There are some children’s books that everyone just knows and remembers. Books like Goodnight Moon or The Giving Tree or anything by Dr. Suess. But nothing takes my breath away like the nostalgia of rediscovering a book from childhood that has slipped past the point of easy recollection. I’ve compiled a list of five (plus some honorable mentions) such books that stopped me in my tracks and prompted immediate turning to whoever was closest and asking, “Do you remember?” If you’ve been looking to take a stroll down memory lane, you’ve come to the right place.
- Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
Equal parts lovely and heartbreaking now that I look back at it, Love You Forever follows a mother and son as they progress through life. Everynight, the mother sings him the words “I’ll love you forever, I’ll love you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be”. Even as they go through difficult periods of life, even after the son has reached adulthood and moved out, it’s the same words everyin the evening. The story ends with the son holding his mother and singing the words back to her as she is no longer able to sing them herself, and then he sings the song to his new baby daughter.
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
This is one of those books where the cover is seared into my brain. The Snowy Day follows a young boy, Peter, and his adventures on the first snowy day of the season. He makes footprints in the snow, rolls up a snowman, creates a snow angel in his bright red snowsuit. At the end of the day he ventures home with a snowball in his pocket to save for later. Later in the evening, he is heartbroken to discover that the snowball has melted, but when he wakes up the next day, the ground is covered in a fresh blanket of snow waiting for him.
- Elmer by David Mckee
Elmer, the story of the patchwork elephant, was one of my absolute favorites growing up, and I was shocked to discover that I had nearly forgotten it. Elmer is a bright, multicolor elephant who just wants to fit in. He worries that the other elephants laugh at him, and decides to cover himself in gray berry juice so that he can just blend in. When it begins to rain, washing away the berry juice, Elmer realizes just how excited everyone is to see him and realizes the value he brings to his community just by being himself.
- Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
Goodnight Gorilla follows a mischievous gorilla who’s not quite ready to go to bed. As the zookeeper makes his rounds to say goodnight to all the animals, the gorilla follows behind, and having nicked the zookeeper’s keys, begins to let all his animal friends out of their cages. This book is absolutely adorable and the illustrations are equally as precious.
- Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
How could I ever forget the rambunctious siamese kitty with a too big head and even bigger ears who dreams to be a daring, sword fighting chihuahua. While as a child I loved all of the Skippyjon Jones installments, the first book will always be nearest and dearest to my heart. In this one, Skippyjon Jones saves his imaginary band of chihuahua friends from the enormous bumblebeeto.
Rediscovering these books from my childhood was nearly as wonderful as getting to read them for the first time. If you’re looking to continue to dive into the recesses of your childhood memories, I’ve included a list of my honorable mentions below.
No, David by David Shannon
Olivia by Ian Falconer
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon