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

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7

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8

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9

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10

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11

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12

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13

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14

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15

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16

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17

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18

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19

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20

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21

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22

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23

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24

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25

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26

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27

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28

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29

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30

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31

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32

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33

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34

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35

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4.23 avg rating — 221,573 ratings
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36

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37

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38

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39

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4.21 avg rating — 17,279 ratings
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40

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41

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42

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43

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44

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45

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46

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47

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4.26 avg rating — 2,745 ratings
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48

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49

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50

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51

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3.67 avg rating — 1,500 ratings
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51

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4.29 avg rating — 6,930 ratings
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53

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3.91 avg rating — 17,939 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 1,001 ratings
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55

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4.13 avg rating — 43,228 ratings
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56

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57

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4.27 avg rating — 2,705 ratings
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57

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4.17 avg rating — 23,906 ratings
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59

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60

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3.34 avg rating — 166 ratings
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61

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4.09 avg rating — 4,792 ratings
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62

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3.87 avg rating — 527 ratings
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63

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64

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65

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66

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67

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68

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69

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70

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71

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72

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72

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74

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75

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76

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77

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78

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79

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3.86 avg rating — 155 ratings
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80

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4.24 avg rating — 12,662 ratings
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81

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81

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83

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3.78 avg rating — 1,273 ratings
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84

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4.21 avg rating — 1,108 ratings
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84

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3.55 avg rating — 321 ratings
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86

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4.37 avg rating — 852 ratings
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87

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4.23 avg rating — 29,651 ratings
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88

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3.83 avg rating — 549 ratings
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89

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4.16 avg rating — 742 ratings
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90

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91

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3.34 avg rating — 181 ratings
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92

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4.11 avg rating — 1,540 ratings
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93

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4.08 avg rating — 2,656 ratings
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94

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4.12 avg rating — 178 ratings
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94

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3.95 avg rating — 831 ratings
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96

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4.05 avg rating — 290 ratings
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97

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4.11 avg rating — 367 ratings
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98

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99

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4.26 avg rating — 3,082 ratings
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100

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292 books · 41 voters · list created April 3rd, 2019 by Calista (votes) .
19 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Calista 10359 books
3172 friends
Cmf 4473 books
53 friends
AnnainCA 60 books
24 friends
Vicki 10424 books
67 friends
~☆~Autumn 8118 books
152 friends
Elke 12899 books
72 friends
Cheryl 21153 books
378 friends
Katelyn 4631 books
33 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!


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