30 articles
A Bad Case of Stripes
A Bad Case of Stripes is a 1998 children's picture book by David Shannon (Blue Sky Press/Scholastic) about Camilla Cream, who hides her love of lima beans and breaks out in rainbow stripes until self-acceptance cures her.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is Judith Viorst's 1972 picture book, illustrated by Ray Cruz, about a boy's disastrous day and wish to move to Australia; it sold about four million copies and spawned HBO, stage, and 2014 Disney film adaptations.
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street is Dr. Seuss's first children's book (Vanguard Press, 1937), about Marco embellishing a horse and wagon on his walk home; withdrawn from publication in March 2021 over racist imagery.
Barbapapa
Barbapapa (バーバパパ) is a French children's picture-book series created in 1970 by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor, about a pink shape-shifting character, his wife Barbamama, and seven colored children; translated into over 30 languages.
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Clifford the Big Red Dog is a children's character created by Norman Bridwell and published by Scholastic in 1963, with over 134 million books in print, PBS TV series (2000, 2019), and a 2021 live-action film.
Corduroy (book)
Corduroy, Don Freeman's 1968 Viking Press picture book, follows a teddy bear in green overalls searching a department store at night for his missing button before Lisa buys him; about 20 million copies sold, sequel A Pocket for Corduroy (1978).
Eloise (books)
Eloise, also Kay Thompson's Eloise, is a children's picture-book series by Kay Thompson and illustrator Hilary Knight, begun in 1955, about a six-year-old living at New York's Plaza Hotel; not the Bridgerton character or other namesakes.
Goodnight Moon
Goodnight Moon, 1947 picture book by Margaret Wise Brown with Clement Hurd's illustrations, shows a rabbit saying goodnight in the great green room; rejected by NYPL librarian Anne Carroll Moore, it later sold over 40 million copies.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Harold and the Purple Crayon is Crockett Johnson's 1955 Harper & Brothers picture book in which a small boy draws his moonlit adventure with a purple crayon; a seven-book series later adapted into a 2001 HBO series and a 2024 Sony film.
Horton Hears a Who!
Horton Hears a Who! is a 1954 Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) picture book, also known by the refrain 'a person's a person, no matter how small', in which Horton the elephant protects the Whos of Whoville on a dust speck; adapted as a 1970 Chuck Jones TV special and a 2008 Blue Sky film.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1957 Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) picture book about the Grinch, a heart-two-sizes-too-small creature who steals Christmas from Whoville and reforms. Adapted as the 1966 Chuck Jones TV special, 2000 Jim Carrey film, and 2018 animated feature; source of the word "grinch".
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (1985, Harper & Row) is Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond's circular-tale picture book that launched the If You Give... series, distinguished by its cause-and-effect chain, 45-million-copy series sales, and classroom use.
Johnny the Walrus
Johnny the Walrus, Matt Walsh's 2021 DW Books board book illustrated by K. Reece, satirizes child gender transition through a boy pressured into becoming a walrus; it topped Amazon bestseller lists in April 2022 amid a categorization dispute and drew library challenges.
Jumanji (picture book)
Jumanji is a 1981 picture book by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin) in which bored siblings Judy and Peter find a jungle board game whose moves come true. It won the 1982 Caldecott Medal and National Book Award and inspired the Robin Williams film.
Mr. Men
Mr. Men is a British children's book series created by Roger Hargreaves in 1971, starting with Mr. Tickle, with the Little Miss series added in 1981; over 250 million books sold, continued by Adam Hargreaves.
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Oh, the Places You'll Go! is Dr. Seuss's 1990 Random House picture book, his last, following an unnamed "you" through life's highs and lows; it became America's standard graduation gift and a 2028 animated film.
Orbis Pictus
Orbis Pictus, fully Orbis Sensualium Pictus, is an illustrated Latin textbook for children by Czech educator Jan Amos Komenský (Comenius), first published in Nuremberg in 1658.
Pete the Cat
Pete the Cat is a children's book character, a groovy blue cat created by artist James Dean, first published in 2008 with musician Eric Litwin in I Love My White Shoes, later written by Kimberly Dean, over 70 books plus an Amazon Prime animated series.
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit is Beatrix Potter's mischievous rabbit hero from The Tale of Peter Rabbit, first published by Frederick Warne in 1902 after private printing and six rejections, and sold over 46 million copies since.
Shrek!
Shrek! is William Steig's 1990 picture book about a repulsive ogre who leaves home and marries an even uglier princess, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux; unlike the DreamWorks film it inspired, its hero has no kind heart hidden inside.
The Butter Battle Book
The Butter Battle Book is Dr. Seuss's 1984 Random House picture book in which the Yooks and Zooks escalate a butter-side dispute into a Cold War arms-race allegory ending in an unresolved standoff with the Bitsy Big-Boy Boomeroo; adapted as a 1989 Ralph Bakshi TNT special.
The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat is Dr. Seuss's 1957 Random House Beginner Book, written with about 236 words at Houghton Mifflin's challenge, which sold millions of copies, founded Beginner Books, and gets a 2026 animated film.
The Day the Crayons Quit
The Day the Crayons Quit is a 2013 picture book by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, in which Duncan's twelve crayons strike and send complaint letters; a No. 1 New York Times bestseller with sequel The Day the Crayons Came Home.
The Gruffalo
The Gruffalo (1999) is Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's rhyming picture book about a mouse who invents a monster to scare predators, then meets the real Gruffalo; sold over 13 million copies, translated widely, adapted to stage, film, and sequels The Gruffalo's Child (2004) and Gruffalo Granny (2026).
The Lorax
The Lorax is Dr. Seuss's 1971 Random House picture book, his personal favorite, in which the Lorax speaks for the trees against the Once-ler's Thneed industry; inspired by Kenya's patas monkey and a La Jolla cypress, adapted in 1972 and 2012.
The Polar Express
The Polar Express (2004) is Robert Zemeckis's performance-capture Christmas film adapted from Chris Van Allsburg's 1985 Caldecott book, starring Tom Hanks in six roles; a box-office disappointment that became a profitable annual holiday reissue.
The Story of Little Black Sambo
The Story of Little Black Sambo, Helen Bannerman's 1899 Dumpy Book picture story written in India, its unauthorized American editions, the racist history of 'Sambo', and later retellings like Sam and the Tigers.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (はらぺこあおむし) is Eric Carle's 1969 die-cut picture book about a caterpillar eating through a week of food before becoming a butterfly; over 50 million copies sold in more than 60 languages.
Where the Wild Things Are
Where the Wild Things Are (かいじゅうたちのいるところ) is Maurice Sendak's 1963 Harper & Row picture book about Max, a boy in a wolf suit crowned king of the Wild Things; it won the 1964 Caldecott Medal and sold about 20 million copies.
Zathura
Zathura is a 2002 Chris Van Allsburg picture book and 2005 Jon Favreau film about a space board game, a sequel to Jumanji; also zathura, a keyboard-driven Linux document viewer.