Some great books to read with kids
Arguably my most consistent activity is reading to my kids every single day
Every single night, without exception, I read to my kids (7 and 5 year old at time of writing). They have a very large number of books and I always read to them in Dutch (the primary language I use to them). My wife reads to them in Portuguese. Besides that, we have a large amount of English-language books as well, which I tend to live-translate to Dutch.
Reading to kids has only benefits (see below), and is fun!
I’m lucky to have been born in a family that loves reading, and so was exposed early on to great books. Over the past years, I’ve further grown an appreciation for well-written children’s books. I’ve found that there are at least as many terrible books, as there are really great books. In particular, there are certain writers that have stood the test of time remarkably well, whose writing is joyful and expressive. I figured this would be a great place to share some of my favorites, in particular highlighting my favorite authors for kids 7 and below.
Annie M.G. Schmidt
Every single Dutch person knows of Annie M.G. Schmidt, a fantastic Dutch writer. Although she passed away in 1995, her works are almost entirely timeless in style and humor.
One thing that I really love about her works is that the kids feel more real than anything else. She never writes as if she’s writing to kids, but rather she’s writing as if kids are an equal part of society as any other humans.
The kids often take a leading role, not just in the stories themselves, but also in the universes in which they play. They are funny, sharp, full characters, not simplified, one-dimensional things, but rather real characters that have a real place in the story. And her style follows that. It’s not oversimplified. It’s not needless or overly simplistic. The storylines are never preachy. Rather, they are funny for the sake of it or sad for the sake of it. But above all, they’re always very imaginative and feel very unique.
She is well known for Jip and Janneke, but I recommend Pluk van de Petteflet - Tow-Truck Pluck in English. It’s a single volume book, that I recommend reading one-chapter a night. There is a sequel that I found great as well, but haven’t been able to find a translation of. I contacted the publisher to see if we can change that.
Other stories by Annie are great too, but I’m regrettably not able to find English versions other than Minnie. Otje is another favorite, and I hope I can contribute to a translation at some point.
I would really urge you to pick up Pluk, it’s such a great book and very funny. I’m sure both you and your kids will enjoy it.
Roald Dahl
For those of you that know his work, it’s hard to hear that maybe not everyone does, but I believe it to be worth mentioning! Like Annie M.G. Schmidt his works are timeless. His style feels not childish, nor belittling towards kids, and rather shows them interesting - sometimes grotesque characters.
I believe he’s worth mentioning for the most part because of how strong my kids reacted to his stories. So far I’ve read Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Matlida, and currently BFG to them - and both kids are completely in love with the stories. They beg me to read another chapter and laugh out loud with the many silly things that happen in the stories.
Because the books often feature real villains - be they somewhat realistic like Trunchbull, or more fairytale like the giants in BFG, I think the kids are more involved with the faring of the main characters. They are in real danger, so the stories are not just funny, they’re exciting.
I think all his work is worth reading to kids, but so far Matilda has been the greatest hit given both kids are in the early years of school now and can relate to so much of it. At one point my daughter (who loves to read herself) said “I’m just like Matilda!”.
Picture books
Gus’s Garage by Leo Timmers
Leo Timmers is an incredible artist. His books are all very unique in style. He’s also very prolific, so there is lots to enjoy here. The stories are short, but funny enough and beautiful enough to read many times. I recommend them all.
The Gnome book by Loes Riphagen
I really love the art of the books of Loes Riphagen. The Gnome book feels like a magnum opus of her, with lots of amazing little details to find. Lacking a real story, it’s still a great book to look through with kids.
Frog (Kikker)
In Frog is Frog, Frog wants to be like other people. He wants to be able to fly like his friend Duck. But Frogs can’t fly. And so Frog learns that he is perfectly himself.
I love the Frog books. Frog is stubborn and naive. His stories are simple, but he’s strong-willed. They are perfect books to read to kids 3-8. I recommend them all (there are quite a few!).
If you really love the books, there’s a really nice kids exhibition where they created some of the world of Frog in The Hague, in the literature museum.
Captain Danger and the Time Ghost
Captain Danger and the Time Ghost feels like a modern classic. I found it incredibly witty and very different. Its writing is super modern and breaks the fourth wall often, plus plenty of funny jokes towards the parents. Maybe this is what writing for the tiktok generation looks like. Nonetheless, I thought it was hilarious. My kids don’t even recall the book, so take that information for what it’s worth.
On Harry Potter
My daughter is deep into Harry Potter, currently reading the fourth book. She reads the books by herself. But this is to say that kids of ~7 are totally fine reading those books. I was worried it was maybe too scary or exciting, but it turns out that it’s fine.
She told me “but other books aren’t as amazing as Harry Potter, right?” after which I told her that in fact, there are hundreds of thousands of great books. It’s a realisation I’m happy she’s blessed with at such an early age.
The favorite book of my kids
7 year old girl: “Matilda. You do the voices so well, dad”
5 year old boy: “Matilda”
What’s your favorite book for kids?
Oh! And I almost forgot: any Julia Donaldson book is a hit!
We read to our eldest since he was 4 months old before bed and now with almost 3 years he loves books and it’s actually one of the few activities that calms his inte(eeeeeeeeeeee)nsity 😅
We read mostly in Portuguese and his favourites are:
-A toupeira que queria saber quem lhe tinha feito aquilo na cabeça
- any of the Cuquedo histories (specially Cuquedo, a origem do medo because it has dinosaurs and a lot of repetition and sounds)
Our english favourite was offered by our Australian friends and it’s a classic: Koala Lou
Books are really the best gift to give children. Thank you for sharing!