Last updated: December 8, 2025
This page is continually being updated. See below for reviews written on books suggested in Books Children Love by Elizabeth Wilson. They will be found in the same order used within the book–usually by author’s last name.
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. ✨
Animals
(Burnford) The Incredible Journey
Art and Architecture
Bible/Spiritual and Moral Teaching
(Bennett) The Children’s Book of Virtues
(Brumbeau) The Quiltmaker’s Gift
(Hunkin) Dangerous Journey
(Karon) Miss Fannie’s Hat
Biography
Ordered by subject’s last name with author’s name in parentheses.
Bentley, Wilson – Snowflake Bentley (Martin)
Braille, Louis – Out of Darkness (Freedman)
Erathosthenes – The Librarian Who Measured the Earth (Hawkes)
Greene, Betty – Betty Greene: Wings to Serve (Benge)
Celebration Days and Seasons
(Brett) The Twelve Days of Christmas
History and Geography
(Dalgliesh) The Courage of Sarah Noble
(Speare) The Bronze Bow
(Stevenson) Kidnapped
Literature: Level 1 (Fables, Folk Tales, and Fairy Tales)
Literature: Level 1 (Fantasies, Talking Animal Stories)
(Brown) The Little Fur Family
(de Brunhoff) The Story of Babar
(Flack) The Story About Ping
(Gág) Millions of Cats
(Galdone) The Little Red Hen
(Grahame) The Reluctant Dragon
(Lionni) The Biggest House in the World
(Lionni) Inch by Inch
(Lobel) Frog and Toad Are Friends
(McCloskey) Make Way for Ducklings
(Minarik) Father Bear Comes Home
(Piper) The Little Engine That Could
(Potter) The Tale of Peter Rabbit
(Seuss) Bartholomew and the Oobleck
(Steig) Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
(White) Charlotte’s Web
(Williams) The Velveteen Rabbit
(Zion) Harry the Dirty Dog
Literature: Level 1 (Realistic Stories–Modern)
(Carle) Pancakes, Pancakes
(Hoban) A Birthday for Frances
(Karon) Miss Fannie’s Hat
(McCloskey) Time of Wonder
Literature: Level 1 (Realistic Stories–Historical)
(Bulla) The Sword in the Tree
(Bulla) A Lion to Guard Us
(Dalgliesh) The Courage of Sarah Noble
(Hall) Ox-Cart Man
Literature: Level 2 (Fables, Folk Tales, and Fairy Tales)
(Brumbeau) The Quiltmaker’s Gift
Literature: Level 2 (Fantasies, Talking Animal Stories)
(Bond) A Bear Called Paddington
(Carroll) Alice in Wonderland
(Collodi) Pinocchio
(Juster) The Phantom Toll Booth
(King-Smith) Babe: The Gallant Pig
(Lewis) The Complete Chronicles of Narnia
(Nesbit) The Enchanted Castle
(Nesbit) Five Children and It
(Nesbit) The Phoenix and the Carpet
(Nesbit) The Railway Children
(Nesbit) The Story of the Treasure Seekers
(Norton) The Borrowers
(O’Brien) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
(Sewell) Black Beauty
(Sharp) The Rescuers
(Sharp) The Rescuers 02: Miss Bianca
(Tolkien) The Hobbit
Literature: Level 2 (Realistic Stories–Modern)
(Cleary) Henry Huggins
(DeJong) The Wheel on the School
(Enright) Thimble Summer
(Enright) Gone-Away Lake
(Enright) Return to Gone-Away
(Estes) Ginger Pye
(Henry) Misty of Chincoteague
(McCloskey) Homer Price
(Rylant) The Cobble Street Cousins: In Aunt Lucy’s Kitchen
Literature: Level 2 (Historical)
(Barasch) Radio Rescue
(Brink) Caddie Woodlawn
(Buff) The Apple and the Arrow
(Burnett) A Little Princess
(Burnett) The Secret Garden
(Canfield) Understood Betsy
(Estes) The Moffats
(MacDonald) The Christmas Stories of George MacDonald
(MacLachlan) Sarah, Plain and Tall
(Spyri) Heidi
Literature: Level 3 (Realistic Stories–Modern)
(Burnford) The Incredible Journey
(St. John) The Secret at Pheasant Cottage
Literature: Level 3 (Realistic Stories–Historical)
(Alcott) Little Women
(Dickens) Oliver Twist
(Montgomery) Anne of Green Gables
(Rawlings) The Yearling
(Rawls) Where the Red Fern Grows
(Speare) The Bronze Bow
(Speare) The Sign of the Beaver
(Stevenson) Treasure Island
(Terhune) Lad: A Dog
(Twain) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(Wiggin) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Literature: Anthologies (Stories, Poems, and Rhymes)
(Bennett) The Children’s Book of Virtues
Literature: Poetry and Rhymes
(Stevenson) A Child’s Garden of Verses
Mathematics
(Geisert) Roman Numerals I to MM
Music
(Brett) The Twelve Days of Christmas
Nature, Science, and Technology
(Heller) The Reason for a Flower
(Martin) Snowflake Bentley
(Provensen) The Glorious Flight
