Listed by School Library Journal as the ‘Top 100 Picture Books’ of all time in 2012 and one of teachers’ top 100 books for children by National Education Association, Goodnight Moon is a simple but lovable children’s picture books that has been well-appreciated by children as a bed time story. In it, a personified bunny ritualistically goes through a process of saying goodnight to everything visible to him from his room. “Goodnight Moon . . . Goodnight Air. Goodnight noises everywhere”.

Goodnight Moon is an American children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It was published on 3 September 1947, and is a highly acclaimed bedtime story.

This book is the second in Brown and Hurd's "classic series", which also includes The Runaway Bunny and My World. The three books have been published together as a collection titled Over the Moon.

Author: Margaret Wise Brown

Publication date: September 3, 1947

Genre: Children's literature

Age Range: 0-3 years

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0694003611/

One of the greatest children’s classics of all time, The Very Hungry Caterpillar pictographically describes the evolution of caterpillar eating his way through an array of food to eventually pupate into a beautiful butterfly. According to Amazon, a copy of this children’s book is sold every 30 seconds somewhere in the world. Educating children about days of the week, types of foods, and the lifecycle of a butterfly, Carle’s book has also been endorsed by the Royal Etymological Society.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a children's picture book designed, illustrated, and written by Eric Carle, first published by the World Publishing Company in 1969, later published by Penguin Putnam. The book features a very hungry caterpillar who eats his way through a wide variety of foodstuffs before pupating and emerging as a butterfly. The winner of many children's literature awards and a major graphic design award, it has sold almost 50 million copies worldwide.

Author: Eric Carle
Publication date: June 3, 1969
Genre: Children's literature (Children's picture book)
Age Range: 0-4 years
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399226907/

1963’s most distinguished American picture book for children, Where the Wild Things Are won Sendak the Caldecott Medal and is a delight for both kids and adults. The story revolves around a boy named John Max who, dressed in his wolf outfit goes to his bedroom and sails away into an unknown island where he encounters ‘wild things’ or creatures.

Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short in 1975 (with an updated version in 1988); a 1980 opera; and a live-action 2009 feature-film adaptation. The book had sold over 19 million copies worldwide as of 2009, with 10 million of those being in the United States.

Author: Maurice Sendak

Genre: Children's picture book

Publication date: November 13, 1963

Age Range: 2-6 years

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064431789/

Regarded as one of the best-selling children’s books of all time and adapted into animation and film, Theodor Geisel wrote and illustrated The Cat in the Hat under the pen name of Dr. Seuss. This children’s story revolves around an anthropomorphic cat who shows up at Sally’s house, makes a mess while entertaining her and her brother and cleans up with the help of his friends, Thing 1 and Thing 2 just before Sally’s mother comes home.

The Cat in the Hat is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by the American author Theodor Geisel, using the pen name Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped hat and a red bow tie. The Cat shows up at the house of Sally and her brother one rainy day when their mother is away. Despite the repeated objections of the children's fish, the Cat shows the children a few of his tricks in an attempt to entertain them. In the process, he and his companions, Thing One and Thing Two, wreck the house. As the children and the fish become more alarmed, the Cat produces a machine that he uses to clean everything up and disappears just before the children's mother comes home.

Author: Dr. Seuss

Genre: Children's literature

Publication date: March 12, 1957

Age Range: 3-8 years

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/039480001X/

Inspiring animations, live-action films, direct-to-video sequels and a video game, E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web is counted as classic in children’s English literature and one of the best selling paperback of all time. The story is about a pig named Wilbur and a spider named Charlotte; when the farmer is about to slaughter Wilbur, Charlotte uses her web-making skills to create praise-worthy words for Wilbur to save him from slaughtering.

Charlotte's Web is a book of children's literature by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published on October 15, 1952, by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a livestock pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the farmer, Charlotte writes messages praising Wilbur (such as "Some Pig") in her web in order to persuade the farmer to let him live.

Author: E. B. White

Genre: Children's

Publication date: October 15, 1952

Age Range: 8-11

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064400557

How wonderful would it be if we could simply draw the world as we understand it? Crockett Johnson explores this possibility in Harold and the Purple Crayon where an inquiring four year old boy own a purple crayon with which he creates the world by drawing it. Through this power he takes many adventures and when he feels sleepy he simple draws a bed and falls asleep on it. This is Johnson’s most popular book which has also inspired manyadaptations.

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a 1955 children's book by Crockett Johnson. It is Johnson's most popular book, and has led to a series of other books, as well as many adaptations.

Author: Crockett Johnson
Genre: Children's novel
Publication date: 1955
Age Range: 3-7 years
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064430227/

Written by famous British author, Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a two part series about a destitute but very selfless and caring boy named Charlie. Both his grandparents, parents and he live in a run-down house and have little for themselves. Charlie secretly loves the chocolate factory owned by chocolatier, Willy Wonka and hopes to be see it from inside one day…much to his surprise Charlie ends up becoming the heir to Wonka’s factory. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is regarded as one of those books that every child has to have read at least once in their childhood. Famous author J.K.Rowling too listed it as one of her top ten books as a child. The books won many accolades and has been adapted into film as well.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.

Author: Roald Dahl
Genre: Children's fantasy novel
Publication date: 1964
Age Range: 8-10 years
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142410314

Suitable for children and adults, the all-time classic, Little Women is hard to classify into one genre. It has been said to involve romance, an adventure, a family drama and largely women-oriented depicting themes like domesticity, love and giving each character a distinct female identity of their own. It has been adapted several times into film and also a Japanese anime. The story revolves around four sisters and their journey from children to becoming women. Many say that the plot is loosely based on Alcott’s own life and her sisters.

Little Women is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, Alcott wrote the book over several months at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. Loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters, it is classified as an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel.

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Genre: Coming of age

Publication date: 1868 (1st volume), 1869 (2nd volume)

Age Range: 9-12 years

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0147514010/

The first of the seven-part series written by J. K. Rowling is not only a novel but a legacy that will live on for many years to come. Harry Potter has been adapted into blockbuster films, won numerous British and American awards and reached New York Times’ best-seller list. The plot involves the boy himself, Harry Potter who discovers he is a wizard and begins his life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the Harry Potter series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday, when he receives a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry makes close friends and a few enemies during his first year at the school, and with the help of his friends, he faces an attempted comeback by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents, but failed to kill Harry when he was just 15 months old.

Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy
Publication date: 26 June 1997
Age Range: 8-14 years
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/059035342X/

Set in a fictional land called Narnia with talking animals and mythical creatures and their ruler, the White Witch who has ruled for a 100 years, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first of a seven-part series by C. S. Lewis where four children, the youngest of whom can visit Narnia through his wardrobe closet. It has been included in the ‘All-Time 100 Novels’ by TIME magazine and ranks 9 on BBC’s ‘The Big Read’.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in The Chronicles of Narnia (1950–1956). Among all the author's books, it is also the most widely held in libraries. Although it was originally the first of The Chronicles of Narnia, it is volume two in recent editions that are sequenced by the stories' chronology. Like the other Chronicles, it was illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and her work has been retained in many later editions.

Author: C. S. Lewis
Genre: Children's fantasy, Christian literature
Publication date: 16 October 1950
Age Range: 8-12 years
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064409422/