
Waddell, Martin - Mouse Paint
Walsh, Ellen Stoll - Noisy Nora
Wells, Rosemary - Knuffle Bunny
Willems, Mo - I Went Walking
Williams, Sue - A Chair for My Mother
Williams, Vera B. - The Napping House
Wood, Audrey - Owl Moon
Yolen, Jane - Seven Blind Mice
Young, Ed - Harry, the Dirty Dog
Zion, Gene