15 Picture Books Your Whole Family Will Love

15 Picture Books Your Whole Family Will Love – These picks all have great stories, brilliant illustrations and will keep everyone’s interest! 

It’s been WAY too long since I’ve done a kids’ book post! We read SO much over the spring and summer, yet somehow I never got around to sharing some recent favorites! I could list dozens and dozens, but here are 15 awesome children’s books you’ll love! From charming stories, to hilarious illustrations, and even a secret bug language, here are some faves lately…

1. Triangle. I’m obsessed with Mac Barnett. He illustrates most of the Jon Klassen Books (I Want My Hat Back, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, etc.). His illustrations are clever, funny, and perfectly deadpan. My kids and I loved this book.

2. Escargot – This is an entire story that takes place as a snail crawls over to a salad, and yet it’s completely charming and funny. Escargot (the adorable snail) spends the journey trying to convince you why the snail should be your favorite animal. (Best read in an outrageous French accent)

3. I Will Not Eat You. The dragon who lives in the cave passes over all sorts of tasty animals until his hunger gets the best of him right when a little boy passes by. See how he goes from feast to friend in this fun book.

4. We Are All Wonders. The picture book companion to Wonder (which I LOVE) is set up in a GREAT way to talk about differences with your children. I really, really loved it. I honestly think that Wonder should be required reading to be a human.

5. Don’t Wake Up the Tiger! If you like the Press Here/interactive-type books, you’ll love this one. With bright, graphic illustrations, and a fun story, this one was on repeat for weeks.

6. The “Living in” Series by Chloe Perkins. These books are like mini lessons on different countries presented in a “day in the life” format, where children from all over the world share what it’s like to live, eat, work, and go to school in different countries. I love that they share foods, languages, clothing, and special holidays or ceremonies of the different countries. They also include a basic history and provide really basic talking points for things like apartheid, wars, etc. We’ve loved India, South Africa, China, Brazil, Egypt, and Italy so far. (add to the fun by making a dinner from that country too!)

7. Say Zoop! Herve Tullet can do no wrong. I love his playful interactive books. This one adds the element of sound by encouraging you to make different sounds depending on the colors, shapes, and sizes in the book (it all makes sense when you’ve got it in front of you). I LOVE hearing Milo and Sophie go through all the different sounds!

8. Doug Unplugged. Dan Yaccarino is a FABULOUS illustrator (he did Boy + Bot, which is one of our all-time faves). Doug is a robot who gets plugged in each day to learn things while his parents are at work. One day, something catches his attention and he decides to unplug and explore the world outside. So fun. (Don’t miss the follow-up book!)

9. Monster Trucks. This is a bit Halloween-y, but it’s Milo’s favorite book of the last six months. Monster trucks that are monsters. Milo couldn’t love it more. And he practically has it memorized, which is adorable.

10. Du iz Tak. This is one of my ALL TIME favorite children’s books. The illustrations are spectacular and critical to understanding the story. Why? The entire book is written in a nonsense bug language! The funny thing is, you start understanding it as the book goes on and after 2-3 times through, you’ll feel fluent. My kids laugh SO HARD every time we read this one. I love it.

11. Maxwell the Monkey Barber. The jungle is full of out-of-control hair, and it’s Maxwell the Monkey Barber to the rescue! We loved this playful little book. The illustrations were so fun!

12. The Book of Mistakes. If you’ve ever been drawing or coloring and made a mistake, you know that it can feel frustrating. Milo gets SUPER frustrated when the idea on his head doesn’t come out perfectly on paper, so I loved this book, which builds on mistakes to create beautiful drawings and a fun-to-follow story.

13. The Good for Nothing Button. Elephant and Piggie fans will love this one (I’m a MAJOR Mo Willems fan, so anything he does or helps with is an instant fave). Three characters discover a button in the forest. And what does it do? Nothing! Yet, somehow, my kids were giggling through the whole thing. Trust me. Well, trust Mo. Only Mo Willems (with Charise Mericle Harper) could make an entertaining book about a button that literally does nothing.

14. Dragon Was Terrible. Ever know someone who acted out because they wanted a little extra attention? This is the book for you! Dragon is behaving, well, terribly, doing things like stealing candy from baby unicorns and burping in church. Only one brave soul can find the solution to this terrible problem! We laughed so much with this book. Greg Pizzoli’s illustrations only made it better.

15. The Three Little Rigs. Calling all car and truck lovers! This one’s for you. This re-telling of the three little pigs involves 100% vehicles. Which Milo couldn’t have been more thrilled about. It was fun enough that Sophie chose it quite a bit, too!

I could go on, and on, and on with children’s books we’ve loved lately, but these are definitely a good start. I always LOVE getting your recommendations. If you’ve read anything good you’d recommend, I’d love to hear it! Shout it out in the comments! 

PS – Looking for more book ideas? Check out the books section of the blog!