Recommendations based on The Polar Expressby Chris Van Allsburg

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

    by Dr. Seuss
    A grumpy creature's attempt to ruin Christmas for an entire town.

    The Grinch , a grouchy, cave-dwelling creature, hates Christmas ; his only companion is his unloved but loyal dog, Max. He resides on the snowy Mount Crumpit, located north of the town of Whoville, ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

    by Bill Martin Jr.
    A playful story of letters competing to climb a coconut tree.

    The 26 characters in this rhythmic, rhyming baby book are a lowercase alphabet with attitude. "A told b, and b told c, 'I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree'"–which probably seemed like a ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

    by Eric Carle
    A caterpillar's journey of growth and transformation to becoming a butterfly.

    THE all-time classic story, from generation to generation, sold somewhere in the world every 30 seconds! Have you shared it with a child or grandchild in your life? One sunny Sunday, the caterpillar ... (Goodreads)

  4. Love You Forever

    by Robert Munsch
    A boy is comforted and loved by his mother throughout his life, reminding him that her love is unconditional.

    An extraordinarily different story by Robert Munsch is a gentle affirmation of the love a parent feels for their child—forever. "A young woman holds her newborn son and looks at him lovingly. Softly ... (Goodreads)

  5. Goodnight Moon

    by Margaret Wise Brown
    A bedtime story of a young bunny saying goodnight to the various objects in its room.

    In a great green room, tucked away in bed, is a little bunny. "Goodnight room, goodnight moon." And to all the familiar things in the softly lit room – to the picture of the three little bears ... (Goodreads)

  6. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

    by Jon Scieszka
    A humorous reimagining of the classic fairy tale, as told from the wolf's side of the story.

    You thought you knew the story of the “The Three Little Pigs”… You thought wrong. In this hysterical and clever fracture fairy tale picture book that twists point of view and perspective, young ... (Goodreads)

  7. Jumanji

    by Chris Van Allsburg
    A magical board game unleashes wild animals and jungle hazards into the real world.

    The game under the tree looked like a hundred others Peters and Judy had at home... But they were bored, restless and looking for something interesting to do... so they thought they'd give Jumanji a ... (Goodreads)

  8. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

    by Laura Joffe Numeroff
    A humorous story of a young boy's attempt to satisfy the endless requests of a mouse.

    A boy gives a cookie to a mouse. The mouse asks for a glass of milk. He then requests a straw (to drink the milk), a mirror (to avoid a milk mustache), nail scissors (to trim his hair in the mirror), ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

    by Judith Viorst
    A young boy experiences a day of unfortunate events, learning to accept his feelings and move on.

    Alexander narrates the story of having a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day. From the moment Alexander woke up, he noticed the bubble gum that was in his mouth when he fell asleep had now ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

    by Bill Martin Jr.
    A colorful children's book that introduces animals and colors through repetitive phrases and illustrations.

    A big happy frog, a plump purple cat, a handsome blue horse, and a soft yellow duck–all parade across the pages of this delightful book. Children will immediately respond to Eric Carle's flat, boldly ... (Goodreads)

  11. Amelia Bedelia

    by Peggy Parish
    A literal-minded housekeeper takes instructions too literally, leading to humorous misunderstandings and chaos.

    From dressing the chicken to dusting the furniture, Amelia Bedelia does exactly what Mr. and Mrs. Rogers tell her. ...But somehow things never turn out quite right. ... (Goodreads)

  12. Oh, the Places You'll Go!

    by Dr. Seuss
    A whimsical and inspiring journey through life's ups and downs, encouraging readers to persevere and follow their dreams.

    The story begins with the narrator, relating the decision of the unnamed protagonist (who represents the reader) to leave town. The protagonist travels through several geometrical and polychromatic ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Flotsam

    by David Wiesner
    A boy discovers a camera with mysterious photographs, inspiring a journey of exploration.

    The book has no words , but is told through pictures. A boy is at the beach and finds an old camera. He takes the film to get it developed, and sees photos of fantastical undersea cities and ... (Wikipedia)

  14. The Cat in the Hat

    by Dr. Seuss
    A mischievous cat visits two children on a rainy day, resulting in a wild and chaotic adventure.

    The story begins as an unnamed boy who is the narrator of the book sits alone with his sister Sally in their house on a cold and rainy day, staring wistfully out the window. Then they hear a loud ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Make Way for Ducklings

    by Robert McCloskey
    A family of ducks navigates the city of Boston, finding a safe home.

    This classic tale of the famous Mallard ducks of Boston is available for the first time in a full-sized paperback edition. Awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1942, Make Way for Ducklings has been ... (Goodreads)

  16. A Bad Case of Stripes

    by David Shannon
    Camilla loves lima beans but is afraid of being different. She wakes up one day covered in stripes and learns to embrace her uniqueness.

    The main character is a girl named Camilla Cream who secretly loves lima beans but doesn't want to eat them because her friends dislike them and she wants to be just like them. One day she wakes up ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Rainbow Fish

    by Marcus Pfister
    A fish learns the importance of friendship and sharing after being gifted a pair of glittering scales.

    The story is about The Rainbow Fish , a fish with shiny, multi-coloured scales . He has blue, green, purple, and pink scales. Interspersed with these colorful scales are shiny, holographic scales ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Corduroy

    by Don Freeman
    A teddy bear's adventures in a department store, searching for a missing button.

    A picture book classic! One of, School Library Journal,’s "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time (2012) One of the National Education Association’s "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." Don Freeman's ... (Barnes & Noble)

  19. Stellaluna

    by Janell Cannon
    A young bat's journey of self-discovery, learning to navigate the world while embracing her true identity.

    In a forest far away, a mother fruit bat has a new baby, and names her, Stellaluna. One night, an owl attacks the bats, knocking Stellaluna out of her mother's embrace, and she falls into the forest ... (Wikipedia)

  20. The Three Pigs

    by David Wiesner
    A retelling of the classic tale with a twist, where the pigs take control of their story and create their own destiny.

    The story starts with three pigs who decided to build a house. However, two of the three pigs love to play. The other is very responsible and hardworking. He advised the other two pigs to build a ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

    by Judi Barrett
    A whimsical story of a town where food literally falls from the sky.

    A grandfather reads a bedtime story, chronicling the lives of the citizens of an imaginary town called Chewandswallow, which is characterized by food raining from the sky. The sky provided the ... (Wikipedia)

  22. Madeline

    by Ludwig Bemelmans
    A mischievous young girl named Madeline has adventures in Paris with her classmates and kind-hearted nun Miss Clavel.

    Madeline is one of the best-loved characters in children's literature. Set in picturesque Paris, this tale of a brave little girl's trip to the hospital was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1940 and has as ... (Goodreads)

  23. Because of Winn-Dixie

    by Kate DiCamillo
    A girl's journey of self-discovery and healing, as she finds friendship in an unlikely companion.

    Kate DiCamillo's beloved, best-selling debut novel is now available in a paperback digest edition. Kate DiCamillo's first published novel, like Winn-Dixie himself, immediately proved to be a keeper—a ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Snowy Day

    by Ezra Jack Keats
    A young boy's joyous exploration of the world on a winter's day.

    Peter, The Snowy Day's protagonist, wakes up to the season’s first snowfall. In his bright red snowsuit, he goes outside and makes footprints and trails through the snow. Peter is too young to join a ... (Wikipedia)

  25. The Little Engine That Could

    by Watty Piper
    A small engine teaches the power of positive thinking when it faces a difficult task.

    In the tale, a long train must be pulled over a high mountain after its engine breaks down. Larger engines, treated anthropomorphically , are asked to pull the train; for various reasons they refuse. ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Guess How Much I Love You

    by Sam McBratney
    A tender story of a hare and a rabbit who compete to express their love for each other.

    Guess How Much I Love You follows the story of two hares , Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare. The two are never stated to be father and son in the original storybooks, though are referred to ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Officer Buckle and Gloria

    by Peggy Rathmann
    A safety-conscious police officer teams up with a mischievous police dog to teach children about safety.

    A rather boring police officer named Officer Buckle is assigned to take a police dog named Gloria to his safety speech at the local school. Until that time, whenever Officer Buckle tried to tell ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Are You My Mother?

    by P.D. Eastman
    A baby bird's quest to find his mother and the discoveries he makes along the way.

    Are You My Mother? is a story about a hatchling bird. His mother, thinking her egg will stay in her nest where she left it, leaves her egg alone and flies off to find food. The baby bird hatches ... (Wikipedia)

  29. The Lion and the Mouse

    by Jerry Pinkney
    A fable of unlikely friendship that teaches the importance of kindness and helping others.

    In a book where the only words are the sounds made by the animals, the story begins at dawn. A mouse escapes several predators before coming upon a lion. The lion lets the mouse go. Later, some ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Tuesday

    by David Wiesner
    A group of frogs embark on a surreal, magical adventure on a mysterious Tuesday.

    The story contains only six words and three points that determine the time of the action. The whole story is narrated by colorful pictures of frogs flying on their lily pads . The story begins on ... (Wikipedia)