Favorite Children Authors

October 14, 2011

Parents of young children often ask about where to start looking for good books to read to their children. After many years of teaching first grade and several years of planning and presenting library storytimes, I have accumulated a list of favorite authors.

The first author I often guide parents to is Eric Carle.  Eric Carle’s books include: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider, The Grouchy Ladybug, The Tiny Seed, and A House for Hermit Crab, Do You Want to Be My Friend?  and many others. Several of his books can be enjoyed by children on several developmental levels such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Included in the book are several opportunities for learning: tactile experience, color recognition, naming the days of the week, and counting.
 
Eric Carle’s books include gorgeous illustrations, multi leveled concepts, and beautiful stories with which young children can identify: such as looking for the bright yellow sunshine you’ll find illustrated in most of his books. Eric Carle has also illustrated several familiar books by Bill Martin  including:  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?,  Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? and Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?

More of my favorite authors for young children include Mark Brown, Margaret Wise Brown, Tomi DePaola, Kevin Henkes, Rachel Isadora, Arnold Lobel, James Marshall, Todd Parr, Patricia Polacco and Brian Wildsmith.

Encourage parents of young children to choose an author and encourage reading!

Amy T.
Raytown Branch