When my kids were preschoolers, one of our favorite books was “Good Night, Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown. We loved the sing-songy rhymes of the book and its brightly colored illustrations. We read it together every night for months.
Apparently we weren’t the only ones. The classic story was ranked number five on a list of Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children compiled from an 2007 online survey by the National Education Association.
The list, along with several others, provides an easy reference for age-appropriate books that parents can share with their kids to keep them moving along the path to literacy during the lazy days of summer.
The NEA lists books for all ages, including several other favorites perfect for preschoolers and kids in the younger grades: Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” made the grade at number two and “The Mitten” by Jan Brett was number 16. Several Dr. Seuss classics, such as “Green Eggs and Ham,” “The Cat In The Hat,” and “Oh! The Places You Will Go,” were included.
“Junie B. Jones” by Barbara Park, which earned the number 33 spot, is perfect for the kindergarten set who will giggle at the antics of the sassy little girl and her tales of life in the early grades.
Looking for other “best of the best” lists? Then check out the 2012 Notable Children’s Books list compiled by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of The American Library Association.
And here are two more sources: The New York Times’ Notable Children’s Books of 2010 and Publishers Weekly‘s Best Picture Books of 2011.
Happy reading.