Children's Books You Can Never Outgrow

My recent trip to the library, managed to find

these books while working on this article!

When we were kids, we probably loved hearing or reading stories, whether it was our parents reading to us, going to the library, or maybe when our teachers would read to us, we probably enjoyed reading many books. As we grew up, we might sometimes find reading to be a bit of a chore, especially when it was for homework at school, if we remembered the joy of it, we could still enjoy it. Sometimes, we might feel like we’re too old for the books we read when we were kids, however there is nothing wrong with reading children’s books, in fact that’s the kind of books I enjoy reading, because not only can they be funny and entertaining, but they can also have some things inside them that can not only teach great lessons to children but also some things that we can appreciate as we get older and understand better, here are some great books I heard growing up that can still be meaningful.

 

Let’s talk about one of my favourite children’s authors, Robert Munsch, growing up I loved reading his books, they could be funny whether its about a kid who can’t be quiet at bedtime, a girl underestimating pigs’ intelligence, a girl named Stephanie wanting to be unique with her hairstyles (I used to want to have my hair in ponytails just like the way she did in the book), a girl constantly getting jumped on by a mud puddle, 2 kids getting all smoky when joining firefighters or even one where a boy enters a Sandcastle contest and he makes a sand house that looked like a real house. Robert always based his stories on children he’s met he would turn their interests and experiences into books that some folks still like to read today. Though he can’t tell stories anymore because he had a stroke, his storytelling before that was always funny and I am grateful he’s given a lot of fun books to read.

In a previous article I talked about how Robert Munsch’s book The Paper Bag Princess, is a great story with an excellent role model for little girls and children in general, showing kids to be adaptable, smart, assertive and independent, however, he’s also written a lot of a few other stories that can have more meaning and here they are.

A few of his stories, like David’s Father, Andrew’s Loose Tooth, Makeup Mess and Something Good, the kids in those books are his actual children, and that means the parents in the books are Robert himself and his wife Ann, it’s so amazing! The reason why I find it to be amazing is that you’d notice his daughters Julie and Tyya are black, as it turns out Robert actually adopted all 3 of his kids, he and his wife had tried to have babies but they sadly came out as stillborn, (more into that a bit later) so they decided to adopt, and they gave three beautiful children a loving family and home, in some of those books it’s not really mentioned but just shown and that makes it more better. One of his books tackle it in a brief way but it still is cool, the book is David’s Father. The story is about his daughter Julie, who sees a moving van by a house, and she’s scared because the movers are carrying cutlery that’s really huge and she fears she might not like them. The next day, she passes by the house and sees a boy named David who invites her to play, she initially is suspicious but then agrees, at first when he invites her to stay for dinner, she feels scared but agrees when he tells her they’re having cheeseburgers. As they eat, that’s when Julie sees a huge table, and the giant cutlery and then David’s father comes in the room, it turns out he’s a giant, but don’t worry, he’s not like the giant from Jack And The Beanstalk, despite his questionable diet of octopus tentacles and chocolate covered bricks, he actually is very friendly towards the kids, and gives Julie another milkshake when she asks for one. Julie does find him a bit scary but she sees he is a nice guy, when he scares bullies away and when she scrapes her elbow, he puts a bandage over it. When Julie tells David how he doesn’t look like his father, then he casually mentions that he’s adopted and Julie is impressed by this. According to the book, Robert wrote this book for his daughter because she wanted a story about a kid who looks different than his father, since she too was adopted and looks different than her father, and that’s just sweet. It’s a great book that can show how some kids are different than their families due to being adopted but it can still be great because their parents can be great and do love them, it will give adopted kids something to relate to and that is a beautiful thing.

Another book he wrote that a lot of people appreciate it more is a book called, From Far Away. The book is about a 7 year old girl named Saoussan writing to her reading buddy about her life before the present, she once lived far away, she had a happy life with her parents and her sister, but when she was 5, a war started and their house got destroyed, and the family realized they had to leave, and they ended up flying to Canada. Once they arrived, it wasn’t easy for Saoussan, she felt confused because whenever her classmates and peers wanted to talk to her, she didn’t understand them because she didn’t speak English, she couldn’t understand her teacher and she would crawl under her desk to sneak out if she had to go to the bathroom. One day when she crawled into the bathroom, she saw a paper skeleton in the bathroom, since she didn’t know it was for Halloween, let alone not knowing about Halloween, she thought it meant she would get shot at (the picture actually shows people with guns), it frightened her so much that when her teacher hugged her to console her she ended up wetting herself on her teacher’s lap, quite a hard time for a 5 year old. After getting some reassurance from her father, as time went on, she was able to learn English and make new friends and was happier than ever and even became really smart in her class, and even wrote about her recent Halloween and how fun it was and whenever she sees her old kindergarten teacher in the mall, she hugs her especially because she was one of the ones who helped her learn how to speak English. This was actually based on a true story and the girl in the book actually wrote the book with Robert Munsch, it turns out she used to live in Beirut before she and her family moved to Canada and by the time she was 7, she wrote letters to Robert and told him her story and that’s how the book came to be, it’s actually really nice they wrote this book together to give kids who had to move to another country due to a disaster or war, something to relate to. I remember when I was in 5^th grade our teacher played the audio recording of Robert reading the story and afterwards we discussed the story and we talked about what Saoussan was going through, being in a new country, and not fully understanding the rights and responsibilities, since we were studying about the latter at that point. It’s such a lovely story, it can help kids understand those that come from foreign countries and maybe help them so they can adjust to their new place and like I said before, to also give any immigrant child something to resonate with, and that shows how great Robert was with children especially those that were different.

One of his most famous books would have to be Love You Forever. The book is about a mother holding her baby and singing that she will always love him. We see the baby growing from being 2 years old, to 9 years old, and a teenager, though he can drive his mother insane, from flushing her watch down the toilet, saying bad words when grandma visits, and having strange friends, every night whenever he’s asleep, she rocks him and sings her sweet lullaby. Even when he becomes a man and moves away, she sometimes comes by his house at night and still rocks him and sings the song. Then, one day, she calls him and tells him she’s sick and to come see her, which the son does she tries to sing the song but she couldn’t finish it, so the son holds her and sings the song to her. Though he’s sad, it ends on a sweet note, he holds his new baby daughter and sings the same song his mother sang to him, to keep her memory alive and love his little girl as much as she loved him. When you look past the seemingly creepy bit of the mother sneaking into her grown son’s house at night (I can kind of see why some are disturbed) it still does a great job showing the love a parent has for their child and how it never ends when they grow up and they will still be their babies and even when the time comes for them to not be around anymore, their offspring will always love their parents and they can give the same love they can give their own children. The story behind it is actually quite sad, Robert and his wife tried to have kids but they came out as stillborn, and they sang the song in the book to their dead babies, and the story he wrote was a way to help him grieve and eventually heal. The story was quite emotional, (there’s an episode of Friends where Joey reads the book on Emma’s birthday, we only hear him read the first and last page (I wish he did a full read aloud) and once he finishes the story we see the others moved by the story), but this hits even harder, his website even had him mention that it’s not just kids that are reading it, but even adults and even elderly people buy it too, showing how this particular story isn’t just for kids, but anyone else too! Robert’s song in the book would have him encourage the readers to sing it their way, showing how the story is for everyone and it could even be used when we remember friends or loved ones that have passed, I’ve seen some friends on Instagram use the quote when remembering a deceased loved one and at my mom’s funeral, one of her friends used that quote in her speech which I find meaningful since I remember one new years, her daughter read me and a few of her friends a couple of his stories before we went to sleep and that just makes it all the more meaningful.

Another book I remember being read to as a child was The Balloon Tree by Phoebe Gilman. This story is about a little princess named Leora who loves to play, is kind to everyone in her kingdom and loves to play with balloons. One day, her father has been invited to a tournament and he can’t take her with him, he leaves her with her uncle the Archduke, he sees his daughter isn’t happy about this and advises her to release her balloons if something is wrong, before leaving. What the king doesn’t know is that the Archduke is actually an evil guy who wants to be king, he demands his guards lock the princess in her room and pop all the balloons so she can’t signal her father, now all seems lost, except for one thing, Leora has a secret passageway in her room where she can see her friend who’s a wizard. He tells her to find a balloon to plant on this balloon tree and say magic words before sunrise. Leora spends the night searching for ballons but she can’t find any, but luckily, a little boy was able to help her, he gives her his balloon he succeeded in hiding from the Archduke and his guards. Leora is able to plant the balloon in time and once she says the magic words, the balloon tree starts blossoming and a lot of balloons come floating out and fly around the kingdom, there are so many that the Archduke and his men cannot pop them, once the King sees the balloons, he goes back to the kingdom and realizes the Archduke’s true colours and arrests him and his men into the dungeon. The story ends with the kingdom throwing a party and the Archduke and the men spend their time in prison, blowing up balloons. This is a great story, Leora is a great character to look up to, though she is a child, she is shown to be kind hearted and generous towards everyone, she is willing to stand up for what she believes in and isn’t afraid to ask for help when she needs it and that’s a great thing for kids to learn, I know when this princess grows up she will be a great queen. Plus Leora’s kindness also comes back to her, when this little boy finds out about her problem, he gives her his balloon he hid from the Archduke so she can plant the tree, which was a nice thing to do, I hope he got the first balloon for that. Though it’s a simple story, it still can be another great fairytale for children to listen to, as wonderful as The Paper Bag Princess.

One of my favourite book series growing up would have to be the Ramona Quimby series by Beverly Cleary (I’m really impressed she made it to 100 5 years before she passed). These books revolved around the girl who shares the name of the title, going through different stages in life, from nursery school all the way to 4^th grade, the first book though revolves around her older sister Beezus, who is annoyed with Ramona’s antics, from locking her friends dog in the bathroom, throwing a party at her house, and ruining her two birthday cakes, either by throwing eggs into the batter or shoving her doll in the cake in the over, Beezus feels annoyed with her, but she also feels guilty for not loving her sister, seeing how her mother and aunt love each other, but when she confesses at her birthday dinner, her mother and aunt reassure her it’s normal to feel that way and talk about their memories of when they used to fight and it makes Beezus feel better about her sister, it’s a nice story about two sisters. After that book, we then spend the rest of the series with Ramona, from her going to kindergarten in Ramona The Pest all the way to fourth grade in Ramona’s World. These books show her dealing with the many things children face growing up, like feeling misunderstood, being afraid to sleep in her own room (she had shared a room with her sister beforehand), dealing with a prissy snobby girl, being blamed for younger kids misbehaviour or dealing with embarrassing situations like when she tried to crack a hard boiled egg on her head, only to find out the hard way that it was raw and the egg got all over her hair or when she catches a stomach flu and ends up throwing up in front of her class (has that one ever happened to you, if so, it’s okay, these things can happen and it’s nothing to be ashamed of). The books also deal with some real problems too, in Ramona And Her Father, her dad loses his job and the family is struggling to make ends meet and Ramona tries to do everything to keep her family happy, Beverly herself had that happen when she was a child so this I’m sure made it all the more powerful for her. For the next few books we see that Mr. Quimby got a job, at a grocery store, while it does help them stay on the ground, it also does show how stressful things can be, one night when they forgot to turn the crock pot on to make stew, the parents have an argument and Ramona and Beezus worry that their parents might get a divorce because of their fighting, so much so that Beezus lets Ramona sleep on her bed with her, I’m sure a lot of kids can relate to that, it can be hard when you see your parents argue a lot, but the next morning the parents assure them that they still love each other and all seems well. In Ramona Quimby Age 8, we find out that Mr. Quimby is planning to go to college to become an art teacher, but by the time Ramona Forever is out, Beezus tells Ramona that a lot of teachers are getting laid off and he might not be able to get a teaching job and even when he does, it’s far from their home, and that one won’t be easy because of some changes going on, at the end Mr. Quimby settles for a manager job at a grocery store so they don’t have to move, while he is disappointed he cannot teach, he is able to do some of his artwork, so it wasn’t all for naught. This shows that sometimes things won’t always go the way we want to like our dream jobs, it especially isn’t always easy if you have children, but the best thing you can do is make the most of it, (think of Pixar’s Soul where the barber Dez wanted to be a vet but he couldn’t afford the education for it and his daughter was sick, so he went for being a barber instead and that worked out well, he was able to make enough money to provide for his family and find the joy in cutting hair, he can talk to his customers and give them a new style they like). Ramona Forever especially can be relatable, because Ramona goes through a lot of changes, which is something we experience a lot. The first thing that changes is her after school routine, she used to go to her friend Howie’s house, and when his grandmother blames her when his little sister Willa Jean breaks her new accordian (I so want Jo Frost to lecture her for not taking her babysitting responsibilities seriously and for her mistreatment towards Ramona the same way she would chew out parents who expect their children to be responsible for their younger siblings, especially those poor Chapman girls, it was so bad that one of them fainted) Ramona feels hurt and decides she’s done going back to the Kemps house, and when she cries to her parents about it, Beezus offers to watch her, she is 13 after all, it goes all right until, one day Howie invites Ramona to come out and play and Beezus won’t allow her to, Ramona gets angry and calls her Pizzaface, and is a bit surprised to see Beezus looking hurt by this since she would usually call her Pieface, it’s only when Ramona hurts herself and Beezus refuses to help her, she realizes Beezus was hurt because she thought calling her Pizzaface was a way to insult her for having pimples. Luckily, the next day, the girls make up when another change happens. When Beezus goes downstairs to feed their cat Picky Picky, Ramona notices it seems quiet until Beezus calls her to come downstairs quick, which she does, and Beezus tells her their cat has died, Ramona suggests waiting until their parents come home, but Beezus objects because they were told not to worry their mother about anything (you’ll see why later), and so they work together to bury Picky Picky and have a funeral for him, and the two sisters make up. Once their parents come home and see Beezus’ hands were covered in Band Aids, (she had gotten blisters) and Ramona’s clothes were all muddy, then the girls tell them what happened and the parents are touched by what their daughters did and decided that they are capable of being home alone. Then, their mother confirms news that they suspected, their mother is pregnant, and that’s why they were told not to upset their mother about anything. Plus, there were hints given beforehand, Beezus pointed out about Aunt Bea always calling their mother asking how she's feeling, she would skip dessert and on Thanksgiving, she would throw up after breakfast, pregnant women can get morning sickness. Ramona has mixed feelings about it, she’s used to being the baby and now she won’t be that anymore, on the other hand, it does become exciting for her, especially when they try to think of names, settling for Algie until the baby comes. However, before that big change, there’s another one, Ramona’s aunt Beatrice comes over with Howie’s uncle Hobart, and they announce that they’re getting married in a couple of weeks and are moving to Alaska, Ramona is shocked by this because it means she won’t see her aunt as much as she used to, but after she and Beezus are asked to be bridesmaids at the wedding, she does perk up a bit, and though planning the wedding is a bit stressful, especially when they fear their dresses and flowers won’t arrive in time, but they luckily do, and the wedding is a great day and Ramona is happy to have Hobart as her uncle, be sure to read the book to see what happens at the wedding. The final chapter has Mrs. Quimby go into labour and she and her husband go off to the hospital leaving his daughters alone until he comes home with the news, the book illustrates Ramona’s anxieties about this, but Beezus reassures her it will all be okay, like when she was born, and though they wish Aunt Bea was here, they anxiously wait for news from their father, and Beezus lets Ramona sleep on her bed with her and later, at 4 in the morning, their father tells them that they had a daughter named Roberta and their mother is fine. After a few days, Ramona finally gets a chance to meet her sister (in those few days she wasn’t allowed to go to the maternity ward because the nurses thought that children under 12 might have contagious diseases) and she reflects on everything she went through and though they were hard, she still survived and continued to live and that’s a great thing for a child to learn, it can help kids and even adults remember that life isn’t always easy, growing up can be difficult and we can go through big changes but we can all overcome certain challenges and maybe come out strong and even just still continuing on despite the hardships, can still be amazing. The Ramona books to me still are great books to read, I loved reading them in elementary school and I appreciate them even more, I recommend reading these books, and check out the tv series from 1988 where Sarah Polley is Ramona on YouTube and also see the 2010 adaptation, they do well at adapting the books well!

Another beloved children’s author that you could never outgrow would have to be Dr. Seuss. This man wrote his stories in rhyme and could also have funny and creative ways with wordplay, and I’m sure they were some of the first books a lot of us read as children and maybe it taught us how to read. His books continue to remain timeless and when you revisit some, you’d see they have a lot more value.

One of his most famous books would have to be How The Grinch Stole Christmas. It’s about a grumpy creature who lives north on Whoville and he despises Christmas, he scowls at seeing all the Whos in Whoville preparing for the festive season and dreads what will come the next day, the children will find their toys and make so much noise, and when they feast, they’ll munch on roast beast and then when the bells ring the whos will stand together and sing. The Grinch cannot stand this happiness and declares to stop it, by disguising himself as Santa Claus and use his dog Max as a reindeer to go to the whos houses while they’re sleeping and steal all their Christmas decorations, their presents, their food and their trees, even when caught by little Cindy Lou Who, he manages to fool her into thinking he's taking the tree to his workshop to fix the light, and when he goes up to Mount Crumpit to dump the things he stole, he thinks the Whos will wake up sad to see nothing, only to be surprised that the Whos are happy without any presents. At first, he is puzzled about this and then realizes that Christmas means a lot more than anything, and that’s enough to soften his heart, and make it grow and inspires him to bring everything back and celebrate the holidays with the Whos. This can be a great book to teach kids at an early age that Christmas isn’t about the presents, but its about the love you can give to your friends and family and that’s more valuable than any gift one can receive. It got to me more as I grew up, as my nanny had told me about Christmas, plus, I remember in elementary school, when some high school students did a play based on the story, when the grinch anticipates the whos being sad, we were told to smile to prove the Grinch wrong and that was fun! There is a reason why people read this book to their kids or still watch the classic Chuck Jones cartoon on TV or at home every Christmas, as I did when I was a kid, because of it’s heartfelt message. Sometimes it makes me think of things I like doing on Christmas, whether it was going on a Christmas walk with my aunt and uncle, going to a Christmas market with my friend, just watching a Christmas movie with her like Home Alone or The Holiday and going out to dinner at a restaurant we would go to together or even last year, we went to an arcade, sure some of those don’t seem to sound very festive but they are special because I get to spend time with people who’s company I enjoy and that is special to me, I hope for future Christmases I can do things that aren’t traditional or may seem weird but it can be great because I’d be doing it with someone I enjoy being around or just doing something I love, when things can get stressful in the holidays, as it can be for me, these things can help us enjoy it and that is a great thing.

Another Dr. Seuss book that means a lot more would have to be Horton Hears A Who, the story revolves around Horton soaking in the water until he hears someone calling for help, and that yelp comes from a speck of dust, though it seems strange Horton is determined to help whoever that is, once he catches the speck and puts in on a clover, he finds out there’s actually a city inside the speck, a town known as Whoville. However, all is not well, because the residents of the Jungle Of Nool, think Horton is crazy, and they try to get rid of it, from dropping it on a field of clovers to trying to boil it, the latter one is where things get really tense, Horton orders everyone to make as much noise to prove that they do exist before they meet their fates, once they’re so close to being boiled, one small who by the name of Jojo yells, “Yopp!” and that is what gets the animals to finally realize Horton was right and they are determined to help him keep the Whos safe from anymore harm. This book is quite dark when you think about it, I mean, some say that that the animals trying to make Horton believe that there is nothing on the speck, is basically like how people tell others that certain people whether it’s about their colours, religion, where they come from and much more, are not real people at all, and them trying to get rid of the speck is basically genocide, my goodness, I can’t believe how dark this story was, I never would’ve guessed that as a child. However, there is a ray of hope in the story, despite the many attempts the animals make, that never stops Horton from wanting to keep the whos safe from any danger, and declare that no matter how small they are, they’re still people, and that applies to anyone in the world, no matter how strange they may seem, they still are people, and it also is a great way to show that even children, no matter how small or young they may seem, they still can make a difference and that is a strong message, especially today. Today there are wars, genocide and even in Toronto, there have been news of shootings and murders, and it’s just disgusting, people come on let’s all please stop fighting and just be civil, we don’t have to like certain folks but we must at least try to be nice and civil and not cause any harm, people who do such things are why we lose faith in humanity, if we can be as kind hearted as Horton and stand up for others, this world will feel like a place we want to be in.

Another book would have to be The Lorax. The story revolves around the Onceler, a man who wants to run a business, and decides to make a “thneed” however, he does so by chopping down a tree, and when he does that a creature known as the Lorax, comes out and tries to warn him not to chop down anymore trees because of how it could be harmful to the environment, while the Onceler battles his conscience about if what he’s doing is wrong, while still trying to keep his business running so people don’t lose their jobs, while it’s understandable it doesn’t take away the fact that the business is cutting down all the trees, leading to deforestation and the animals getting sick due to the air and oil that comes from the lack of trees, and eventually, the Onceler loses everything, his business is down and now he’s all alone with nothing, and he spent years at home regretting his actions, and remembers the Lorax left only one word for him, Unless. One day, a boy comes to the Onceler’s place to learn about the trees and after the story is told, the Onceler gives the boy the last seed giving him a chance to plant it and hopefully fix his wrongdoings and make the world a much safer place to be in. The book had the Onceler faceless because he can be anyone, anyone can cause deforestation, do things that harm the environment and fall into greed, however, the ending of the story also provides hope that maybe things can get better but it’s all up to you, you can help fix the wrongs the world has given, and that is a very powerful message, especially for a childrens story. I firmly believe that there has to be a good compromise for certain things like drinking water or drinking through straws, there has to be a way to do these things without harming the environment, I will admit to being guilty of using paper towels. This is something Illumination did completely wrong when they made a movie, from making the boy in the story learn about trees all because of a girl and adding a villain, completely missing the point of the story, but hey, mediocre movie or not, the story whether it was the book or the 1972 special, will remain timeless and it will always be a good story to think about things that we can do to keep our environment safe for ourselves, our friends, family and all the animals too.

 

These kinds of book are children’s books that I’m sure can never be outgrown because they can have messages that can stick with us to this day, can give some children something to relate to, and when we grow up, we can understand them better and that can show how it’s a book that everyone can enjoy and that’s what makes some books for children, books that can never be outgrown and that is a great thing.

 

What books do you remember being read to in your childhood that you still remember to this day and love even more? Feel free to share in the comments