--- title: 40 Classic Children’s Books Even Adults Love description: The most formative books may be those of your childhood: Dozens of Real Simple readers remember beloved children’s books that turned them on to reading.... canonical: https://time.com/3422868/40-classic-childrens-books-even-adults-love/ author: Real Simple article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-24T11:00:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:42:50.669Z og:title: 40 Classic Children's Books Even Adults Love og:description: The most formative books may be those of your childhood og:url: https://time.com/3422868/40-classic-childrens-books-even-adults-love/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 40 Classic Children's Books Even Adults Love twitter:description: The most formative books may be those of your childhood twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 40 Classic Children's Books Even Adults Love > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Real Simple Sep 24, 2014 11:00 AM UTC by [Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Real Simple Sep 24, 2014 11:00 AM UTC The most formative books may be those of your childhood: Dozens of _Real Simple_ readers remember beloved children’s books that turned them on to reading. They reveal why in their own words. Visit [RealSimple.com](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/entertainment/classic-childrens-books) to read the full list. _Here are the first five books:_ ### 1\. _The Giving Tree_ by Shel Silverstein  Harper & Row As a child I loved the simple story and it has resonated with me more and more as an adult. —_Samantha Sadler Layman_ **To buy:** Ages 1 to 8; $17, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060256656/?tag=timecom-20). (**More from Real Simple**: [6 Funny Movies to Watch This Weekend](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/entertainment/funny-movies-00100000128244/?xid=time-rs-081814)) ### 2\. _Ferdinand_ by Munro Leaf  Grosset & Dunlap My dad read it to me as a baby girl recovering in the hospital. We read together until his grandsons were born. And then we read to them. “Just quietly under the cork tree.” —_Cindy Lee Claplanhoo_ **To buy:** Ages 3 to 5; $4, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/dp/044845694X/?tag=timecom-20). ### 3\. _The Saggy Baggy Elephant_ by Kathryn Jackson and Byron Jackson  Little Golden Book My grandma would read that to me when I was little. I was so proud when I could finally read it by myself. —_Charmin Garst Savage_ **To buy:** Ages 3 to 7; $4, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307021106/?tag=timecom-20). (**More from Real Simple**: [Banishing Life’s Little Annoyances](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/good-riddance-life-annoyances-00000000000472/index.html?xid=time-rs-081814)) ### 4\. _Are You My Mother?_ by P.D. Eastman  Random House Books for Young Readers _Are You My Mother?_ showed love and opportunities were everywhere. —_Denise Thompson_ **To buy:** Ages 3 to 7; $9, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0394800184/?tag=timecom-20). (**More from Real Simple**: [50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/entertainment/great-books-00100000101474/index.html?xid=time-rs-081814)) ### 5\. _Harold and the Purple Crayon_ by Crockett Johnson  HarperCollins I was so inspired by Harold’s imagination and realized that books could take me anyplace I wanted to go, just like Harold. —_Leslie Fischer_ **To buy:** Ages 3 to 7; $7, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0064430227/?tag=timecom-20). (**More from Real Simple**: [5 Ways to Stay Cool Under Pressure](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/5-ways-to-stay-cool-under-pressure-00000000052702/index.html?xid=time-rs-081814)) [**Read the full list HERE**](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/entertainment/classic-childrens-books/classic-childrens-books-35)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3422868/40-classic-childrens-books-even-adults-love/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3422868/40-classic-childrens-books-even-adults-love/"},"headline":"40 Classic Children's Books Even Adults Love","datePublished":"2014-09-24T11:00:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:50.669Z","description":"The most formative books may be those of your childhood: Dozens of Real Simple readers remember beloved children’s books that turned them on to reading....","url":"https://time.com/3422868/40-classic-childrens-books-even-adults-love/","keywords":["Living","Children","Books","reading"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Real Simple","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/real-simple/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3422868/40-classic-childrens-books-even-adults-love/","name":"40 Classic Children's Books Even Adults Love"}}]}] ```