Children’s books families enjoy at Linear

We have quite a few parents with young children at Linear, and someone recently asked for children’s book recommendations. I collected the suggestions here to share them more widely. This isn’t a definitive list of the best children’s books, just books our families enjoy.

I tend to gravitate toward older books, drawn to their illustrations and the way they tell a story. Books like Peter in Blueberry Land, Owl Moon and The Mitten remind me of growing up in Finland. The forests, snow, animals and small adventures. Reading them with my child is a way of sharing that world and those experiences.

And sometimes the books are simply about making noises, finding things in the pictures, and laughing together.

• Peter in Blueberry Land — Elsa Beskow (1901)
• The Story of Ferdinand — Munro Leaf (1936)
• Madeline — Ludwig Bemelmans (1939)
• Goodnight Moon — Margaret Wise Brown (1947)
• Blueberries for Sal — Robert McCloskey (1948)
• Go, Dog. Go! — P. D. Eastman (1961)
• Swimmy — Leo Lionni (1963)
• Corduroy — Don Freeman (1968)
• The Lorax — Dr. Seuss (1971)
• Strega Nona — Tomie dePaola (1975)
• Each Peach Pear Plum — Allan and Janet Ahlberg (1978)
• The Snow Child — Freya Littledale (1978)
• Santa Claus and His Elves — Mauri Kunnas, assisted by Tarja Kunnas (1981)
• Owl Moon — Jane Yolen (1987)
• The Mitten — Jan Brett (1989)
• Big Pumpkin — Erica Silverman (1992)
• Good Night, Gorilla — Peggy Rathmann (1994)
• Guess How Much I Love You — Sam McBratney (1994)
• Good Night, Mr Clutterbuck! — Mauri Kunnas, assisted by Tarja Kunnas (1999)
• The Gruffalo — Julia Donaldson (1999)
• Room on the Broom — Julia Donaldson (2001)
• The Snail and the Whale — Julia Donaldson (2003)
• Ish — Peter H. Reynolds (2004)
• The Gruffalo’s Child — Julia Donaldson (2004)
• Down the Back of the Chair — Margaret Mahy (2006)
• Little Blue Truck — Alice Schertle (2008)
• All the World — Liz Garton Scanlon (2009)
• Press Here — Hervé Tullet (2010)
• Zog — Julia Donaldson (2010)
• Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site — Sherri Duskey Rinker (2011)
• Over and Under the Snow — Kate Messner (2011)
• The Highway Rat — Julia Donaldson (2011)
• The Paper Dolls — Julia Donaldson (2012)
• Don’t Push the Button! — Bill Cotter (2013)
• Little Blue Truck’s Christmas — Alice Schertle (2014)
• The Book with No Pictures — B. J. Novak (2014)
• The Boy Who Spoke to the Earth — Chris Burkard (2015)
• Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth — Oliver Jeffers (2017)
• Where Do Jet Planes Sleep at Night? — Brianna Caplan Sayres (2017)
• Knight Owl — Christopher Denise (2022)
• Don’t Trust Fish! — Neil Sharpson (2025)
• Reach In! — Hervé Tullet (2025)
• Stalactite & Stalagmite — Drew Beckmeyer (2025)