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Last Updated: March 30, 2025
This page is continually being updated. See below for reviews written on books suggested in Honey For a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt. In some cases, I have alphabetized titles to improve the search function, but the majority of the below lists are as found in the book.
Be sure to buy the book for a complete understanding of what it’s all about, how their books were chosen and how best to use the lists.
✨ NOTE: A title’s existence below does not equate a recommendation.
Please click on each title for its full review. ✨
A Child’s First Books: Ages 0-3
Board Books
(Brown) Big Red Barn
(Brown) Good Night, Moon
(Brown) Runaway Bunny
(Carle) Very Hungry Caterpillar, The
(Perkins) Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
(Rathmann) Good Night, Gorilla
(Seuss) Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You
Toddler Picture Books
(Ehlert) Eating the Alphabet
(Martin Jr.) Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
(McBratney) Guess How Much I Love You
Picture Book Classics: Ages 4-8
(Burton) Katy and the Big Snow
(Burton) Little House, The
(Flack) Story About Ping, The
(Freeman) Corduroy
(Freeman) Dandelion
(Galdone) Gingerbread Boy, The
(Galdone) Henny Penny
(Galdone) Little Red Hen, The
(Galdone) Three Billy Goats Gruff
(Galdone) Three Little Pigs
(Keats) Snowy Day, The
(Keats) Whistle for Willie
(Mayer) Boy, A Dog, and a Frog, A
(Mayer) There’s an Alligator Under My Bed
(McCloskey) Blueberries for Sal
(McCloskey) Make Way for Ducklings
(McCloskey) One Morning in Maine
(McCloskey) Time of Wonder
(Potter) Tale of Peter Rabbit, The
(Rey) Curious George
(Sendak) Where the Wild Things Are
(Tresselt) White Snow, Bright Snow
(Wildsmith) Exodus
(Zolotow) Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present
(Zolotow) Seashore Book, The
More Favorite Picture Books: Ages 4-8
Discovering the World and Myself
(Cooney) Miss Rumphius
(dePaola) Art Lesson, The
(dePaola) Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs
(Houston) Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, The
(Karon) Miss Fannie’s Hat
(Polacco) Chicken Sunday
(Polacco) Keeping Quilt, The
(Polacco) Rechenka’s Eggs
(Say) Tree of Cranes
(Steig) Amos and Boris
(Steig) Brave Irene
(Steig) Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
(Stewart) Library, The
(Wiesner) Tuesday
(Yashima) Umbrella, The
Cuddly Books for Bedtime or Any Time
(Williams) Chair for My Mother, A
Stories About Animals
(Hoban) Baby Sister for Frances, A
(Hoban) Bedtime for Frances
(Hoban) Bread and Jam for Frances
(Lionni) Inch by Inch
(Lionni) Swimmy
(Rylant) Thimbleberry Stories
(Rylant) When I Was Young in the Mountains
(Ward) Biggest Bear, The
Stories that Make Us Laugh
(Barrett) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
(Duvoisin) Petunia
(Henkes) Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
(Lester) Tacky the Penguin
(Peet) Caboose Who Got Loose, The
(Peet) Kermit the Hermit
(Seuss) Cat in the Hat, The
(Seuss) Green Eggs and Ham
(Zion) Harry the Dirty Dog
Noticing the World Around Us
(Cannon) Stellaluna
(Ets) Gilberto and the Wind
(Hall) Ox-Cart Man
(Martin) Snowflake Bentley
(Yolen) Owl Moon
Legends and Tales from Other Times and Places
(Brett) Annie and the Wild Animals
(Brett) Berlioz the Bear
(Brett) Hat, The
(Brett) Mitten, The
(Brett) Twelve Days of Christmas, The
(Brumbeau) Quiltmaker’s Gift, The
First Books for Beginning Readers
(Eastman) Are You My Mother?
(Eastman) Best Nest, The
(Eastman) Go, Dog. Go!
(Hoff) Danny and the Dinosaur
(Lobel) Frog and Toad Are Friends
(Minarik) Father Bear Comes Home
(Minarik) Little Bear
Classic Children’s Novels: Ages 9-12
(Alcott) Little Women
(Atwater) Mr. Popper’s Penguins
(Brink) Caddie Woodlawn
(Burnett) Little Princess, A
(Dalgleish) Bears on Hemlock Mountain, The
(Dalgleish) Courage of Sarah Noble, The
(de Angeli) Thee, Hannah!
(Enright) Thimble Summer
(Estes) Ginger Pye
(Estes) Hundred Dresses, The
(Estes) Moffats, The
(Fisher) Understood Betsy
(Leaf) Story of Ferdinand, The
(Lenski) Strawberry Girl
(Lovelace) Betsy-Tacy
(McCloskey) Homer Price
(Selden) Cricket in Times Square, The
(Sewell) Black Beauty
(Spyri) Heidi
(Taylor) All-of-a-Kind Family
(Thurber) Many Moons
(White) Charlotte’s Web
(White) Stuart Little
(White) Trumpet of the Swan, The
(Wiggin) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
More Great Books for Intermediate Readers: Ages 9-12
(Ackerman) Song and Dance Man
(Bunyan) Dangerous Journey
(Cleary) Henry Huggins
(George) My Side of the Mountain
(Lindgren) Pippi Longstocking
(MacLachlan) Sarah, Plain and Tall
(St. John) Secret at Pheasant Cottage, The
Stories for Animal Lovers: Ages 9-12
(Bond) Bear Called Paddington, A
(Burnford) Incredible Journey, The
(Gipson) Old Yeller
(Henry) Misty of Chincoteague
(King-Smith) Babe: The Gallant Pig
(Mowat) Owls in the Family
(Naylor) Shiloh
(Rawls) Where the Red Fern Grows
Historical Novels: Ages 9-12
(Edmonds) Matchlock Gun, The
(Freedman) Out of Darkness
(Sutcliff) Black Ships Before Troy
Fantasy Novels: Ages 9-12
(Banks) Indian in the Cupboard, The
(Barrie) Peter Pan
(Carroll) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
(Collodi) Adventures of Pinocchio, The
(Fleming) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
(Juster) Phantom Tollbooth, The
(Lewis) Chronicles of Narnia, The
(MacDonald) Light Princess, The
(Nesbit) Five Children and It
(Norton) Borrowers, The
(Travers) Mary Poppins
Young Adult Novels: Ages 12-14
(Levine) Ella Enchanted
(Speare) Sign of the Beaver, The
(Twain) Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The
(Winthrop) Castle in the Attic, The
Poetry Is for Pleasure
Poems for All Ages
(Stevenson) Child’s Garden of Verses, A
A Book List for Special Occasions
Christmas Stories
(Hodges) Silent Night: The Song and Its Story
(Hunt) Tale of Three Tees, The
(Noble) Apple Tree Christmas
(Walburg) Legend of the Candy Cane, The
(Wojciechowski) Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, The
Thanksgiving Stories
