Books
You can sort the list of great children's books, winnow it down by age and genre, or use Advanced Search to see many other ways to explore the Treasury of Great Children's Books.
The Poppy Seed Cakes (1924)
A collection of short stories about two not-very-good children told by Aunt Katushka.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Margery Clark
Illustrator(s):
Maud Petersham, Miska Petersham
Pinocchio (1935)
The story of a wooden puppet who becomes a real boy. This edition has been shortened by the editor.
Author(s):
Carlo Collodi
Illustrator(s):
Helen Sewell
What Katy Did at School (1873)
Katy goes East to boarding school. Read for free online at Internet Archive.
Author(s):
Susan Coolidge
Illustrator(s):
Addie Ledyard
The Kellyhorns (1942)
When separated-at-birth twins Penny and Pam discover each other, they determine to put their family back together.
Author(s):
Barbara Cooney
Illustrator(s):
Barbara Cooney
A Pipkin of Pepper (2005)
A cat, a squirrel, a duck, pumpkin soup, but not salt … and pepper?
Author(s):
Helen Cooper
Illustrator(s):
Helen Cooper
Pumpkin Soup (1998)
A cat, a squirrel and a duck live deep in the woods in an old white cabin where they dine every day on pumpkin soup, until one day …
Author(s):
Helen Cooper
Illustrator(s):
Helen Cooper
The Diverting History of John Gilpin (1878)
This comic masterpiece by Jane Austen’s favorite poet describes what started out as a quiet expedition to the country. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
William Cowper
Illustrator(s):
Randolph Caldecott
Scuffy the Tugboat (1946)
The little tugboat wants to sail on the big waters, until he meets the sea.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Gertrude Crampton
Illustrator(s):
Tibor Gergely
Tootle (1945)
Tootle wants to play in the meadow, but engineer Bill knows he has to stay on the track, no matter what. Later editions have fewer pages.
Author(s):
Gertrude Crampton
Illustrator(s):
Tibor Gergely
Robinson Crusoe (1920)
First published in 1719, this account of ‘eight and twenty years, all alone on an uninhabited island on the coast of America’ was based on the experiences of Alexander Selkirk, who was marooned on an island in the Pacific Ocean. Most recent editions have been abridged and some have had the religious themes suppressed. It gave birth to the genre of Robinsonnade. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Daniel Defoe
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
Two Years Before the Mast (1840)
His studies at Harvard interrupted by vision problems, the author embarked as a merchant seaman aboard the brig Pilgrim in 1834 on a voyage to Alta California, still under Mexican rule. After helping to cure and load a cargo of cow hides, he was transferred to the Alert and made an eastward passage of Cape Horn in the dead of winter. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
Richard Dana
Illustrator(s):
None
Adopted Jane (2002)
A young orphan girl spends the summer with two families, hoping that one will adopt her.
Author(s):
Helen Daringer
Illustrator(s):
Kate Seredy
Andy and the Lion (1938)
A little boy named Andy was interested in lions. On his way to school, he met a real lion with a thorn stuck in its paw.
Author(s):
James Daugherty
Illustrator(s):
James Daugherty
Dragon Run (1955)
This time travel adventure takes Chris Mason and Mr. Wicker back to colonial days.
Author(s):
Carley Dawson
Illustrator(s):
Lynd Ward
The Black Fox of Lorne (1956)
Tenth-century Viking twins are shipwrecked on the Scottish coast and seek to avenge the death of their father.
Author(s):
Marguerite de Angeli
Illustrator(s):
Marguerite de Angeli
Nathan and Nicholas Alexander (1986)
One night as he was fast asleep, Nathan heard something in his toy chest …
Author(s):
Lulu Delacre
Illustrator(s):
Lulu Delacre
Oliver Twist (1838)
Born in a workhouse, Oliver runs away from an abusive mistress to seek his fortune in London where he falls in with a gang of pickpockets. Read online at archive.org: Volume 1, and Volume 2, and Volume 3.
Author(s):
Charles Dickens
Illustrator(s):
George Cruikshank
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1837)
The adventures of Mr. Pickwick, his servant Sam Weller and his friends. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Charles Dickens
Illustrator(s):
Hablot Browne, Robert Seymour, Robert Buss
St. Nicholas (1873)
Founded in 1873, this popular magazine was edited by Mary Mapes Dodge until her death in 1905. It published many well known and popular children’s authors, including Louisa May Alcott, L. Frank Baum, Joel Chandler Harris and Mark Twain. It ceased publication in 1940, although a few issues were published in 1943.
Read for free online at HathiTrust or at the University of Florida.
Author(s):
Various
Illustrator(s):
Various
The Magic Bus (1948)
Jenny the bus may be old, but she has a golden button on her dashboard that will take you anywhere. This is an abridged edition of Jenny, the Bus that Nobody Loved.
Author(s):
Maurice Dolbier
Illustrator(s):
Tibor Gergely