Best Read-Aloud Books for Kids

We first picked up this book because our 5-yr-old was obsessed with trains, but we all love this book. It's about dinosaurs longing for adventure who decide to ride a train. The stanzas rhyme perfectly and are very clever - so clever that this book is MY first choice to read every night. It's the kind of book you wish you had been creative enough to have written yourself.



Another clever rhyming book about a kid who imagines the "ultimate" car. Great for sparking the imagination - kids will want to design their own cars after this.



The name "Skippyjon Jones" is just fun to say, and this book is filled with silly phrases to read out loud. It's one of my 12-year-old's favorites - she loves to do the accents.



Silly book about a land where food falls out of the sky. My kids love the idea of this, and we often end up discussing the food "weather" we wish we could experience, rather than finishing the book.



I suspect that my kids just love to hear me say the word "stinky." This tale is just like The Gingerbread Man, and my kids love the refrain from that story, "Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man." Take out "gingerbread" and insert "stinky cheese," and we have a winner.



This is a great book for letting your kids know that everybody has bad days sometimes. Viorst's words are perfect - you can picture a real kid going through these "horrors" that seem like such a big deal when you're young.



I personally don't understand why every one of my kids LOVES this book. It's an odd book, with weird word choices, and old-fashioned illustrations. But what do I know? Let me reiterate: EVERY kid I know who has been read this book wants to hear it again. And again.



Short, to the point, and has animal noises. Perfect.



A classic about a tree that gives a boy everything it has 'til it has nothing left. Sad, but I love to hear the empathy my kids have for the tree.



Even my 3 boys love this story of little Madeline, who lives in a boarding school and has to have her appendix taken out. Maybe they just like to hear me make a fool of myself with a very poor French accent.



My kids love the idea of becoming a pirate. Sailing, buried treasure...every kid's dream.



Very funny. Another book that looks like it's for girls, but the boys like it just as much.



This is for kids 8 and up. It's about a boy who runs away to the live in the mountains. My kids love the idea of being able to run away, live in a hollowed-out tree, and eat the things they can catch. Too cool.



Great for 6 to 10-yr-olds. These are funny books, lots of plays on words that kids might not immediately understand - that's why they're great to read aloud together - you can explain along the way. My 9-yr-old has the whole series (about 10 books) and has read them numerous times, both with me and by himself.



If you only have one book in your children's library, this should be it. It has all the classics (Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Madeline, Goodnight Moon, Curious George) and many newer books as well (Stellaluna, Owen, The Stinky Cheese Man). There are 44 books in this anthology - amazing value. This is also a great gift to give at a baby shower.