Essential Kids' Books

COED

Ages 0-1
Dorothy Kunhardt - Pat the Bunny (Touch and Feel Book)

Ages 2-3
Jimmy Kennedy - The Teddy Bears' Picnic
Richard Scarry books

Ages 4-5
Mitsumasa Anno - Anno's Journey, etc..
Dr. Seuss - Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, etc..
Chris Van Allsburg - The Polar Express
Disney - The Rescuers & The Rescuers Down Under
Kay Thompson, Hilary Knight - Eloise: The Ultimate Edition
Margret Rey & H.A. Rey - The Complete Adventures of Curious George
Jean De Brunhoff - Bonjour, Babar!: The 6 Unabridged Babar Classics
Beatrix Potter - The Complete Tales: The 23 Original Peter Rabbit Books
Maurice Sendak - Where the Wild Things Are

Ages 5-6
Kenneth Grahame - The Wind in the Willows & The Reluctant Dragon 
Marjorie Weinman Sharmat - Nate The Great mystery series (23+) 
Eric Carle - The Very Hungry Caterpillar Board Book, etc.. 

Ages 7-8
Michael Bond - Paddington Bear series (11+) 
A.A. Milne - The Complete Tales & Poems of Winnie-The-Pooh 
Dav Pilkey - Captain Underpants series (5)
Louise Fitzhugh - Harriet the Spy books (3+)
Jon Scieszka - The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, etc..
Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little House series (9 Books, Boxed Set)

Ages 9-10
Beverly Cleary - Ramona, Ralph S. Mouse, etc..
Judy Blume - Super Fudge, etc..
Roald Dahl - BFG, etc..
E.B. White - Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, & The Trumpet of the Swan
Robert C. O'Brien - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
David A. Adler - Cam Jansen mystery series (19+)
Keith Robertson - Henry Reed babysitting series (6+)
John. D. Fitzgerald - Great Brain series (9)
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter series (7)
Madeleine L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time series (4)
Lloyd Alexander - The Chronicles of Prydain (5)
Lloyd Alexander - The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain
Susan Cooper - The Dark Is Rising Sequence (5)
C.S. Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia (7)
Donald J. Sobol - Encyclopedia Brown series (?)
Katherine Paterson - Bridge to Terabithia 
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit
Jules Verne - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 
Jules Verne - Journey to the Center of the Earth
Jules Verne - Around the World in Eighty Days
Mark Twain - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, etc..
Shel Silverstein - A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends 
Norton Juster - The Phantom Tollbooth, etc..
Bruce Coville - Into the Land of the Unicorns series
Bruce Coville - My Teacher Is an Alien series
E. L. Konigsburg - From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
John Christopher - The Tripods series (4, box set)

Ages 11-12
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings trilogy (3)
C.S. Lewis - space trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, etc..) (3)
Philip Jose Farmer - The Riverworld Saga (5)

BOYS

Ages 9-10
Franklin W. Dixon - Hardy Boys mystery series (176+)

GIRLS

Ages 7-8
Marguerite Henry books - Misty of Chincoteague, etc..
Walter Farley books - The Black Stallion, etc..

Ages 9-10
Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew mystery series (167+)
Ann Matthews Martin - Babysitters Club series (131+)