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In honor of An Indie Rock Alphabet Book coming out this week (buy one! buy a thousand!), we’ve been celebrating kids books around the office. I love picture books, so it wasn’t easy to whittle down the list to 15, but here goes:

1. Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey (1941)
Naughty little monkey George is one of the most beloved characters in kids’ lit, and The Man In The Yellow Hat ain’t so bad himself.
2. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (1947)
This sweet story and its iconic illustrations seem to have a magical power over children at bedtime.
3. Harold And The Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (1955)
A baby creates a fabulous world for himself, using only his imagination and his trusty purple crayon.
4. How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss (1957)
Has there ever been—will there ever be—a more delightful Christmas story for kids?
5. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster (1961)
Bestselling writer Anna Quindlen said it best: “I read The Phantom Tollbooth first when I was 10. I still have the book report I wrote, which began, ‘This is the best book ever.’”

I'm going to go old school here and suggest, "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs." That book used to make me wish for protein based precipitation every time.
"When You Were Small" by Sara O'Leary is a great read for kids too PLUS the added bonus of Julie Morstad's illustrations (who did the cover art for Neko Case's "Fox Confessor").
Kate, I enjoy reading your columns, and I love Paste. It seems so much friendlier and down to earth than a couple of the other music review sites I read. I wanted to suggest a book. It’s about Dinosaurs, and talks about them from a creationist’s point of view.
http://www.apologeticspress.org/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/2_5/products_id/7
I think it’s great. For some similar books check out their main store front for the children’s section:
http://www.apologeticspress.org/catalog/index.php/cPath/2_5
I hope you get a chance to check them out. Thanks Kate. Have a great day.
@Matt:
Too bad that book is pure fantasy being treated as fact.
Yeah Rich, that's one opinion. A pretty popular one. That's why I thought I'd mention another idea to give both sides a voice. I'm glad you took the chance to read it and consider it though. Thanks.
Cheers for including Adam Rex. Jeers for excluding Maurice Sendak.
So many good books, but I'm with Tess in that I'd definitely add Where the Wild Things Are.
Definitely Where the Wild Things Are and Paperbag Princess. I think that book should be mandatory reading for every child to counteract the bogus fairytale crap that's shoved down their throats....