Let’s face it, the bookstore and library are saturated with children’s books. How do you know what to choose?
For me, if a book has dense paragraphs of prose per picture, I almost always put it back down, no matter how skilled/beautiful/cute the illustrations. My six-year-olds respond better to a decent balance between prose and pictures. They’re more engaged, and these are usually more concisely told stories that utilize language more effectively and, so, are more fun to read.
From my extensive hunt for optimal reading material for my feral kids, I’ve compiled a list of 7 tried-and-true children’s books you will love reading with your child.
Books about feelings
Bear with me here. I am still learning to express my own feelings, let alone teach my kids how to do so. But these reads assist them in understanding the range of and often conflicting emotions they can experience.
Both In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek & Christine Roussey and I’m Happy-Sad Today by Lory Britain & Matthew Rivera feature beautiful, bright colors and accessible discussions about feelings.
Bonus features: I’m Happy-Sad Today has helpful instructions at the end of the book for experiencing this book with your children and fun cut-outs for sensory-sensitive kids in In My Heart.
Books about socializing
Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller & Jen Hill combines soft, skillful watercolors and sweet, rhythmic prose in an important story that demonstrates that how you behave toward others, even the smallest gestures, makes a big impact.
Sad books
Sometimes you just need to get up in your feels with a book. Oh wait, that’s me. Sometimes kids need a bittersweet read to prepare them for the bittersweet moments of life. I mean, that is the only way I can justify why our parents allowed The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein to be a seminal book of our childhoods. I’m only half-joking. It’s a classic, it’s beautiful, and it hits like 70% cacao.
Books that encourage
Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Suess delivers powerful life lessons with all of the fun wordplay and quirky story-telling Suess is known for. It handles ambition, achievement, and the inevitable failures of life.
Books with counting
Stack the Cats by Susan Ghahremani–I mean, you saw the picture, right? And the rest of it is just as freaking adorable.
Wordless books
Some of our favorites have been Journey by Aaron Becker, The Conductor by Laëtitia Devernay, and Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell.
Interestingly enough, I almost added Instructions by Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess even though it has words. I didn’t remember that, because I was looking for books that make you think outside of the box to find the line of the story. And Instructions kind of does that by dropping the reader into a setting/story without context.
I love the questions my kids ask when reading these illustration-only stories. It’s important for them to stretch their story-telling muscles and co-write the story with their interpretation.
A plain good story…
This is my favorite children’s book ever. It is like a warm hug. The colors and illustration are gorgeous, and the story is sweet with the good lived-in feel of a folk tale, like an old favorite sweater. A Mouse Called Julian by this same author is also a great read.
Ashley B. Davis 
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