50 Favorite Wholesome Children's Books for Preschoolers & Up

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There’s certainly no shortage of children’s books out there, but finding wholesome, interesting, and beautiful books for littles can be a big challenge! With a 4-year-old, 2-year-old, and 1-year-old, I’ve spent the last 4 years searching out and reading a lot of very wholesome, wonderful books as well as a lot of less-than-wonderful children’s book selections (thankfully not too many of these!). Finding wholesome children’s books can take a lot of time, and when you have veracious young readers (or listeners), it often seems impossible to find enough pleasant and lovely books fast enough.

While this book list is certainly not exhaustive, these are just a few of our very favorites that we’ve read over and over. I hope you and your littles enjoy them, too! ❤️

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Qualifications for Choosing Children’s Books

What makes a children’s book excellent? There are literally whole books written around this topic (Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt is a great one), but here are a few qualifications I run through when deciding whether to keep a book around.

Beautiful ideas. A great book presents ideas that are good and right and true. It elevates what is good and not what is evil. (That doesn’t mean that there’s no evil in the story, of course, [just look at almost any fairy tale!] but that it’s not presented as something good or honorable).
Not overly simplistic. While there’s a time and a place for the most basic, rhyming picture book, I wouldn’t necessarily put it in a list of wholesome books for children. We want our children’s young minds to be filled with big ideas, creative thinking, and a rich vocabulary. If I feel my mind going numb as I’m reading it, it might not necessarily get thrown out, but it’s probably not going on our “best books” list. 😉
Aligns with family values. If a book portrays something as “good” or even “okay” that does not align with family values, don’t read it! A few common topics we avoid are argumentative siblings, disobedient children, etc.
Pleasing illustrations. This isn’t a must, but it sure helps! There are certainly tons of good books out there with simplistic illustrations or no illustrations at all. But bonus points to the ones with lovely images! Each year, the Caldecott Medal is awarded to the most distinguished American picture book. Looking for Caldecott Medal books can be a good place to start when searching for beautiful illustrations.

Best Wholesome Children’s Books for Preschoolers & Kindergarteners

We’ve found these to be some of the best books for our young children that we read over and over.

bookshelf in living room with shelves of picture books

I’ve personally read all of these, but I know there are so many others!

Building Our House – Jonathan Bean
Little Gorilla – Ruth Bornstein
The Mitten – Jan Brett
Mossy – Jan Brett
The Little House – Virginia Lee Burton
The Curious Little Dolphin – Ariane Chottin
A Family for Old Mill Farm – Shutta Crum
Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep – Dunbar & Gliori
The Circus Ship – Chris Van Dusen
If I Built a House – Chris Van Dusen
Bringing Down the Moon – Jonathan Emmett
Boxes for Katje – Candace Fleming
Corduroy – Don Freeman
In the Garden with Dr. Carver – Susan Grigsby
Ox-Cart Man – Donald Hall
Hog Music – M.C. Helldorfer
Toot & Puddle – Holly Hobbie
Fannie in the Kitchen – Deborah Hopkinson
Saving Strawberry Farm – Deborah Hopkinson
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt – Deborah Hopkinson
Sky Boys – Hopkinson & Ransome
The Apple Doll – Elisa Kleven
Fish is Fish – Leo Lionni
Frog and Toad series – Arnold Lobel
Nora’s Chicks – Patricia MacLaughlan
Prairie Days – Patricia MacLaughlan
Blueberries for Sal – Robert McCloskey
Make Way for Ducklings – Robert McCloskey
Stone Soup – Ann McGovern
Flossie and the Fox – Patricia McKissack
Roxaboxen – Alice McLearran
Edward and the Pirates – David M. McPhail
Winnie the Pooh – A.A. Milne
Little Bear – Else Holmelund Minarik
If You Give a Pig a Pancake – Laura Numeroff
Water is Water – Miranda Paul
The Kissing Hand – Audrey Penn
Peter Rabbit 5-Minute Stories – Beatrix Potter
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World – Marjorie Priceman
The Year at Maple Tree Farm – Alice Provensen
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Rosen & Oxenbury
The Relatives Came – Cynthia Rylant
Caps for Sale – Esphyr Slobodkina
Brave Irene – William Steig
Doctor De Soto – William Steig
Pete’s a Pizza – William Steig
A Fourth of July on the Plains – Jean Van Leeuwen
Owl Babies – Martin Waddell
My First Little House Books (entire series) – Laura Ingalls Wilder
Owl Moon – Jane Yolen

Tips for Reading To Preschoolers and Young Children

1. Choose strategic times of day

To help children learn to love reading, choose strategic times of day. Kids love stories, but they also love to run and play! Trying to sit them down to read a book after a long car ride might not be the best method.

We’ve found some of the best times to read to our children to be after they wake up (in the morning or from naps). Choosing times where they’re doing something else, like playing in the sandbox or coloring, can also be effective.

pile of books at the table with toddlers eating snack — After-nap reading time with one of our daily snack boards!

2. Include younger children

While you can enjoy reading the simplest board books to your babies, this doesn’t mean they can’t be included in reading with older kids, too! We’ve found that reading at the level of our oldest daughter actually keeps everyone engaged most of the time. If the babies get bored easily, reading during snack time can help, or reading on the floor while they play with other toys.

Including younger children in reading times has been a great way to instill in them a love for reading and for us to enjoy time all together.

3. Read up – they’re smarter than you think!

They really are! I would never have guessed that my 1 and 2-year-old would sit and listen to Magic Tree House chapter books, but they do! Don’t be afraid to challenge your children with books at a higher reading level that may seem too hard at first. We’ve found that more reading and more challenging books only helps to increase their attention span and allows them to chew on bigger ideas. (Build up to it, of course!)

4. Give them special books of their own

Although most of our books belong to the whole family, giving our kids a few books of their own has also seemed to help instill in them a love for books and reading. They each have a few special books that they get to keep in their bedroom as their “favorite stories”.

Plus, books usually make a much better gift than cheap toys!

5. Keep a fresh supply

It can be hard to keep enough books on hand, and the cost of buying new books can add up! We’ve found that thrifting is one of the easiest and most ways to build up a good collection of books to keep a somewhat fresh supply. Secondhand children’s clothing stores (focused on children rather than general thrift stores) also often have an excellent supply of books for $1 or $2 each.

6. Make it a special family time

Reading isn’t just for engaging our childrens’ minds – it’s a great way to fill their love tank too. Enjoy your kids while you read to them! Snuggle up on the couch, make some tea or a fun snack (we love toddler snack boards for afternoon reading time!), or spread a blanket out on the grass to read outside on a sunny day. Reading is a great way to create memories together and build your family culture.