For many people brought up in an Abrahamic faith, the Bible is synonymous with morality, ethics, comfort, hope and wisdom. Their earliest memories of learning right from wrong involved parables, proverbs and prophets.

For this reason, the Bible compels them. Even when they’ve abandoned their religious beliefs, scripture often still feels relevant — if only for the sake of their children.

So what’s the alternative? Where can non-believers turn to find lessons in compassion and empathy? What can they read to comfort their children in times of pain or get kids thinking about their places in the world? Where can our little humans find confidence and courage to face tough obstacles? Where are the stories that teach them the value of charity and impress upon them the importance of doing good — of being good?

If not for the Bible, how do we teach our children the right way to live?

I believe the answer lies, as it always has, in children’s literature. Chock full of messages of honestly and hope and kindness and friendship and love and forgiveness, children’s books are a bastion — maybe even a mecca — of morality.

In fact, in a head-to-head competition, I’d put a well-curated group of children’s books up against the Bible any day of the week.

Here’s why:

1. Children’s books are generally nonviolent. It must be said, there is an awful lot of killing in the Bible. (Which is not the most moral of behavior, I think we can all agree.) Plus also: murder, rape, robbery, torture, mayhem, revenge, homophobia, sexism, racism, empiricism and polygamy. The list goes on. Listen, this isn’t a cheap shot. I really like the King James Bible. I think some of the stories are incredible and beautiful — even some of those that employ the nasty tactics listed above. But would I want my little kid reading this stuff? Probably not. That’s all I’m saying.

2. Children’s books are extraordinarily well-illustrated and well-written with modern children in mind. This keeps children fully engaged in the material and ensures that they can relate to the tales being told. It also keeps them coming back again and again, so the messages can sink in. No goofy indoctrination techniques necessary; they’ll happily indoctrinate themselves.

3. A good number of these books — most of them, even! — are funny. Laughter, unfortunately, is a gift you won’t find in the Bible, but it’s important. The humor in these books not only makes them enjoyable to read with our kids, but it lightens the weight of daily life in a way that we all deserve.

4. They value freethought, independence and skepticism. The Bible emphasizes a lot great ideas, but these aren’t among them. And there are no threats of hell — meaning that children learn to be good for goodness’ sake.



Now, because it’s summer and I love you guys, I have taken way too much time out of my month to bring you my own curated group of children’s books. In addition to rivaling the Bible’s ability to provide moral guidance, wisdom and comfort to children, they also happen to be some of the best children’s books ever written (in my obviously humble opinion.)

One disclaimer here: I felt compelled to keep my list to 50 — and, even if I hadn’t, I obviously haven’t been exposed to all the books that you have. So do me a favor. If you don’t see a book that you think belongs on this list, add it in the comments (along with the book cover, if possible.)

Okay, here we go, in alphabetical order:

1. A Bargain for Francis

Russell Hoban / Lillian Hoban



Explores themes of friendship, honesty,

forgiveness and materialism.

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

Judith Voirst / Ray Cruz

Bad things happen; you’ll live through it.

(And yes, that’s a picture of my childhood copy.)

3. An Awesome Book

Dallas Clayton



Encourages kids to dream, dream often and dream BIG.

And the illustrations are amazing.

4. The Bear Who Wanted to Be a Bear

Jörg Steiner / Jörg Miller

About environmental protection, the pursuit

of self and feeling good in your own skin.

5. Black Beauty

Sharon Lerner / Susan Jeffers

About kindness, compassion, animal rights

and helping the less fortunate.

6. Bridget and the Muttonheads

Pija Lindenbaum / Kjersti Board





Out of Sweden, and hilarious, this one tackles

loneliness, confidence and finding joy in helping others.

7. Can I Play Too?

Mo Willems

Like all Mo Willems, this one is a-freaking-dorable.

Themes of friendship, creativity and problem-solving.

8. Duck at the Door

Jackie Urbanovic

About love, compassion and the importance

of self-expression. I’m crazy about this book.

9. Eloise

Kay Thompson

This girl oozes independence and confidence.

If you don’t love Eloise, you’re probably fascist.

10. Frog and Toad Are Friends

Arnold Lobel

Honestly, any and all of the Frog and Toad books

should go on this list. The moral lessons abound.

11. George and Martha

James Marshall

One of the best books about true, limitless

friendship that I’ve ever read.

12. The Golden Rule

Ilene Cooper / Gabe Swiatkowska

About the ethic of reciprocity — humanity’s moral gold standard.

I love this book so much I referenced it in my own!

13. The Grandmother Fish

Jonathon Tweet / Karen Lews

A brand-new favorite and a superb

introduction to evolution.

14. Green Eggs and Ham

Dr. Seuss

If you don’t know the lesson of this one, you’ve been

living in a box… or on a fox… or in a boat…

15. Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Carol McCloud / David Messing



Be a bucket filler, not a bucket dumper.

Ethically speaking, you can’t do much better.

16. Henry’s Freedom Box

Ellen Levine / Kadir Nelson

A story of suffering, courage, redemption and, ultimately,

conquering the evil we know as slavery. Beautiful.

17. The Hole

Øyvind Torseter

About the imperfect goal of trying

to rid one’s life of imperfections.

18. How to Behave and Why

Munro Leaf



Because sometimes you

just want to spell it out.

19. I’ll Be You And You Be Me

Ruth Krauss / Maurice Sendak

Kindness. Love. Friendship. And

in Krauss-Sendak’s signature style of AWESOME.

20. Iggy Peck, Architect

Andrea Beaty / David Roberts



Believe in yourself. Be true to yourself.

Make the world a better place.

I’ve never not cried when reading this book.

21. Ira Sleeps Over

Bernard Waber

This charmer is about fear and insecurity, and

the understanding that we all feel

scared and insecure sometimes.

22. Katy and the Big Snow

Virginia Lee Burton



A classic from 1943! Themes of patience and hard work —

with a wee bit of subtle feminism thrown in there.



23. Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse

Kevin Henkes

About remorse and forgiveness and

treating others how you want to be treated.

24. The Little Engine That Could

Patty Piper / Loren Long

“I think I can… I think I can… I think I can…”

Spoiler alert: He can.

25. Malala: A Brave Girl from Pakistan

Jeanette Winter

About tolerance, justice, courage,

human rights and honor.

26. Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary

Beverly Donofrio & Barbara McClintock



I adore this book. Themes include gentleness,

curiosity, friendship and equality.

27. Memoirs of a Goldfish

Devin Scillian / Tim Bowers

Sometimes we have to sacrifice something (peace and quiet)

to experience something far better (love and friendship).

28. Michael Rosen’s Sad Book

Michael Rosen / Quinten Blake

Deals with death, mourning and the

powerful message that it’s okay to be sad.

29. My Chincoteague Pony

Susan Jeffers

About generosity, the value of hard work

and helping others. A tear-jerker in the best way.

30. My Princess Boy

Cheryl Kilodavis

Themes of acceptance, compassion and

standing up for who you are. Some of her readers have

criticized the faceless illustrations. Fuck those people.

31. No! That’s Wrong!

Zhaohua Ji and Cui Xu





Encourages kids to test things out for themselves

and reach their own conclusions. (Read more here.)

32. Now One Foot, Now the Other

Tommy dePaola

The world is a better place because this book is in it.

Teaches the value of compassion, persistence, hope

and taking care of our elders.

33. The Okay Book

Todd Parr

Like all Parr books, this one focuses on diversity,

self-acceptance and kindness to others. A must for little ones.

34. Penny and her Marble

Kevin Henkes

About honesty, remorse and

doing the right thing.

35. Pezzetino

Leo Lionni



A little piece finds out he is enough all by himself.

Best. Message. Ever.

36. Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog

Mo Willems

Sharing is caring. Also, it’s hilarious.

37. The Quiltmaker’s Gift

Jeff Brumbeau / Gail de Marcken

Generosity outweighs greed in this wonderful book, which

also extolls the virtues of living a simple life.

38. Raggedy Ann and the Cookie Snatcher

Little Golden Books



About honesty and forgiveness,

friendship, empathy and generosity.

39. Scarlett Monster Lives Here

Marjorie Weinmann Sharamat / Dennis Kendrick

If you can find this book, buy it. It’s so damn good.

About loneliness, insecurity, inclusion and love.

40. Stone Soup

Marcia Brown



Villagers learn that working

together is more yummy than greed.

41. Three Questions

Jon J. Muth



Based on a work by Leo Tolstoy, this one

discusses the nature of a good life, beautifully.

42. Velveteen Rabbit

Margery Williams / William Nicholson



About wisdom, experience and love.

43. What People Do All Day

Richard Scarry

About how much we rely on each other to do our jobs

and live our lives. Bonus: Will keep toddlers busy for hours.

44. When Dinosaurs Die

Laurie Krasny Brown / Marc Brown



About death and acceptance —

and, no, it’s not really about dinosaurs.

45. Where Did I Come From?

Peter Mayle / Arthur Robins

Sort of like Genesis, but more graphic.

And true.

46. Where The Wild Things Are

Maurice Sendak

A story about an important emotion rarely touched on

in children’s literature: Anger.

47. The World Belongs to You

Riccardo Bozzi / Olimpia Zagnoli

Featuring my favorite line:

“You are… free to believe in nothing at all.”

48. World of Pooh

A. A. Milne

All the themes.

All of them.

49. You are Stardust

Elin Kelsey / Soyeon Kim



About how we are all intimately

connected to the natural world.

50. Zen Shorts

Jon J. Muth

About sharing, justice, kindness, the true meaning

of luck and the burden of bearing a grudge.