100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know

Recently I posted a list of which of 100 Top Children’s Novels I had read. It had a great response, so when I saw a list of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know posted by the New York Public Library, I knew I was going to have to see how many of these I’d read. I have marked the ones I’ve read to at least one of my children in bold.

1. ABUELA  by Arthur Dorros,
2. ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY  by Judith Viorst
3. ANANSI AND THE MOSS-COVERED ROCK by Eric A. Kimmel
4. ANDY AND THE LION  by James Daugherty
5. BARK, GEORGE by Jules Feiffer
6. THE BOSSY GALLITO: A TRADITIONAL CUBAN FOLK TALE retold by Lucia M.Gonzalez; illustrated by Lulu Delacre
7. BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES by Russell Hoban; illustrated by Lillian Hoban
8. BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE? by Bill Martin, Jr.; illustrated by Eric Carle
9. BRUNO MUNARI’S ABC by Bruno Munari
10. BUZ by Richard Egielski
11. CAPS FOR SALE; A TALE OF A PEDDLER, SOME MONKEYS AND THEIR MONKEY BUSINESS by Esphyr Slobodkina
12. THE CARROT SEED by Ruth Krauss; illustrated by Crockett Johnson
13. A CHAIR FOR MY MOTHER by Vera B. Williams
14. CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault; illustrated by Lois Ehlert
15. CLICK, CLACK, MOO : COWS THAT TYPE / by Doreen Cronin
16. COME ALONG, DAISY! by Jane Simmons
17. CORDUROY by Don Freeman
18. CURIOUS GEORGE by H. A. Rey
19. DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul Stickland and Henrietta
20. DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS! by Mo Willems
21. DUCK ON A BIKE by David Shannon
22. FIRE TRUCK  by Peter Sís
23. FREIGHT TRAIN by Donald Crews
24. FROGGY GETS DRESSED by Jonathan London
25. THE GARDENER by Sarah Stewart
26. GEORGE AND MARTHA by James Marshall
27. GO AWAY, BIG GREEN MONSTER! by Ed Emberley
28. GOIN’ SOMEPLACE SPECIAL by Patricia McKissack
29. GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA by Peggy Rathmann
30. GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret W. Brown; illustrated by Clement Hurd
31. GOSSIE  by Dunrea Olivier
32. GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY by Allen Say
33. HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON by Crockett Johnson
    
34. HARRY THE DIRTY DOG by Gene Zion ; illustrated by Margaret Graham
35. HENRY HIKES TO FITCHBURG by D. B. (Donald B.) Johnson
36. HORTON HATCHES THE EGG by Dr.Seuss,
37. HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOOD NIGHT? by Jane Yolen
38. I KISSED THE BABY! by Mary Murphy
39. IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura J. Numeroff
40. IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE: A YIDDISH FOLKTALE retold and illustrated by Margot Zemach
41. JOHN HENRY by Julius Lester; illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
42. JULIUS by Angela Johnson ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey
43. KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON by Kevin Henkes
44. LILLY’S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE by Kevin Henkes
45. THE LINE-UP BOOK by Russo Marisabina
46. THE LITTLE RED HEN: AN OLD STORY by Margot Zemach
47. LON PO PO: A RED RIDING HOOD STORY FROM CHINA by Ed Young
48. LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE by Bernard Waber
49. MABELA THE CLEVER by Margaret Read MacDonald
50. MACHINES AT WORK by Byron Barton
51. MADELINE by Ludwig Bemelmans
52. MAISY GOES SWIMMING by Lucy Cousins
53. MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS by Robert McCloskey
54. MAMA CAT HAS THREE KITTENS by Denise Fleming
55. THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS by Mordicai Gerstein
56. MARTHA SPEAKS by Susan Meddaugh
57. MIKE MULLIGAN AND HIS STEAM SHOVEL by Virginia L. Burton
58. MILLIONS OF CATS by Wanda Gág
59. MISS NELSON IS MISSING! by Harry Allard and James Marshall
60. MR. GUMPY’S OUTING by John Birmingham
61. MUFARO’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS: AN AFRICAN TALE retold and illustrated by John Steptoe
62. MUNCHA! MUNCHA! MUNCHA! by Candace Fleming
63. MY FRIEND RABBIT by Eric Rohmann
64. THE NAPPING HOUSE by Audrey Wood
65. NO, DAVID! by David Shannon
66. OFF TO SCHOOL, BABY DUCK! by Amy Hest
67. OLD BLACK FLY by Jim Aylesworth
68. OLIVIA by Ian Falconer
69. OWEN by Kevin Henkes
70. PAPA, PLEASE GET THE MOON FOR ME by Eric Carle
71. PIERRE: A CAUTIONARY TALE by Maurice Sendak
72. THE POLAR EXPRESS by Chris Van Allsburg
73. PUSS IN BOOTS by Charles Perrault
74. THE RANDOM HOUSE BOOK OF MOTHER GOOSE: A TREASURY OF 386 TIMELESS NURSERY RHYMES by Arnold Lobel
75. ROUND TRIP by Ann Jonas
76. RUMPELSTILTSKIN by Paul O. Zelinsky
77. THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats
78. SPOTS, FEATHERS AND CURLY TAILS by Nancy Tafuri
79. THE STORY OF FERDINAND by Munro Leaf
80. THE STRAY DOG Marc, Simont
81. STREGA NONA by Tomie De Paola
82. SWIMMY by Leo Lionni
83. SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE by William Steig
84. THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT by Beatrix Potter
85. TAR BEACH by Faith Ringgold
86. TEN, NINE, EIGHT by Molly Bang
87. THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY by Simms Taback
88. THE THREE BEARS by Paul Galdone
89. TRASHY TOWN by Andrea Griffing Zimmerman
90. THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS BY A. WOLF by John Scieszka
91. TUESDAY by David Wiesner
92. UPTOWN by Collier Bryan
93. THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR by Eric Carle
94. THE WHEELS ON THE BUS adapted and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
95. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak
96. WHERE’S SPOT? by Eric Hill
97. WHISTLE FOR WILLIE by Ezra Jack Keats
98. THE WOLF’S CHICKEN STEW by Keiko Kasza
99. YOKO by Rosemary Wells
100. ZOMO THE RABBIT: A TRICKSTER TALE FROM WEST AFRICA retold and illustrated by Gerald McDermott

I count 41 of the top 100. There are a few I’m not counting that I know we’ve read some version of, like Mother Goose, but I’m not sure if it’s the one listed. It looks like I’ve got a lot more to go. Lucky for me, I’ve still got a little girl who loves a good picture book. (I’ve also got some older kids who pretend that they aren’t listening!)

If you like book lists, my favorite list is the 1000 Good Books List.