Everyone loves a good book. Whether your child that needs to be read aloud to or your feisty fifth grader wants a new book, we have all of your reading needs covered. Below are some our favorite old and new titles for you to read to your child or for your beginning, intermediate, and fluent readers to enjoy alone.

By Margaret Wise Brown, Harper Collins

Perhaps the perfect children's bedtime book, Goodnight Moon is a short poem of goodnight wishes from a young rabbit preparing for--or attempting to postpone--his own slumber. He says goodnight to every object in sight and within earshot, including the "quiet old lady whispering hush." Clement Hurd's illustrations are simple and effective, alternating between small ink drawings and wide, brightly colored views of the little rabbit's room. Finding all of the items mentioned throughout the book within the pictures is a good bedtime activity--a reappearing little mouse is particularly pesky. By the end of the little rabbit's goodnight poem, the story has quieted to a whisper, and the drawings have darkened with nightfall. As you turn the last page, you can expect a sleepy smile and at least a yawn or two.

By Mo Willems, Hyperion

A brilliantly simple book that is absolutely true to life, as anyone who interacts with an obdurate three-year-old can attest. The bus driver has to leave for a while, and he makes one request of readers: "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus." It's the height of common sense, but the driver clearly knows this determined pigeon and readers do not-yet. "Hey, can I drive the bus?" asks the bird, at first all sweet reason, and then, having clearly been told no by readers, he begins his ever-escalating, increasingly silly bargaining. "I tell you what: I'll just steer," and "I never get to do anything," then "No fair! I bet your mom would let me." In a wonderfully expressive spread, the pigeon finally loses it, and, feathers flying and eyeballs popping, screams "LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!!" in huge, scratchy, black-and-yellow capital letters. The driver returns, and the pigeon leaves in a funk-until he spies a huge tractor trailer, and dares to dream again.

By Maurice Sendak, Harper Collins

Where the Wild Things Are is one of those truly rare books that can be enjoyed equally by a child and a grown-up. If you disagree, then it's been too long since you've attended a wild rumpus. Fortuitously, a forest grows in his room, allowing his wild rampage to continue unimpaired. Sendak's color illustrations (perhaps his finest) are beautiful, and each turn of the page brings the discovery of a new wonder.

By Robert McCloskey, Viking Press

It's not easy for duck parents to find a safe place to bring up their ducklings, but during a rest stop in Boston's Public Garden, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard think they just might have found the perfect spot--no foxes or turtles in sight, plenty of peanuts from pleasant passers-by, and the benevolent instincts of a kindly police officer to boot. Young readers will love the mother duck's proud, loving protection of her wee webbed ones, and those with fond memories of Boston will enjoy familiar locales, from Beacon Hill to Louisburg Square, and over the Charles River--often from a duck's-eye view.

By Esphyr Slobodkina, Harper Trophy

Subtitled A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business, this absurd and very simple story has become a classic, selling hundreds of thousands of copies since its first publication in 1940. A peddler walks around selling caps from a tall, tottering pile on his head. Unable to sell a single cap one morning, he walks out into the countryside, sits down under a tree, checks that all the caps are in place, and falls asleep. When he wakes up, the caps are gone--and the tree is full of cap-wearing monkeys. His attempts to get the caps back generate the kind of repetitive rhythm that 3- and 4-year-olds will adore.

By Don Freeman, Viking Press

Have you ever dreamed of being locked in a department store at night? The endearing story of Corduroy paints a picture of the adventures that might unfold (for a teddy bear at least) in such a situation. When all the shoppers have gone home for the night, Corduroy climbs down from the shelf to look for his missing button. It's a brave new world! He accidentally gets on an elevator that he thinks must be a mountain and sees the furniture section that he thinks must be a palace. He tries to pull a button off the mattress, but he ends up falling off the bed and knocking over a lamp. The night watchman hears the crash, finds Corduroy, and puts him back on the shelf downstairs. The next morning, he finds that it's his lucky day! A little girl buys him with money she saved in her piggy bank and takes him home to her room. Corduroy decides that this must be home and that Lisa must be his friend. Youngsters will never get tired of this toy-comes-alive tale with a happy ending.

By Bobby Lynn Maslen, Scholastic

GRL: C-E

Beginning ReadersTeach a child letter sounds with Bob Books Set 1! With four letters in the first story, children can read a whole book. Consistent new sounds are added gradually, until young readers have read books with all letters of the alphabet (except Q). Short vowels and three-letter words in simple sentences make Bob Books Set 1 a fun confidence builder. With little books, come big success.

By Dr. Seuss, Random House

GRL: J

First published in 1963, Hop on Pop remains a perennial favorite when it comes to teaching kids to read. Here, as in most of his extensive body of work, Dr. Seuss creates uncomplicated, monosyllabic rhymes to foster learning and inspire children to read. But what was radical about this little book at the time of publication (and what makes it still compelling today) is Seuss's departure from the traditionally dull pictures and sentences used in reading primers. In contrast, the illustrations here are wild and wonderful, and the accompanying language, while simple, is delightfully silly. For example, the rhyme "THREE TREE / Three fish in a tree / Fish in a tree? / How can that be?" is brought to life with a trio of plump, self-satisfied fish perched atop globular branches as two stymied hybrid dog-rabbit-humanoids look on in consternation. Hop on Pop does much more than teach children the basics of word construction, it also introduces them to the incomparable pleasure of reading a book.

Compiled by Jaonna Cole, Doubleday Books

GRL: Various

If Ready...Set...Read! were a movie, it would surely be a box-office hit with its all-star cast, including Little Bear, Morris the Moose, and Frog and Toad. This rich treasury of children's favorite stories, as well as poems, riddles, tongue-twisters, and hidden picture games, will delight and inspire every beginning reader. There's something for everyone in this diverse collection: Have a young poet in the house? How about a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks or Robert Louis Stevenson? Let the budding scientist discover "Our Earth in Space." The amateur comedian might pick up a few tips from the knock-knock jokes and riddles. And be prepared to untie some messy knots after the tongue-twister section: "Wendy went to rent one red room."

By Josephine Page, Cartwheel

GRL: Various

COOL CATS is a systematic phonics reading program that uses a charismatic cast of funky felines to teach short vowels, long vowels, and consonants. This box contains 12 books--including two activity books--and a parent card.

By Nora Gaydos, Innovative Kids

GRL: Various

Ten exciting stories for young ones to read all on their own! Let Fat Cat, Hot Dog, Stuck Duck and friends teach your child the ABCs of reading! In this Level One Animal Antics set, your child will read along to charming stories with short-vowel sounds, especially designed for beginner readers. The innovative and easy-to-store format features: 10 adorable storybooks, 40 colorful stickers, an instructional parents’ guide, and more!

By Aamir Bermiss, Scholastic

GRL: H

These series entries are designed to provide beginning readers and their parents opportunities to share stories and activities. The tales have kid-friendly plots and all feature African-American protagonists. In the first book, a boy complains about being sick ("I'm coughing and sneezing/and holding my head./My fever is high./I am sweating in bed."), until a little TLC makes him feel better. In Missing Dog, Alex searches his apartment for his pet, and in Crowd, Keisha is jealous when her best friend brings a new girl on their Saturday morning bike ride. The colorful illustrations match the moods of the stories. Each book ends with questions and activities to help extend the reading experience.

By Arnold Lobel, Harper Trophy

GRL: K

Frog and Toad are always there for each other -- just as best friends should be. From sledding in winter to eating ice cream on hot summer days, these two friends have fun together the whole year round! These classic books are still loved by children today and still offer a fun reading experience.

By various authors, Golden Books

GRL: Various

Six treasured Little Golden Books are all in one beautiful box! These six titles, featuring adorable animals, are truly the pick of the litter: The Color Kittens; Mister Dog, I Can Fly; Baby Farm Animals; The Jolly Barnyard; and The Happy Man and His Dump Truck. A bonus blank Little Golden Book lets children create their own literary masterpieces!

By Peggy Parish, Harper Trophy

GRL: L

Starring everyone's favorite literal-minded housekeeper, Amelia Bedelia Helps Out appears for the first time in full color and as an I Can Read Book! A neighbor needs Amelia Bedelia's helping hands, so everyone's favorite housekeeper is off to Miss Emma's house for a day of work. It's a good thing Miss Emma likes to laugh, because Amelia Bedelia makes her usual merry mess!

By Laura Peetom, First Flight

GRL: L

When Sam and Marina spot a mermaid in their parents' fish shop, they take her home to hide her from the adults, who think she's just another fish to fry. The children have to stash the mermaid in water, but they can't keep moving her from the bath to the laundry tub. What are they going to do? And is the mermaid magic? Only Hala Aisha, their father’s old friend from Turkey, knows what is going on. And the elderly lady has an idea.

By Ann Cameron, Random House

GRL: N

Julian is a quick fibber and a wishful thinker. And he is great at telling stories. He can make people—especially his younger brother, Huey—believe just about anything. Like the story about the cats that come in the mail. Or the fig leaves that make you grow tall if you eat them off the tree. But some stories can lead to a heap of trouble, and that's exactly where Julian and Huey end up!

By Kate DiCamillo, Candlewick Press

GRL: R

Because of Winn-Dixie, a big, ugly, happy dog, 10-year-old Opal learns 10 things about her long-gone mother from her preacher father. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal makes new friends among the somewhat unusual residents of her new hometown, Naomi, Florida. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal begins to find her place in the world and let go of some of the sadness left by her mother's abandonment seven years earlier. With her newly adopted, goofy pooch at her side, Opal explores her bittersweet world and learns to listen to other people's lives. This warm and winning book hosts an unforgettable cast of characters, including a librarian who fought off a bear with a copy of War and Peace, an ex-con pet-store clerk who plays sweet music to his animal charges, and the neighborhood "witch," a nearly blind woman who sees with her heart.

By Louis Sachar, Yearling

GRL: V

"If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy." Such is the reigning philosophy at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility where there is no lake, and there are no happy campers. In place of what used to be "the largest lake in Texas" is now a dry, flat, sunburned wasteland, pocked with countless identical holes dug by boys improving their character. Stanley Yelnats, of palindromic name and ill-fated pedigree, has landed at Camp Green Lake because it seemed a better option than jail. No matter that his conviction was all a case of mistaken identity, the Yelnats family has become accustomed to a long history of bad luck, thanks to their "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!" Despite his innocence, Stanley is quickly enmeshed in the Camp Green Lake routine: rising before dawn to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter; learning how to get along with the Lord of the Flies styled pack of boys in Group D; and fearing the warden, who paints her fingernails with rattlesnake venom. But when Stanley realizes that the boys may not just be digging to build character--that in fact the warden is seeking something specific--the plot gets as thick as the irony.

By Natalie Babbitt, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

GRL: U

Imagine coming upon a fountain of youth in a forest. To live forever--isn't that everyone's ideal? For the Tuck family, eternal life is a reality, but their reaction to their fate is surprising. Award winner Natalie Babbitt outdoes herself in this sensitive, moving adventure in which 10-year-old Winnie Foster is kidnapped, finds herself helping a murderer out of jail, and is eventually offered the ultimate gift--but doesn't know whether to accept it. Babbitt asks profound questions about the meaning of life and death, and leaves the reader with a greater appreciation for the perfect cycle of nature. Intense and powerful, exciting and poignant, Tuck Everlasting will last forever--in the reader's imagination.

By Scott O’Dell, Yearling

GRL: V

Scott O'Dell won the Newbery Medal for Island of the Blue Dolphins in 1961, and in 1976 the Children's Literature Association named this riveting story one of the 10 best American children's books of the past 200 years. O'Dell was inspired by the real-life story of a 12-year-old American Indian girl, Karana. The author based his book on the life of this remarkable young woman who, during the evacuation of Ghalas-at (an island off the coast of California), jumped ship to stay with her young brother who had been abandoned on the island. He died shortly thereafter, and Karana fended for herself on the island for 18 years. O'Dell tells the miraculous story of how Karana forages on land and in the ocean, clothes herself (in a green-cormorant skirt and an otter cape on special occasions), and secures shelter. Perhaps even more startlingly, she finds strength and serenity living alone on the island.

By Sharon Creech, Harper Trophy

GRL: V

Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle's mother has disappeared. While tracing her steps on a car trip from Ohio to Idaho with her grandparents, Salamanca tells a story to pass the time about a friend named Phoebe Winterbottom whose mother vanished and who received secret messages after her disappearance. One of them read, "Don't judge a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins." Despite her father's warning that she is "fishing in the air," Salamanca hopes to bring her home. By drawing strength from her Native American ancestry, she is able to face the truth about her mother.