what is your favorite children book of all time?

Hi, I am new here. I'd like to greet by asking, if you are asked to choose three books of your favorite, what are they?

Hello there myeugene!

I'm presuming that you mean for age levels new-born to five or six.
Goodnight Moon
One Morning in Maine
Herbert the Timid Dragon
come to mind as ones my three sons really enjoyed.
Also, pretty much anything by Dr. Seuss, and several others.

*ETA: I'm about to head out to my wife's Library to process books and read to the kids - Pre-K and 2nd grade today. Not sure what the story will be, but I (at least) will enjoy it.

Not sure I can limit it to 3 so I'm just going to give the first ones that pop into my head.
Apple bough by Noel Streatfield
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
All of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls but particularly Little house in the Big woods and Farmer Boy which I'm reading to my kids right now.
See I still didn't manage to keep it to 3.

Animalia
Where the Sidewalk Ends
The Monster at the End of This Book

Primary grades:
Horton Hatches the Egg
The Little Engine That Could
Anything by Patricia Polacco

Middle grades:
Little House books
Hank the Cowdog books
Beloved Benjamin is Waiting

Hello, WholeHouseLibrary, Sodapop, fleela, MerryMary.
I didn't think much of what others would come up with for their favorites. Now that I see the list of yours, yes, there might have been better if we categorize separately pre-schooler and up.

My favorite are Little Prince, Alice in Wonderland, and the last one I'm still checking. The last one got to be of the same magnitude as the two, so I'm kind of more measuring now. Anyway I come to agree that three best of all time might be too narrow to walk by.

How are we defining children's books? I generally stick to the middle age group. I chose three favorites based on how many times I read them over and over again...

The Chronicles of Narnia
A Little Princess and The Secret Garden — definitely tied; I couldn't choose one over the other!
The Seventh Princess

Followed very closely by Harry Potter, of course.

MR HERMIT CRAB by Mimpsy Rhys. It's in a class by itself. I loved it as a child because it seemed magical. I loved it as I was growing up because it was so rich with mythical allusions that it made me eager to learn more. I love it as an adult because it's witty and delicious. I commandeered my mother's copy (published in 1929) when I was a child and I've guarded it jealously ever since. I remember my mother saying, "You LIKE that funny old book?"

I love many children's books, but I can't think of two more that even begin to hold a candle to this one.

my answer would depend on what kind of mood I'm in on a particular day, and what i've been reading recently.

I really like A Dog's Life by Ann Martin and the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. third and finally, I suppose, Flotsam by David Weisner

I have 2 from my childhood that I can still read and thoroughly enjoy: And To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street and Just Only John, plus 1 my youngest son and I found and shared many times: Bedtime for Francis...

All books by Enid Blyton, but more specifically the
Famous Five series; Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh ; and Stormy by Jim Kjelgaard

I need to limit this to an age group - what about 6-8 year olds?

The Amazing Adventure of Chilly Billy by Peter Mayle
O'diddy By Jocelyn Stevenson
Mike's Magic Seeds by Alexander McCall Smith

Of all time just generally I would say Momo by Michael Ende.

Hairy McLary ( from Donaldson's Dairy) by New Zealand author/illustrator Lynley Dodd has to be one of the best children's picture books around ( along with all her inter-related other books!).

I have used this book in the school library with pre-schoolers to Grade 3. The rhyming text and amusing pictures work so well. In fact with Grade 3's we composed rhyming thank you letters to Lynley Dodd in appreciation and emailed them to her.

My kids have loved the Hairy Mclairy books. Especially Hairy McClairy and the rumpus at the vets and Hairy McClairy and Zachary Quack. They like the rhyming text, the wonderful illustrations and the recurring characters. I love them because you can read them over and over again without getting bored to tears.

After reading thousands of children's books, it's very hard to choose.

My Pre-K students love these "new" books, although all the Dr. Seuss books are favorites.
Tedd Arnold books particularly Catalina Magdalena Hoopensteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan Was Her Name
Tony Mitton books, Dinosaurumpus
by Karen Beaumont and David Catrow book I Like Myself!

As I got a little older, I grew up loving
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Pride and Predjudice - Jane Austen

Goddessladyj - I also love Harry Potter books....

If it is chapter books, then The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe (as well as the other Narnia ones), The Tale of Despereaux, and Tom's midnight garden. Although a more recent one is battling for my top three, called The Underneath by Kathi Appelt.

If it is picture books, then Where the Wild Things Are, Bark, George by Jules Feiffer, and CDB, by William Steig.

I absolutely loved Caddie Woodlawn growing up. I renewed it from the library all the time. It was wonderful.

#16

I did not like The Underneath; I seem to be in the minority, though.

Mortimer- Robert Munsch,
The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Eric Carle,
Big Foot- M.P. Robertson.
It's hard to pick only three!
I love the Very...(Lonely Firefly, Quiet Cricket..) by Eric Carle .
A lot of my favorites are by Robert Munsch- Paperbag Princess, Zoom, Purple, Green and Yellow, Up, Up, Down.

Most of my favorite children's books I came across as an adult. Nonetheless:
Snow Dog by Jim Kjelgaard =one of the best writers I have read
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (turned me into a poet)
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
I also have fallen in love with Jean Craighead George for childrens stories.

Holes by Louis Sachar. He's probably my favorite children's author.
The Harry Potter series--I'm counting it as one ;)
Sideways Stories From Wayside School--another Louis Sachar

picture books:
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Bonjour, Babar! by Jean de Brunhoff (which is all 6 original books)
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble

chapter books:
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Bunnicula by Deborah Howe
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Harry Potter by JK Rowling
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle

wow. that's a lot...

I split hairs a lot. My students laugh at me because they will ask me when I present a book, "is this your favorite?" and I'll say, "well, it's my favorite friendship hibernation story A Little Bit of Winter by Paul Stewart." or "it's my favorite rhyming hibernation story Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson." I have lots and lots of favorites.
But, there are two YA novels of which I could not give away enough copies. Wish List by Eoin Colfer and Whirligig by Paul Fleischman.
I should go back and re-read them because it's been a few years, but I hesitate because what if they're not as good as I remember. Then I won't even have the memory of their goodness, I will be left with a reality that has fallen very short.

Anyways, I don't think the touchstone thingy is working for some of the authors and works, but they should be pretty easy to find.

>23 kconcannon: kconcannon

the only thing i've read by Fleischman is Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. my 4th grade boyfriend gave it to me for my birthday that year and i still love it 16 years later. now i want to read Whirligig. thanks!

Holes by Louis Sachar
Time for Andrew by Mary Downing Hahn
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Oh, I loved Whirligig, and also his Seedfolks!

Also, Robin McKinley's Beauty

TH White's Sword in the Stone, Creswick's Robin Hood, all the Narnia's, Secret Garden, Louisa May Alcott's stuff. I think I am dating myself here... but we read all of that to our daughters, too, and they loved it all.

Any of Margaret Wise Brown's picture books.
Yes, on Eric Carle, any and all.
Cooney's Miss Rumphius, one of our favorites.
One Morning in Maine, blueberries for Sal.
Long's How I Became a Pirate
Any of Robert Munsch's stuff, especially Giant
Tortoise's Dream
Too many others to list!

For independent and middle readers, my favorites have to include Charlotte's Web, The Underneath, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Moxy Maxwell does not love Stuart Little (hilarious), and Pictures of Hollis Woods. So hard, I could go on and on!

Wow....some good picks! I can't possibly narrow it down to three!
The first book that I remember reading independently was (Charlotte's Web). I loved it! I still have the copy over 25 years later! I read it to my daughter plenty of times, and she has now read it herself!!
I would have to say that (Otherwise known as Sheila the Great), and (Are you there God? It's me, Margaret.) were favourites then too!
NOW my favourite children's book has to be (Love You Forever) by ((Robert Munsch))

Too many to even recall. The first three to come to miund

The Book Thief
Wind in the Willows
Anne of Green Gables
and so on. Tomorrow I would probably have 3 entirely different ones

I can't pick 3 books but I think I can narrow it to three authors: Jenny Nimmo, Diana Wynne-Jones and Louis Sachar in that order. Other authors I would recomend are: Bruce Coville, Victor Appleton, and several others that have already been mentioned.

Welcome. I'm new too, I joined yesterday. My favorite children books would have to be:

1. The Invention of Hugo Cabert

2. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

3. Harris and Me

I'm looking at these posts on this thread, and I think everyone here has a good taste in books!