# Companion Thread: Name your all-time three favorite children’s book, in order. No more than three, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2025, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348 "2025-12-03T01:07:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/21 "2025-12-03T23:03:49Z")
Corduroy is a perennial favorite, as is the sequel “A Pocket for Corduroy”. I also liked the Richard Scarry “Cars and Trucks and Things that Go” (really anything Richard Scarry) and “No, David” by David Shannon. Runners up - “Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site” by Rinker & Lichtenfeld, and “I STINK!” by Kate and Jim McMillan. “Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel” by Virginia Burton and anything by Sandra Boynton, especially “Pajama Time” and “Calm Down, Boris” by Sam Lloyd. All great little kid books. (you never said the books have to be for _big_ children!) ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/22 "2025-12-03T23:06:30Z")
A Hole is to Dig The Little Engine That Could Alice in Wonderland ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/23 "2025-12-04T00:59:39Z")
Phantom Tollbooth One Morning in Maine (My great grandfather appears in the book.) All the Winnie the Pooh stories. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/24 "2025-12-04T01:31:19Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > One Morning in Maine (My great grandfather appears in the book.) Very cool! Did he know McClosky? ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/25 "2025-12-04T01:38:00Z")
Yeah, Granpa Russ ran basically the only store in the area, also it was the post office, so he knew everyone. The McCloskeys lived on Deere Isle. Oddly, out here in upstate NY, I worked with someone who also knew McCloskey, mowed his lawn even. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/26 "2025-12-04T01:46:14Z")
_Wind in the Willows_ (Grahame) _What Do People Do All Day?_ (Scarry) _Where the Sidewalk Ends_ (Silverstein) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/27 "2025-12-04T02:35:45Z")
McCloskey also knew Richard Nixon, who was a passenger on the swan boat in Make Way For Ducklings. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/28 "2025-12-04T07:01:16Z")
_A Wrinkle In Time by_ Madeleine L’Engle _Half Magic_ by Edward Eager (Loved all his books, this one most of all) _The Wonderful Flight To The Mushroom Planet_ by Eleanor Cameron ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/29 "2025-12-04T14:16:25Z")
1. _The Silver Chair, C.S Lewis_ 2. _A Horse and His Boy, C.S Lewis_ 3. _Socks,_ Beverly Clearly ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/30 "2025-12-04T15:12:00Z")
_The Gashlycrumb Tinies_ - Edward Gorey _Big Pumpkin_ - Erica Silverman _Fox in Socks_ - Dr. Seuss ---
**Author:** ![ASanders](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asanders/32/3367_2.png) [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/31 "2025-12-04T19:38:51Z")
_Harriet the Spy_ _Harriet the Spy_ _Harriet the Spy_ 🤣 Growing up in Manhattan I read that book approximately a trillion times. But to be more responsive to the OP: _Harriet the Spy_ _The Phantom Tollbooth_\* _Little House on the Prairie_ and _A Wrinkle in Time_ (tied) \*Fun fact: Both Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer were friends of my parents. I was in utero when it came out and our first edition of the book is signed by Juster: “To the (family name): Big, Little, and Imminent” 🥰 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/32 "2025-12-04T19:48:05Z")
Happy Piper and the Goat Goodnight Moon Cat in the Hat ---
**Author:** ![ASanders](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asanders/32/3367_2.png) [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/33 "2025-12-04T19:49:34Z")
Now that I’ve read the whole thread there are MANY more titles banging around my brain. Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew/the Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown are series I inhaled. But a timeless classic I haven’t seen anyone mention is [The Thirteen Clocks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_13_Clocks), the hardcover of which I loved to destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/34 "2025-12-04T20:02:27Z")
_The Sneetches and Other Stories_ by Dr Seuss. I hope this isn’t cheating - it’s one book containing several short stories - arguably the best of all of them (The Sneetches, Too Many Daves, The Zax, and What Was I Scared Of?) _Stig of the Dump_ by Clive King _Matilda_ by Roald Dahl ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/35 "2025-12-04T20:04:36Z")
The Princess and The Goblin The Princess and The Curdie The Wise Woman and Other Tales All by George MacDonald Those were my favorites to read as a kid My favorites to read to my kids are different Yertle the Turtle The Sneetches Hop on Pop All Dr Seuss, these were among the books that were favorites of Vaderling when he was a small sith lord ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/36 "2025-12-04T21:08:24Z")
Any Hardy Boys book Any Encyclopedia Brown book Where the Sidewalk Ends - Shel Silverstein mmm ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/37 "2025-12-04T21:34:07Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > Yertle the Turtle Possibly the best book ever written on the subject of turtle stacking. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/38 "2025-12-04T21:40:33Z")
Oodles of Noodles Billy and the Number Line Lettuce Leaf Birthday Letter ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/39 "2025-12-04T23:51:44Z")
The Wind in the Willows The Velveteen Rabbit Julie of the Wolves ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348/40 "2025-12-04T23:57:56Z")
“The Cricket In Times Square” “Stuart Little” “Candy”\* \*by Terry Southern [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companion-thread-name-your-all-time-three-favorite-children-s-book-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025348.md?page=3)