Fans pick 100 books like A Child's Book of Art

By Lucy Micklethwait,

Here are 100 books that A Child's Book of Art fans have personally recommended if you like A Child's Book of Art. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Goodnight Moon

Jane Riordan Author Of Winnie-the-Pooh: Once There Was a Bear

From my list on no tears at bedtime.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent my whole life working with children’s books. Firstly, as a listener–I was lucky enough to be read to frequently as a child. Then, as a reader. Later, I shared books as a teacher, editor, and publisher. But perhaps my favorite moments with books have been as a mother and now as an author. That’s a lot of books read, written, edited, shared, and loved! And for me, bedtime is the best time of day to share a book with a child. So, snuggle up and enjoy a favorite book with a favorite little person–they won’t be little for long!

Jane's book list on no tears at bedtime

Jane Riordan Why did Jane love this book?

Yes, it’s a classic–but it’s a classic for a reason! I found this book incredibly soothing at bedtime–both for my children and for me! Is it a bit quirky? Yes! Are the illustrations quite dated? Yes! But there’s nothing quite like it for calming and settling at bedtime. Yawn! I’m feeling sleepy already!

By Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Goodnight Moon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

A beautiful anniversary edition of the classic bedtime story with shiny gold cover flourishes - the perfect gift for christenings and birthdays.

Featuring a look at the fascinating story behind the creation of one of the most famous children's books in the world, beloved by Michelle Obama and Neil Gaiman alike, as well as tips on how to get your child to sleep.

In a great green room a little bunny is tucked up snugly and safely in bed and is getting ready to say goodnight to all the familiar things in his room, one by one.

Margaret Wise Brown's…


Book cover of Peek-A-Boo!

Meghan Cox Gurdon Author Of The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction

From my list on picture books to build a baby’s brain.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a journalist, WSJ book critic, and mother of five, I‘ve been perfectly placed to witness the astounding effects of reading aloud. For decades I've been reading to my children (and to my husband, too) every night, often for a solid hour or more. Storytime has been the central civilizing joy of our family life: We’ve bonded emotionally, gone on shared imaginative adventures, and filled our heads with pictures and words. Long ago I knew something big was happening to us, and I felt sure my children were benefitting, but it wasn’t until I began digging around into the behavioral and brain science that I learned just how consequential reading aloud can be. In my book, I lay it all out.

Meghan's book list on picture books to build a baby’s brain

Meghan Cox Gurdon Why did Meghan love this book?

This brilliant and surprisingly sophisticated book has a satisfying rhyming pace that breaks every other page, both visually and aurally, into a“Peek-a-Boo!” Tracing one day in the life of a baby boy in wartime London, it’s full of cues for parents to engage in questions and answers. For instance, the baby in the book goes to the park; the scene contains, inter alia, two perambulators, a double-decker bus, a picket fence, a zeppelin, a church spire, pink flowers, children fishing in a shallow pond, a policeman, boys with a toy boat, a gentleman carrying a walking stick and a rolled-up newspaper…. you get the idea.

By Janet Ahlberg, Allan Ahlberg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Peek-A-Boo! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Perfectly tuned for a first-book experience.”—Booklist

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Baby peeks through holes cut in sturdy board book pages. The perfect way for very young children to play along with the classic game of peek-a-boo!


Book cover of The Little Engine That Could

Ari Gunzburg Author Of Someday Soon

From my list on to inspire hope.

Why am I passionate about this?

I continue to find hope as a constant theme in my talks and my various media appearances. Hope is so integral to being able to fight for another day. When we can plant the seed of hope and perseverance in kids from a young age, by giving the gift of books that show them the true meaning of hope and aspirations, we give them a gift that carries them well through life.

Ari's book list on to inspire hope

Ari Gunzburg Why did Ari love this book?

This book was originally published in 1930 and also goes back a long way in my own life as well. I have fond memories of my father reading this story to me when I was young, acting out all the parts of the story, using different voices, and more. Despite being little and unassuming, the Little Blue Engine uses hope and belief to get over the mountain. Without belief in ourselves we often can’t even begin to try, but the Little Blue Engine chose to trust in himself and it paid off - big time. We can all use a little more belief in our own abilities to create massive change in our lives.

By Watty Piper,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Little Engine That Could as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The classic story in a board book format

One of the true classics in children's books is now available in a sturdy board book edition perfect for little hands! The story has been slightly abridged and features the famous illustrations from the original Hauman edition. Now toddlers can cheer on the little blue engine and that "can-do" attitude that keeps her chugging along!


Book cover of Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever

Meghan Cox Gurdon Author Of The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction

From my list on picture books to build a baby’s brain.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a journalist, WSJ book critic, and mother of five, I‘ve been perfectly placed to witness the astounding effects of reading aloud. For decades I've been reading to my children (and to my husband, too) every night, often for a solid hour or more. Storytime has been the central civilizing joy of our family life: We’ve bonded emotionally, gone on shared imaginative adventures, and filled our heads with pictures and words. Long ago I knew something big was happening to us, and I felt sure my children were benefitting, but it wasn’t until I began digging around into the behavioral and brain science that I learned just how consequential reading aloud can be. In my book, I lay it all out.

Meghan's book list on picture books to build a baby’s brain

Meghan Cox Gurdon Why did Meghan love this book?

Try to get your hands on the original 1963 edition that made Richard Scarry‘s fortune and allowed him to move his family to Switzerland, for the skiing. It’s a fabulous book that’s crowded with scenes of purpose and industry, and with labeled pictures that bespeak the world’s exciting wideness. There are birds (the quail, pheasant, wren, bittern), buildings (a cathedral, pyramid, fort, skyscraper), flowers (clover, pansies, asters, foxgloves), and houses (the igloo, grass house, half-timbered house, chalet). Over time, subsequent editions were stripped of this eccentric specificity and of Scarry’s courtly depictions of traditional social roles (gone, for instance, are the “handsome pilot” and the “pretty stewardess”).

By Richard Scarry,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When his publisher first saw the sketches for this book in 1962, he proclaimed: "Why, this is simply the best word book EVER!" He was right: it still is!


Book cover of Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind

Richard Passingham Author Of Cognitive Neuroscience: A Very Short Introduction

From my list on the human brain.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have worked on the brain in Oxford since 1970, and my job also required me to teach students, not just in lectures but also in tutorials. This taught me how to communicate clearly. In my own scientific work, I was amongst the first to use functional brain imaging to visualize the human brain at work. I have written seven books and edited an eighth. My particular specialisation is decision making and the brain areas (such as the prefrontal cortex) that support it. I have just published a monograph of nearly 500 pages on the prefrontal cortex, aimed at other scientists in the field. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society. 

Richard's book list on the human brain

Richard Passingham Why did Richard love this book?

Ramachandran is famous for studying some of the disorders that can be produced for the brain. One such is phantom limb pain. Some people who have had an arm amputated continue to feel that arm, and even to have pain in it. Ramachandran devised an ingenious experiment to try to abolish that feeling. This and other clever ideas are described in this book. Readers will quickly appreciate that science is like the humanities in requiring creativity.

By V.S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Phantoms in the Brain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments -- using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, Dr. Ramachandran recounts how his work with patients who have bizarre neurological disorders has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are, how we construct our body image,…


Book cover of Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain

H. Chris Ransford Author Of In Search of Ultimate Reality: Inside the Cosmologist's Abyss

From my list on weird thrilling science universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I felt profoundly dissatisfied by the pat and cardboard cutout explanations that some teachers offered for life and the universe: there had to be more! I decided to go into science. The explanatory power of science is 'next level,' to use a contemporary phrase, and unless and until we explore it, we'll miss the beauty and sheer wonder of the universe. Neither should we overly specialize: science is not compartmentalized, but vastly different fields of science feed into and reinforce one another. Popular science has an essential role to play: irrespective of how arcane hard science may appear to be, its story can always be told in everyday words.

H. Chris' book list on weird thrilling science universe

H. Chris Ransford Why did H. Chris love this book?

I loved this book because it offers a refreshing view of what neuroscience can and should be. Unlike different, highly credentialed neuroscientists who routinely offer vastly incompatible views of consciousness and who we ultimately are, this book instead focuses on the extraordinary theme of how the brain organizes the engineering of consciousness rather than on the more elusive and controversial deeper questions. 

As an illustration of the many mind-broadening themes broached in this superb book, instinct is often used as the be-all and end-all explanation of certain animal and human behaviors. Of the two hundred or so books I have read on the subject of consciousness and the brain, I have never before come across a more cogent explanation of how instinct arises and sets over many generations. 

By David Eagleman,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Livewired as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What does drug withdrawal have in common with a broken heart? Why is the enemy of memory not time, but other memories? How can a blind person learn to see with her tongue or a deaf person learn to hear with his skin? Why did many people in the 1980s mistakenly perceive book pages to be slightly red in colour? Why is the world's best archer armless? Might we someday control a robot with our thoughts, just as we do our fingers and toes? Why do we dream at night, and what does that have to do with the rotation…


Book cover of The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

Nicole Vignola Author Of Rewire: Break the Cycle, Alter Your Thoughts and Create Lasting Change

From my list on teach you how to tell your own story.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a neuroscientist and author who wants to help people break the mold and become the best possible versions of themselves. While working with people, I noticed that many repeated things like "I could never," "I am just wired this way," and “I am not good enough.” Even worse, they're holding onto a statement that was said to them in their formative years, which has dictated their trajectory as peopleI want you to know that your brains can change…at any age! You can exhume your best traits and break the cycle of the habits and behaviors holding you back.

Nicole's book list on teach you how to tell your own story

Nicole Vignola Why did Nicole love this book?

This is an amazing book that shows just how far we can go when it comes to changing the neural networks in our brains. It helped me understand the mechanisms involved in wanting to change some deep-rooted beliefs.

Doige writes about some of the most extraordinary cases of stroke patients rewiring their brains for functionality after their strokes. The brain is remarkable, and it can change if we so wish it to.

By Norman Doidge,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked The Brain That Changes Itself as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've transformed-people whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety…


Book cover of It's Okay to Laugh: (Crying Is Cool Too)

Autumn Toelle-Jackson Author Of Boldly Into the Darkness: Living with Loss, Growing with Grief & Holding on to Happiness

From my list on to read when grieving.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I had multiple miscarriages in my late 20’s, I found I had no idea how to handle my grief. I didn’t even recognize I was grieving. A few years later when my husband died I was thrust into grief and a life I had never wanted. It took me months to learn how to survive, and a lot longer to find the resources I needed to live a happy life despite my loss. Finding resources that would help became important to me, and a handful of books have stayed with me long after I read them. I hope these books help you as much as they helped me.

Autumn's book list on to read when grieving

Autumn Toelle-Jackson Why did Autumn love this book?

Did you know that it's ok to laugh when you are grieving? Did you know it's ok to cry when you are grieving? I didn't. I thought I had to be strong. I thought I had to behave properly and seriously or else people would assume I didn't really love the people I had lost. Guess what? That's complete nonsense.  With grief, your emotions are all over the place, often at the same time, and that's ok. It's Okay to Laugh: (Crying Is Cool Too) is an amazing book that really helps you recognize that your emotions are not mutually exclusive. In sharing (and laughing) about her own experiences, the author really helped me give myself permission to feel my feelings. To feel happy and sad, sometimes at the same time, and to know that whatever I feel in my grief, it's ok. This book often left me laughing out…

By Nora McInerny Purmort,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked It's Okay to Laugh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'This story will compel you to both laugh and cry, just as the title promises. May we all bring Nora's honesty, passion and hope to our lives' Lena Dunham This isn't a cancer story. It's a love story. Twenty-something Nora bounced from boyfriend to dopey 'boyfriend' until she met Aaron - a charismatic art director and comic-book nerd who made her laugh. When Aaron was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, they refused to let it limit their love. They got engaged on Aaron's hospital bed and had a baby boy while he was on chemo. In the…


Book cover of Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life

Beth Kurland, Ph.D. Author Of You Don't Have to Change to Change Everything: Six Ways to Shift Your Vantage Point, Stop Striving for Happy, and Find True Well-Being

From my list on helping you change the way you see the world for well-being and transformation.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a youth, I longed to understand life and its meaning and purpose, and I sought books that opened me up to a world that transcended the more rational, tangible aspects of my life. I also became fascinated with psychology in high school and knew that would be my life’s path. In college and beyond, I was drawn to meditation and mind-body practices that became transformative in my life. This journey continues to this day, calling me to bridge the scientific and psychological with the more contemplative and spiritual traditions to find and help others find healing and wholeness. 

Beth's book list on helping you change the way you see the world for well-being and transformation

Beth Kurland, Ph.D. Why did Beth love this book?

I found this book so compelling that I not only read it but found myself putting it into practice right away in my own life and with my patients. Jill Bolte Taylor’s story is quite remarkable in the way she describes witnessing her own massive stroke, its effect on her brain and body, and her eight-year journey of healing herself back to health and wellness.  

What was most fascinating to me was her observation and description of the four quadrants of our brains and how each one has its own personality (the rational, logical self; the reactive, self-protective, emotional self; the playful, free-spirited and present-focused self; and the spiritual, expansive whole self that experiences oneness with all things).

The book has abundant opportunities to experience the workings and "personalities" that reside in your brain and psyche and learn how to help each part work together in harmony to live your…

By Jill Bolte Taylor,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Whole Brain Living as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Discover how to tap into the present moment, shift out of anxiety and gain a sense of deep inner peace by understanding the brain's two hemispheres.

At age 37, Harvard neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor suffered a massive left-hemisphere stroke that took away her ability to speak, walk, read, write or remember any of her life - and gave her an unprecedented, profound experience of dwelling in the right hemisphere and the sense of oneness and peace to be found there. Her recovery led to her writing the New York Times bestseller My Stroke of Insight, being named one of Time…


Book cover of The Hypnotic Brain: Hypnotherapy and Social Communication

Brian J. McVeigh Author Of The 'Other' Psychology of Julian Jaynes: Ancient Languages, Sacred Visions, and Forgotten Mentalities

From my list on the bicameral mind, mentality, and consciousness.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been fascinated by how the human mind adapts, both individually and through history. Julian Jaynes, who taught me while pursuing my PhD in anthropology from Princeton University, provided me with a theoretical framework to explore how the personal and cultural configure each other. Jaynes inspired me to publish on psychotherapeutics, the history of Japanese psychology, linguistics, education, nationalism, the origin of religion, the Bible, ancient Egypt, popular culture, and changing definitions of self, time, and space. My interests have taken me to China and Japan, where I lived for many years. I taught at the University of Arizona and currently work as a licensed mental health counselor. 

Brian's book list on the bicameral mind, mentality, and consciousness

Brian J. McVeigh Why did Brian love this book?

Julian Jaynes solved the mystery of hypnosis by linking it to what he called the “general bicameral paradigm.” By taking a tour through cognitive psychology, anthropology, ethnology, and neuroscience, this book contextualizes hypnosis from the perspective of interpersonal communication and the role of innate rhythms.

It also shows how hypnosis operates using metaphor, another important topic theorized by Jaynes. 

By Peter Brown,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Hypnotic Brain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hypnosis has recently experienced a surge of popularity in the scientific community and the general public and is currently being used to deal with a wide range of disorders. IN this elegantly written book, Dr. Peter Brown draws on the latest developments in cognitive psychology, anthropology, ethnology, and neuroscience to offer a new explanation for how hypnosis works and how it can be applied.

Brown argues that the ability to hypnotized and be hypnotized is closely related to brain functions that are uniquely human-especially to our ability to communicate with others. He begins by looking at the way communication has…


Book cover of Goodnight Moon
Book cover of Peek-A-Boo!
Book cover of The Little Engine That Could

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