Picture books for children

Looking for books that keep children's attention?

If you are looking for picture books for children that thoroughly engage kindergarten and preschool students, the following have been a hit over and over with my students throughout my teaching career.

Young children love the language of a great story accompanied by clear illustrations. They enjoy playing with toys or story related items that they have made and this also furthers story comprehension.

Use the picture books below to direct the children's attention to the skills of listening and speaking, phonemic awareness and reading and writing.

Goodnight Moon by Wanda Gag is a great book for teaching rhyme. Goodnight Moon teaching ideas...	Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin and John Archambault is a fun book for teaching the alphabet. Make your own tree with construction paper and then use alphabet sponges to paint on the letters.
Harold and the Purple Crayon 50th Anniversary Edition (Purple Crayon Books) by Crockett Johnson	The Story about Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese . This is a great story to instigate discussions on past and diverse cultures.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle	The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
Where the Wild Things Are	The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Blueberries for Sal (Book + CD) by Robert McCloskey	Make Way for Ducklings (Viking Kestrel picture books) by Robert McCloskey
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle	Red is Best by Kathy Stinson and Robin Baird Lewis
50 Below Zero (Classic Munsch) by Robert Munsch	The Paper Bag Princess (Classic Munsch) by Robert Munsch
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton	Swimmy by Leo Lionni
The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Hughet Bishop and Kurt Wiese	Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent
Freight Train by Donald Crews	Rain by Robert Kalan and Donald Crews
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin	Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag
The Snowy Day by Exra Jack Keats	The Story of Ferdinand (Puffin Storytime) by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson
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Criteria for choosing good picture books for children include:

the book is still interesting when it is read over and over
the illustrations are recognizable from a distance
the story instigates discussions and questions
the book is interesting to a variety of grades
the images are suitable for clarifying the meaning of words and concepts in the story

Read more about using picture books for kids to develop language skills.

More of my favorite picture books for children

Andy and the Lion by Daugherty, James
The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Curious George by H. A. Rey
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
Lilly's purple plastic purse by Kevin Henkes
Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John Birmingham
Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth
Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Snowman by Raymond Briggs
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Kindergarten children enjoy books by Bill Peet...

Bill Peet picture books
Buy Bill Peet books

and of course, they love Eric Carle's stories.
Eric Carle picture books

Buy Eric Carle Books here