My First Words (Classic Picture Books Book 9)
35 Classic Children’s Books Even Adults Love
Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck has just moved to a new town where he doesn't have any friends. His teachers and the police think of him as a "skinny thug. When he notices that some of the pages are missing, he resolves to track them down. Jeffrey Lionel Magee, also known as "Maniac Magee," is an orphan and a runaway. He ends up in a small Pennsylvania town torn apart by racial strife, and astounds everyone with his extraordinary athletic feats as he works to heal the painful divide between the town's black and white citizens.
Nine-year-old Peter Hatcher has it rough: His little brother, Farley Drexel who prefers to be known as Fudge , gets all the attention, despite his tantrums and infuriating behavior. Peter's one consolation is his pet turtle, Dribble — but even Dribble falls victim to Fudge, who ends up in the hospital after swallowing the unfortunate critter. Matilda is the story of an exceptionally gifted girl who outsmarts her cruel parents and the brutish school headmistress Miss Trunchbull with the help of her magical abilities and her kind teacher Miss Honey.
Illustrated with vivacious drawings by Quentin Blake. Norton Juster's classic fantasy — with wry illustrations by Jules Feiffer — follows bored young boy Milo after he receives a mysterious gift: Sad-sack sixth-grader Greg Heffley just wants to fit in. His preteen diaries chronicle the dramas of junior high as he and his best friend, Rowley, try to survive as undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily.
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When Rowley grows more popular, Greg takes drastic measures to save their friendship. Inspired by Pogo and the Disney comics of Carl Barks, the Bone graphic novels tell the epic tale of cousins Phoney, Smiley and Fone Bone, who are exiled from their hometown of Boneville after Phoney's mayoral campaign goes wrong. After wandering across a desert, the cousins eventually end up in a mysterious valley where they are drawn into a battle to defeat the dark Lord of the Locusts.
In this lovely, wordless graphic novel, a man leaves his homeland and sets off for a new country, where he must build a new life for himself. The evocative sepia drawings capture the heartbreak and longing of leaving home, as well as the wonder of arriving in a strange new land. Graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang's funny and sensitive drawings weave together the stories of Jin Wang, a Chinese-American kid who just wants to fit in at his new school; basketball player Danny, whose life is bedeviled by his stereotypical cousin Chin-Kee; and the mythical Monkey King, whose desire to become a god gets him in rather a lot of trouble.
In an alternative-history version of England during the reign of the fictitious King James III, Bonnie, Sylvia and Simon try to foil the plots of their detestable governess, Miss Slighcarp, who holds the household in an iron grip while Bonnie's parents are abroad. Illustrated by Edward Gorey, a master of macabre, this sinister novel follows Lewis, an orphan who goes to live with his magician uncle in a house that holds a clock counting off the time until the end of the world.
When Lewis accidentally raises the dead, he must stop the clock before it strikes for the last time. When Claudia decides to run away from home, she knows any old place won't do, and so settles on the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She and her little brother, Jamie, move into the museum, sleeping in a 16th century bed and bathing in the fountain. While there, they uncover a tremendous secret. In this magical novel written and illustrated by Brian Selznick, year-old Hugo is an orphan, clock-keeper and petty thief living within the walls of a Paris train station in Before he died, his father left him a broken automaton, and Hugo labors to uncover the secret hidden inside the machine.
In the s, as her mother prepares to be a contestant on a television game show, Miranda tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space. Melanie and April are fascinated by ancient Egypt and decide to play their own Egypt game in the storage yard of a mysterious professor's antique shop. But the imaginative game soon takes on a life of its own as the kids get entangled in a murder mystery. With illustrations by Alton Raible.
Five novels steeped in British and Welsh mythology follow the story of year old Will Stanton, seventh son of a seventh son and last of the Old Ones, in his quest to vanquish the powers of the Dark. Married couple Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire wrote and illustrated this luminous guide to the Greek gods, from cold, beautiful Artemis — goddess of the hunt — to the mighty father Zeus who lives on Olympus, "a mountain so high and so steep that no man could climb it and see them in their shining palace.
An aviator whose plane is forced down in the Sahara encounters a little prince who has fallen to Earth from a tiny planet and relates his adventures in seeking the secret of what is important in life. The poetic French novella was translated by Richard Howard. At birth, Ella is given the "gift" of obedience by a meddling fairy — with the result that she's forced to obey any command anyone gives her. When she finds herself falling in love with Prince Char, she knows she can't marry him because anyone who discovers her secret could force her to destroy the kingdom — so Ella must choose between her own happiness and the safety of her country.
Inspired by Chinese folk tales, Grace Lin's novel tells the story of Minli, who lives in the shade of Fruitless Mountain. The bitter Jade Dragon keeps the mountain barren and empty, but Minli whose name means "quick thinking" sets out to find a solution from the Old Man of the Moon. This thrilling fantasy quintet follows the life of Percy Jackson, a demigod and the son of Poseidon, god of the sea.
Though heavily inspired by classical mythology, the series feels thoroughly modern thanks to Percy's funny, smart-aleck narration. Maria Tatar collects 26 classic fairy tales, pairs them with exquisite illustrations and supplements them with literary, cultural and historical commentary.
This children's classic chronicles the boyhood of Wart, the future King Arthur, as he comes under the tutelage of the great wizard Merlin.
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In this charmingly quirky tale, Merlin teaches Wart about the world by transforming him into various kinds of animals. The story of Ha, a young girl living during the end of the Vietnam War, is told in a series of understated poems. Ha chronicles the life-changing year of , when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama. Young Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, bred to be a genius, is drafted to Battle School where he trains to lead the century-long fight against the alien Buggers.
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States. Escape is his only chance to survive — but even that may not save him. Madeleine L'Engle's bestselling series revolves around the precocious Murray children. Plain, bespectacled Meg, brilliant Charles Wallace, the sensible twins Sandy and Dennys, and their friend Calvin travel through time, encounter strange creatures and battle the forces of darkness in these metaphysical science fiction novels.
Sam Gribley runs away from his family's cramped, crowded apartment in New York City and lives alone with his pet falcon in the Catskill Mountains, struggling to survive. Hunting and fishing sustain him in the wilderness, but when a terrible storm approaches, Sam has to fight for his life. Fleeing from an arranged marriage, a year-old Eskimo girl gets lost in the desolate Alaskan wilderness and is taken in by a pack of wolves. The wolves accept her as a daughter, and she grows to love them too, but the time comes when she must leave them behind. Lois Lowry's novel illustrates the power of friendship in the face of terrifying oppression.
In Nazi-occupied Denmark, year-old Annemarie helps shelter her best friend from the Nazis while the Danish Resistance works to smuggle thousands of Jews across the sea to Sweden. Inspired by the true story of a Native American woman who lived for 18 years on an island off the California coast, Island of the Blue Dolphins tells the story of year-old Karana, who must hunt, find shelter, tame wild animals and fend for herself as she fights to survive all alone. Headed for Canada to visit his father for the first time since his parents' divorce, year-old Brian is the sole survivor of a plane crash, with only the clothes he has on his back and a hatchet to help him live in the wilderness.
Soman Chainani wrote his graduate thesis on why evil women make irresistible fairy-tale villains. He reviews children's books for School Library Journal and writes about all things children's literature on his blog, Scope Notes. Gussie Lewis is an independent bookseller focusing on childrens' and YA titles.
Margi also writes plays, hikes, skis, paddles, or sits quietly with a book in her lap. Rita Williams-Garcia is an award-winning writer of books for young readers, and is known for her realistic portrayal of teens of color. Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player. The Ultimate Backseat Bookshelf: Facebook Twitter Flipboard Email. August 5, 9: Amazon iBooks Independent Booksellers.
Taylor Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Milne Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Charlotte's Web by E. White Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Biography, Memoir And History. Harry Potter series by J. The Complete Series Author J. Rowling Your purchase helps support NPR programming. I have just received these books and I have just received these books and we sat with my toddler to read.
My toddler loves them. These books have simple pictures with names. Pages are thick which is good for toddlers not to tear them. Also if you are bilingual it is good to flipp the pages and show the pictures by saying the names in any language you want. We bought these books for travelling purpose, so the size is good which is only 5 to 6 inches. I own pretty much all of these books now and for good reason.
There is no better book to help your child with word association than these. The bold images are great for helping them learn and make word associations! These worked wonders when teaching my first child and I am now using them for my second child as well. I have several of these "My First" card sets and I think this is my favorite.
These cards seem to be marketed towards infants and toddlers but I think they really work well for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. I think it all depends on what you do with the cards. I work with infants and toddlers that have developmental delays and I love these cards. Here is what I really like about these cards: They are a great size for little hands to hold so they really feel like the size of a book. This is probably for me one of the most important features. See All Buying Options.
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I am always looking for fun and overall good books for my little one to learn from. This book is such a great addition to our library!! We love this book and look through it all the time.
We play games with the different animals on the pages. As she is getting older the questions get harder and it has made it so much fun over and over. I love that this book has been able to grow with my little one with the different ways that we can interact and play. We've been reading it to her everyday since When we were buying books for our little one, we wanted a mix of interactive and "regular" ones for her to read from.
The interactive aspect is why we got this book, and it's been great. We've been reading it to her everyday since she was months, and around month 6 she started pulling open the tabs that reveal the animals herself and then giving small "ooo! Still have it—57 years later! I danced, too, so it was very special. I reread them last year and they are just as sweet as I remembered.
I cherish those stories for building my love of books. This book was a favorite. I liked reading before, but that book was the first one that had a deep impact on me. Real Simple may receive compensation when you click through and purchase from links contained on this website. Close View all gallery. Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team.
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