Goodnight Moon
Margaret Wise Brown & Clement Hurd
A book that works less like a story and more like a dimmer switch.
The books kids beg for again.
Hundreds of thousands of children's books exist. Only a few survive the fiftieth bedtime. Tell us about tonight, and we will hand you one.
Start here
27 books so far, and we add slowly on purpose. The number on each one is its Re-Read score: our opinion of how well it holds up the fiftieth time you read it. One book has a disclosure in place of a score.
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury
Less a book than a piece of theatre you put on in your own living room.
The Gruffalo
Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
A tiny mouse lies his way through a forest, and the verse is so tight you could set a clock by it.
The Girl, The Lights & The Prince
Kisszu
A girl who heals the world by dancing, told in rhyming poems and rhythmic prose.
I Want My Hat Back
Jon Klassen
A bear politely asks about a missing hat. The ending is the funniest crime in picture books.
Where the Wild Things Are
Maurice Sendak
The best book ever made about being furious at your mum.
Frog and Toad Are Friends
Arnold Lobel
The best book ever written for a child who is just learning to read, and it makes grown-ups cry.
Charlotte's Web
E.B. White & Garth Williams
Still the best first novel to read aloud to a child, and still the one that will break you.
For the moment you're in
Nobody needs "a book". They need a book for tonight, for the week nursery starts, or for after the hamster.
Which books can you survive?
Every list of kids' books rates them for the child. The Re-Read Index rates them for the person who has to do the reading. See the full index
Read it forever
- 10We're Going on a Bear Hunt
It is basically a performance piece. Parents who commit to it end up enjoying it more than the child.
- 10The Gruffalo
You will know it by heart within a week, and you will not mind.
- 10Charlotte's Web
You will cry at chapter 21 every time. Plan your voice accordingly.
Pace yourself
- 6Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
It will be in your head at work. You will catch yourself mouthing it in meetings.
- 6Dear Zoo
Short enough that you can say yes every time. Flaps will need replacing.
- 6The Book With No Pictures
You will be saying "boo boo butt" in your own home, and it will never not work. It will wear you out.
They loved it. Now what?
Every book here ends with what to read next, and why. Start with the one they will not let go of.
One book a month. Just one.
The monthly letter names a single book for your child's exact age, why it works, and how to read it aloud. It is launching soon, so join now and you will get the first one.