Explore our curated collection of children's books book reviews and recommendations.
Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler's The Gruffalo is one of the most beloved and best-selling children's picture books of the modern era, combining a clever trickster narrative, rhythmic rhyming couplets, and a memorably invented monster into a read-aloud experience that has sold over 13.5 million copies worldwide and won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize — a record that speaks for itself.
Feb 21, 2026
First published by Random House in 1957, The Cat in the Hat by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel is one of the most consequential children's books ever written — a deliberate act of educational disruption that became a cultural institution, ranked number nine on Publishers Weekly's all-time list of best-selling children's books and placing at number 36 on School critical coverage's "Top 100 Picture Books" survey in 2012.
Feb 15, 2026
Green Eggs and Ham is a landmark children's picture book published by the Beginner Books imprint of Random House on August 12, 1960, born from a $50 wager between Dr. Seuss and his editor Bennett Cerf — a bet that Seuss could not write an engaging children's book using only 50 distinct words. The result was widely praised by critics and has endured for over six decades as a staple of early childhood reading, named by The Atlantic as one of its 65 Essential Children's Books and adapted into a Netflix television series in 2019.
Feb 13, 2026
Published by DK Children in September 2020, The Mysteries of the Universe is a children's space encyclopedia by Will Gater that guides readers aged 6–8 through more than 100 celestial objects — from planets and asteroids to black holes and galaxies — pairing real photography with illustrations and storybook-style text to make the cosmos accessible to early learners.
Mar 15, 2026
First published by Harper & Brothers on October 15, 1952, Charlotte's Web is a Newbery Honor children's novel by E. B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams, that has become one of the best-selling children's books of all time — following a pig named Wilbur and the spider Charlotte, whose ingenious loyalty transforms both their fates.
Feb 26, 2026
First published in 1964 by Harper & Row, Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree is a children's picture book that has spent six decades generating both fierce devotion and fierce debate — one of the most talked-about titles in American children's literature, and one of its most genuinely unresolved.
Feb 13, 2026
Bridge to Terabithia is a Newbery Medal-winning children's novel by Katherine Paterson, originally published in 1977, that follows fifth-grader Jesse Aarons and his new neighbor Leslie Burke as they forge a transformative friendship and build an imaginary kingdom called Terabithia — before a sudden tragedy reshapes everything Jesse understands about courage, grief, and growing up.
Feb 23, 2026
R. J. Palacio's Wonder is a contemporary children's novel published on February 14, 2012, by Knopf Books for Young Readers, following ten-year-old August "Auggie" Pullman — a boy with Treacher Collins syndrome — as he navigates his first year at Beecher Prep after years of homeschooling. A New York Times bestseller that has sold over 16 million copies worldwide and been published in more than fifty languages, it received strong critical praise from outlets including Entertainment Weekly and Common Sense Media, and its message inspired the Choose Kind movement. The multi-perspective structure, which gives voice not only to Auggie but to his sister Via and classmates, is one of its most discussed structural choices; readers who prefer a single narrator may find the shifting viewpoints an adjustment, though many critics consider them a strength. It is designed for readers aged roughly 9–11 and remains one of the most widely assigned middle-grade novels of the past decade.
Feb 23, 2026
Originally published in 1982, Roald Dahl's The BFG remains one of children's literature's most enduring novels, built on an unlikely friendship between a small orphaned girl and a gentle giant, and backed by sales of more than 37 million copies worldwide as of 2009.
Feb 20, 2026
Roald Dahl's Matilda is a children's novel that has endured for decades as one of the most celebrated works in its genre, following a brilliant, telekinetic girl navigating neglectful parents and a tyrannical headmistress — and winning. Originally published in 1988 by Jonathan Cape and illustrated by Quentin Blake, it has since inspired a feature film, a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, and a Netflix adaptation, cementing its status as a cornerstone of children's literature.
Feb 14, 2026
Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid is the illustrated children's novel that launched one of the best-selling book series in publishing history, introducing Greg Heffley — an ambitious, self-absorbed middle-schooler navigating popularity, family chaos, and the social minefield of junior high — to more than 250 million readers worldwide.
Feb 28, 2026
This illustrated chapter storybook from Applesauce Press's Kid Classics series adapts Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic mystery for readers ages 8 and up, abridged and retold by editor Margaret Novak while remaining true to Doyle's original text, with illustrations by Maïté Schmitt — making one of literature's most celebrated detective stories genuinely accessible to a new generation.
Mar 5, 2026Search
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