8 Children's Books That Will Grab Their Heart

“Frederick, by Leo Lionni (ages 3 to 7), feels proper for our current times. A colony of mice hibernate in a hole for the winter, but it is Frederick the mouse who keeps everyone warm with his stories. It’s the ability to find the beauty in something so simple that reveals its relevance.”

—Dan Santat, author of The Adventures of Beekle

“The book that made me a reader? The Kid Who Only Hit Homers, by Matt Christopher (ages 8 to 12), a story about a talented Little League player. It met me on my level and took me somewhere new.”

—Actor B. J. Novak, author of The Book With No Pictures

“The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (ages 10+), is one of those books where the meaning changes and deepens every time you read it. As a kid, I saw an adventure story. As an adult, I see a philosophical meditation on what’s really important in life.”

—Nicola Yoon, author of The Sun Is Also a Star

“I was fascinated with the tiny illustrated details in The Little House, by Virginia Lee Burton (ages 3 to 7): boys playing with toy boats in a brook, a dog running after a girl on a bicycle, and much to my envy as a little girl with a tumultuous home life, happy families. In its message of finding joy in simpler things, that book stole my heart.”

—Sherri Duskey Rinker, author of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

“My first love was poetry. My mother read me ‘My Bed Is a Boat,’ from A Child’s Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson (ages 4 to 8), when I was about 4. The image of my bed floating on water is one I dreamed about for years.”

—Francine Pascal, author of the Sweet Valley High series

“Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes (ages 4 to 8), made my daughter a reader. She loved reading about that little mouse girl who felt on the outside of things.”

—Meg Medina, author of Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“During World War II, my mom, my brother, and I lived in Virginia while my dad was a foreign correspondent. We went to the library, and The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf (ages 3 to 5), about a bull who refused to fight in the bull rings, was one of the books I always picked. I am 81 now, and I still recall how the book helped me get through the three years before my father came home.”

—Jane Yolen, author of Owl Moon and 385 other books

“I remember how much I loved hearing my mother read The House at Pooh Corner, by A. A. Milne (ages 8 to 12), to my sister and me. The illustrations were inspiring. The line drawings looked like something I could do myself with a pencil, and yet they are masterly.”

—Emily Arnold McCully, author of Mirette on the High Wire