1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up

First of all, you will probably not be able to complete this list. There are very few people who could successfully complete this list. You would have to be multilingual and live in Europe to pull it off.I've read around 289 of the books on the list so far to my now 6 year old daughter. Several of the books are popular enough to still be in libraries and book stores. Several of the books are in the public domain and available to read online. However, most of the books are out of print, somewhat obscure and available to purchase only used and likely not at your local used book store. I've only run into a few that were expensive, most of them have been a couple dollars used, but, it adds up. Some of them there are just so few copies listed that you end up stuck buying one in acceptable condition simply because it's the only one you can find on the whole internet.Then there's the 'unobtainiums'. These are books which seem to have so completely fallen of the face of the earth that you spend months watching for one. For example, "Alvin says Goodnight" by Ulf Lofgren.Early on, there are picture books which were never published in English. Initially it's not a big deal, you just read the book in the original language and use google translate. Not a big deal. However, later you start running into chapter books that were never translated, like Uppo-Nalle. If you've ever taught yourself to type Finnish characters on a US keyboard, so that you could type it into Google Translate, so that you could end up with a rough translation, so that you could type it up into something that might sound like a children's book, just so you could read it to your bored child who just wants to play Pokemon Go; well, then you really know how to enjoy a Friday night. lol (My apologies for that run-on sentence, I couldn't resist)I share this to reiterate that for most people the list is not something that can be completed. I have to admit that I cannot finish it. I blame Uppo-Nalle. That little bear just broke me.. Or perhaps it was Finnish that broke me.. lol

If you are interested in children’s literature on any level be it as a collector, teacher, parent or someone who just likes reading literature for the young and young at heart, this is a wonderful book to have on your shelf as a reference.This is a large book of 960 pages printed in high gloss paper and since it is a reference book of sorts, it is bell built which will enable it to stand up to much flipping of pages and such. Either the cover of the original publication of each book or and example of illustrations, if appropriate, are provided. The original title (many older books have title changes throughout the years), Nationality, publisher and theme are provided along with the author, illustrator and original date of publication. Each book is given at least one full page of summation and comments; many of which also tell the background of the author and special little factoids about the book.I will warn you right now that the publishers of this book choose to use a small font and a very, very light font for some reason (I can understand the size but cannot understand the faded color of the font) which makes the book difficult for poor and old eyes. I find that from time to time, even under optimal lighting, that I must use a reading glass on this thing.The 1001 books covered here; and yes, there are 1001 of them, are most certainly Eurocentric which is one of the few complaints I have about the book but there are other books out there covering other regions of our earth available. Potential buyers should be aware of this. The other complaint I have is that there are number of books listed and summarized that have been published in only their country of origin and are only available in that particular language and there are not English translations...I know as I have hunted for many of them.I cannot down rank my star rating due to my two complaints because no book can meet the needs of every single reader or researcher...you find 100 different readers or researchers and you will have 100 slightly different needs. That is one of the fun parts of researching...digging up all you can everywhere you can...it is like a treasure hunt!The book contains color tabs breaking down the books into suggested age appropriate groups starting with 0 to 3 and working through 12 and up.Now there are two major conflicts found in this work. The first is that not everyone will agree with the books chosen by the publishers. There are thousands and thousands of books published over the past 20 0 years and we all have our favorites. I myself noted at least 20 or 30 books not mentioned in this work that I hold in very high esteem...hey, not book can do it all....... Second, many can argue over the age appropriate designation of each book. A person must remember that all children are different and part of being an adult attempting to help children in their reading program is the ability to KNOW THE CHILD YOU ARE WORKING WITH! As an example, when I was a very, very young child my mother read to me all the Brother’s Grimm tales and I am here to tell you that some of those stories terrified me; as a matter of fact they still do. Was it appropriate for my mother to read those books to me? I don’t know for sure. I don’t feel I was permanently damaged in any way and they were a major force in developing my strong interest in reading so I suppose it was worth a few bad dreams on my part...again, every child is different and again, if you ask 100 people about this subject you will probably get 100 different answers...again...KNOW THE CHILD YOU ARE WORKING WITH!All in all this is an excellent publication and I have found it very helpful throughout the years.This book is from my private collection.

Executive Summary: Buy this book and use it. If you read these 1001 books to your child, you will be giving him a wonderful gift and a tremendous advantage.As other reviews have said, this book is divided into age ranges: 0-3, 3+, 5+, 8+, and, 12+. Unlike other reviewers, I think the age groupings are spot on. You cannot read every book in the 0-3 category to a 6 month old, that's why it's a range: zero to three. If I get a book and my son isn't ready for it, I make a little note in the margin, e.g., "try again at 4.5."Some of the books do not exist in English translation. "The Jolly Aunt" and "The Wide-mouthed Frog" come to mind. But 99.8% of the books are at your library, available through interlibrary loan, or can be purchased used, shipped from the UK for under $6.00 at abebooks.com. Some of these books are hard to find, but it is worth finding them.I've used this book, Jim Trelease's "Read-Aloud Handbook," and Pam Allyn's "What to Read When" as a sort of curriculum for my son. He just turned four, but he is very advanced for his age. Right now he listens to chapter books without pictures that were written for 5th grades for up to 45 min. His teacher said that he should skip kindergarten and go straight to first grade. When he was 3, people often guessed he was 5 or 6. I credit this to our reading curriculum: we try to read 90 minutes per day (three 30 min. sessions). When we began, he could sit through, perhaps, one board book. When he was 3.5 we read Mr. Popper's Penguins and now we're reading Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid and Charles Dickens' The Magic Fishbone.Good luck!

I'm already working my way through The 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, so it was great to discover this book and use it to catch up on some of the classics I've missed out on, and find some new ones which have already become favourites. A very comprehensive list, laid out in age bands rather than strict chronological order, which gives me some light relief after the 'heavier' books in the adult version!

This is an excellent catalogue of the best of children's literature internationally and over decades. It's a joy to discover old favourites being recommended as well as to find unfamiliar titles to try. It contains summaries/reviews and is organised in age groups from the earliest board/picture books. Every home should have one!

Brilliant and packed with knowledge about fiction. One of those great books about books

Brilliant book to help you find some different stories for lesson planning. Gives the topics of stories i.e. sharing or fairy story

I could spend hours dipping into this book. I wanted it to help me make choices for my grandchild - which it does really well - but I also enjoy a little nostalgia with it. I can remember reading so many of the books to my son as he grew up and some which I loved as a child myself. Lots of the books included are more recent and I would not necessarily have come across them without the help of this huge tome. I love it and will find it helpful for years to come. An excellent "Grandparents' Guide".