Browse a List of Children's Books
to Find the Perfect Choice

Are you hunting for a book in one specific subject area to expand on your child's current area of interest, or to introduce your child to new concepts or cultures?

Or are you just looking for new inspiration when it comes to choosing the next book for your child to enjoy? You know you should buy children's books which excite and educate your child, but which books might meet that specification?

You might find what you're looking for on a list of children's books available on this site. Here you will find lists of award winning books, wordless picture books, early reader books and read aloud books, among others.

Another wonderful source of ideas for great books on a particular topic or theme is to browse a list of children's books which have been carefully categorised according to their subject matter. There are many such lists available on the internet, often produced by librarians who clearly know a thing or two about books.

My favorite lists are those which are organised into varied and interesting categories and which also include a brief synopsis of the book. Some also give other information such as the recommended reading age for the book and detailed reviews. Below are some of my favorite book lists from both the USA and the UK.

The Deschutes, Oregon Public Library has compiled a number of interesting book lists. For example, choose a list of children's books entitled "Historical Fiction: Prehistory to the Middle Ages", "Out of this World Science Fiction" or "It’s a Mystery to Me". Each book is listed with a brief synopsis, but you can click through to get the full details in the library catalog including the number of pages in the book and external reviews.
Miami University’s Children’s Picture Book Database is fantastic if you are looking for a picture book on a very specific subject. It contains over 5,000 children’s picture books which are searchable by a huge variety of topics and concepts. A brief description of each book is included.
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has a large range of book lists created by librarians under many different categories. Each book is listed with the recommended reading age, number of pages, publisher and date of publication. Click on the book for a detailed synopsis.
The Reading Rockets website contains a whole host of themed book lists and each book on the list is briefly reviewed. Each list of children's books is grouped under one of 16 categories, such as friends and family, creatures and seasons.
The Book Trust, an independent UK-wide charity dedicated to encouraging people to enjoy books, has compiled numerous book lists of their favourite children's books including, for example, "Ten books about the seaside" and "Favourite funny books". Click on a book for a full review and suggested reading age and interest age.
The Norfolk Children’s Book Centre, a children’s book shop in the UK run by a former librarian, provides book list recommendations in various categories. What about a list of children's books about "A Variety of Cultures", "Starting School" or "War Stories", for example. Click on a book for a more detailed synopsis and a recommended reading age.

If you have a particular book in mind and want to read a review of it on-line, the easiest is probably to check out amazon.com. As well as customer reviews, they often include independent editorial reviews from, for example, Publishers Weekly or School Library Journal.

Other independent sites which provide interesting children's books reviews are listed below.

Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Review is dedicated to reviewing children’s books which the reviewers like, and contains a large selection of reviews. Select ‘Library of Reviews’ at the top of the page and then click on the list of reviews you are interested in. Each book has the recommended reading age. Click on the book for a detailed review.
Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature web site contains reviews of many recommended children's books. Books can be searched by title or author. Suggested reading ages are given for each book as well as a detailed review. For featured books you can also find suggested activities linked to the book and proposals for other related books.