Children's Picture Books first published in the 1940s and before. An easy accessible list of those books read in childhoods.

Picture Books by Decade:
2020s, 2010s, 2000s, 1990s, 1980s, 1970s, 1960s, 1950s, 1940s and before

Picture Books by Year:
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

Caldecott Contenders aka Mock Caldecotts by year:
2009
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025

See also:
Best Popular Picture Books on Goodreads
Best Picture Books
Charlotte Zolotow Award Winners and Honors
Children's Picture Books With Beautiful illustrations
Caldecott Medal Winners
Caldecott Honor Books
Wordless Picture Books
1

by
4.32 avg rating — 399,413 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.27 avg rating — 220,300 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.23 avg rating — 262,100 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.25 avg rating — 91,474 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.22 avg rating — 74,564 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.20 avg rating — 117,630 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.99 avg rating — 25,906 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.37 avg rating — 94,981 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.25 avg rating — 47,019 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.09 avg rating — 88,732 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.09 avg rating — 22,888 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.30 avg rating — 42,638 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.17 avg rating — 140,875 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.40 avg rating — 128,879 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.17 avg rating — 95,257 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.16 avg rating — 43,548 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.08 avg rating — 59,756 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.31 avg rating — 276,137 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.08 avg rating — 18,327 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.19 avg rating — 50,434 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.12 avg rating — 5,568 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.20 avg rating — 595,707 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.21 avg rating — 54,116 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.02 avg rating — 15,782 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.03 avg rating — 7,623 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.14 avg rating — 84,151 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.40 avg rating — 128,879 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.84 avg rating — 4,925 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.09 avg rating — 24,638 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.08 avg rating — 10,048 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.05 avg rating — 1,713 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.40 avg rating — 128,879 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.96 avg rating — 9,211 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.17 avg rating — 17,173 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.89 avg rating — 2,409 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.23 avg rating — 222,996 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
4.08 avg rating — 16,348 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.14 avg rating — 21,168 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.26 avg rating — 2,761 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.21 avg rating — 17,434 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.80 avg rating — 3,389 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.15 avg rating — 12,687 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.14 avg rating — 7,427 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.08 avg rating — 12,257 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.32 avg rating — 10,788 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.05 avg rating — 14,260 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.04 avg rating — 5,879 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.15 avg rating — 8,971 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.08 avg rating — 3,251 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.03 avg rating — 5,095 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.67 avg rating — 1,505 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.30 avg rating — 7,038 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.91 avg rating — 18,047 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.81 avg rating — 1,006 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.13 avg rating — 43,447 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,082 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.27 avg rating — 2,718 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.17 avg rating — 23,908 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.93 avg rating — 5,723 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.36 avg rating — 169 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.09 avg rating — 4,798 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.87 avg rating — 528 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.47 avg rating — 1,455 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.93 avg rating — 4,976 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.16 avg rating — 1,220 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
4.07 avg rating — 7,608 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.14 avg rating — 11,725 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.18 avg rating — 633 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.33 avg rating — 36,262 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
3.86 avg rating — 363 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.04 avg rating — 688 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.83 avg rating — 2,783 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.99 avg rating — 626 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.17 avg rating — 139 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.08 avg rating — 48,169 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.78 avg rating — 196 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.30 avg rating — 20,633 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.19 avg rating — 2,799 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.86 avg rating — 158 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.24 avg rating — 12,714 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.15 avg rating — 7,551 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.02 avg rating — 2,499 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.79 avg rating — 1,305 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,121 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.54 avg rating — 323 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.38 avg rating — 886 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
4.23 avg rating — 29,710 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.84 avg rating — 560 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.15 avg rating — 747 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.09 avg rating — 1,418 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
3.35 avg rating — 185 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,553 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
4.08 avg rating — 2,670 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.12 avg rating — 177 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.95 avg rating — 842 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.03 avg rating — 295 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.10 avg rating — 373 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.27 avg rating — 3,101 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
292 books · 41 voters · list created April 3rd, 2019 by Calista (votes) .
19 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Calista 10369 books
3186 friends
Cmf 4473 books
53 friends
AnnainCA 60 books
24 friends
Vicki 10476 books
67 friends
~☆~Autumn 8170 books
147 friends
Elke 12826 books
72 friends
Cheryl 21883 books
381 friends
Katelyn 4710 books
34 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-10 of 10 (10 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Cheryl (new)

Cheryl The Little Prince is short and has pictures but is def. not a picturebook. Wee Gillis is even shorter but is still more text than illustration and so doesn't qualify imo.

I would not include The Rooster Crows or Paddle-to-the-Sea (or anything by Hollings) myself but I do understand why they're here so ok.

For ease in finding childhood favorites, I wonder if narrower lists might help more. Great concept though!!


message 2: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Someone added Peter Pan, so I removed that one. That's in no way a picture book.


message 3: by Calista (new)

Calista Cheryl wrote: "The Little Prince is short and has pictures but is def. not a picturebook. Wee Gillis is even shorter but is still more text than illustration and so doesn't qualify imo.

I would not include The ..."


It does get to be a little bit of a grey area what is and isn't a picture book. I see your point. I'll leave the decision to you. Thanks for all your help.


message 4: by Calista (new)

Calista Rainbowheart wrote: "Someone added Peter Pan, so I removed that one. That's in no way a picture book."

Thank you Rainbowheart. I agree with you. Thanks for the help.


message 5: by Cheryl (new)

Cheryl Calista, are you the creator? I won't mess with a list if the creator is monitoring it. (How does one know who the creator is?)


message 6: by Calista (new)

Calista Cheryl wrote: "Calista, are you the creator? I won't mess with a list if the creator is monitoring it. (How does one know who the creator is?)"

Hi Cheryl. I did start the list, but I cannot edit it unless it is a book I added and doesn't have any other votes. I am basically powerless over the list. I guess I can ask for a book to be removed, but I can't do that. Thanks.


message 7: by Cheryl (new)

Cheryl Huh.
Well, I deleted The Little Prince, but left the others on.
Thanks for monitoring, and if you want any other help please ask!


message 8: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart I also removed The Water Babies. That's quite a long children's novel, not a picture book.

Calista, what do you think about The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales? Two people have added it, but it's 880 pages.


message 9: by Cheryl (new)

Cheryl fwiw, I would delete the Grimm... picture-books are supposedly about the integration of the illustrations with the story, the enhancement they provide. But Grimm's stories don't need them, and are also fine no matter who, with what style, illustrates which scenes.

imo

Btw, good catch on Water Babies and totally agree.


message 10: by Calista (new)

Calista Rainbowheart wrote: "I also removed The Water Babies. That's quite a long children's novel, not a picture book.

Calista, what do you think about The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales? Two people have added it, but it's 880..."


Hello,

I would agree that Grimm's fairy tales are too long. People all the time take one story and illustrate it for kids and plus that isn't from the 40's, but it is much older. Thanks!


back to top



Related News

This collection is one of our favorite regular traditions. You know those “Staff Picks” recommendations you see at your favorite bookstore,...

Anyone can add books to this list.