Are you doing a summer reading program with your kids? I really love our library reading program, because even babies can participate (parents track the minutes they read out loud), and adults can as well. I always sign up along with the kids because I feel like I can’t nag them to read unless I’m doing it myself.
Since it’s summer, we’re going to the library a lot more, too. You can find some great older kids books this way — bookstores seem to display really popular books or really recent books, but you have to hunt to find some of the older classics. Here are seven classic kids books that aren’t as popular anymore, but are worth hunting down to read with your children.
7 lesser known (but classic!) kids books
1.) The Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown
There was a little fur family, warm as toast
smaller than most, in little fur coats
and they lived in a warm wooden tree.
Margaret Wise Brown is best known for “Goodnight Moon,” but I like this story better. It tells the story of a little fur child (we never do find out exactly what kind of animal he is…) and his adventures in the woods during the day. He returns to his house at night, where his parents tuck him into bed “all soft and warm.” A great, soothing bedtime story.
2.) The Funny Little Woman by Arlene Mosel – a woman who loves to laugh and make dumplings accidentally loses one. She chases her dumpling…right into the clutches of the wicked oni, who want to capture her so she can cook dumplings for them forever. In the end, she manages to outwit the wicked oni and escape (sorry, spoiler alert) without losing her sense of humor.
3.) The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats – one of my favorite books for little kids ever. Lovely illustrations and a sweet story about a little boy exploring outside one winter’s day.
4.) Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag – This is one where the kids will chime in after reading this line a few times, “Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats!” An old man and his wife are lonely, so he sets off to find her the prettiest cat in the world. As you can tell from the title, he comes back with plenty for her to choose from. In real life, this would make me break out in hives, but as a storybook it’s very sweet.
5.) Georgie by Robert Bright – Georgie is the friendly little ghost who haunts the Whittakers’ house. Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker know it’s time for bed when they hear Georgie creak the stairs and squeak the door. But what is he to do when Mr. Whittaker gets the wild idea to fix the stairs and oil the door? An amusing, completely non-scary ghost story.
6.) Angus and the Ducks by Marjorie Flack – Angus is a furry young Scottish terrier. When he finds the door to his house open one day, he decides to take advantage and wanders outside, where he meets some very strange creature. Angus’s curious attitude reminds me so much of toddlers and preschoolers.
7.) May I Bring A Friend? by Beatrice de Regniers and Beni Montresor – When a little boy is invited to tea with the king and queen, he asks if he may bring a friend. Over the course of a week, he brings an outlandish selection of zoo animals to visit the palace…until the last day, when the king and queen have the last laugh.
Does your family have a favorite classic kids book? Share in the comments so we can all try some new ones this summer!
This post was written by me and originally published on the BabyCenter blog. It is republished here with permission.
Leave a Reply