Book List: Top 100 Books for Preschoolers
One of the challenges of living in the Philippines is not having access to public libraries where one could peruse and borrow certain books for a period time. So I’ve become to realize that one of the biggest investments that you could provide for your children, while living in a tropical country with little to no access to libraries like the Philippines, is a modest collection of good books in your home library.
The first 30 selections are from my Top 3 Children’s Book Authors, and are definite must-haves on my list. But I also took the liberty of highlighting in bold the ones that I highly recommend if you do not wish to purchase all one hundred of them. I reckon this is a list that I will be updating as the years progress, even as my children and I grow in our literary loves.
Updated last 26 May 2020

Books by Eric Carle
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
- Does a Kangaroo Have A Mother, Too? by Eric Carle
- From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
- Papa, Will You Get the Moon For Me? by Eric Carle

- Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
- Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle
- Walter the Baker by Eric Carle
- The Little Seed by Eric Carle
- The Very Busy Spider Eric Carle

Books by Margaret Wise Brown
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
- Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
- Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
- Home For A Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
- Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown

- The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown
- The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown
- The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown
- Mister Dog by Margaret Wise Brown
- Bunny’s Noisy Book by Margaret Wise Brown

Books by Julia Donaldson
- The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
- The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson
- Tiddler by Julia Donaldson
- Zog by Julia Donaldson
- Stick Man by Julia Donaldson

- Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson
- Charlie Cook’s Favorite Book by Julia Donaldson
- The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson
- A Squash and a Squeeze by Julia Donaldson
- The Smartest Giant In Town by Julia Donaldson

- The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
- Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
- Dr. Seuss’s ABC by Dr. Seuss
- Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
- Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss

- One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
- Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
- Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss
- Fox on Socks by Dr. Seuss
- The Grinch by Dr. Seuss

- Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman
- Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman
- Big Dog, Little Dog by P. D. Eastman
- Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins
- Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire

- Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
- Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathman
- Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
- If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crickett Johnson
- Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
- The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
- Saggy Baggy Elephant by Kathryn Jackson

- Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field
- Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
- Busy Timmy by Kathryn and Byron Jackson
- We Help Mommy by Jean Cushman
- Baby Dear by Esther Wilkin

- Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
- Curios George by H. A. Rey
- The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
- Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
- The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

- Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
- Frances books by Russell Hoban
- My Mommy, My Teacher by Johanna Bluedorn

- Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
- The Story of Babar by Jean De Brunhoff

- Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey
- Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom
- Frederick by Leo Lionni
- Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
- Katy No Pocket by Emmy Payne

- The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiesez
- Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
- We’re Going On A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
- The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
- The Storm Book by Charlotte Zolotow

- Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
- The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
- Little Bear books by Else Homelund Minarik
- Good Night, Little Bear by Patsy Scarry
- Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey


- The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
- A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr
- Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

- The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Friends by Beatrix Potter
- Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
- The Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman
- Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel
- Ox-Cart Man by Barbara Cooney


- Winnie the Pooh books by A. A. Milne
- Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
- The Real Mother Goose Board Book
- A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
- My First Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder


No doubt there is room for more than a hundred. But I’ve tried to select the best ones that we have cherished over the years.
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