1000 Books Before Kindergarten

West Orange Public Library is participating in 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, a national program promoting reading to newborns, infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

The goal of 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is to share at least 1,000 books before your child enters kindergarten. Reading just one book a day for 365 days you will have shared 1,095 books in three years.The following list of books includes a mix of children's classics such as Goodnight Moon, Madeline, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar and many recent titles parents may remember from childhood. 

Follow a simple formula:
READ. REPEAT.

No required reading - choose any books to read. Read the same title multiple times.
Any child from birth until entering kindergarten is eligible.

To Participate:

  • There is no begin/end date
  • Log your books on paper or download the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten app  
  • Share each milestone (100, 200, 300, etc… ) and receive a special sticker
  • You can count a book for as many times as you read it (i.e. if you read the same book 10 times that counts as 10 entries).

Click on the title to check availability. 

Aardema, Verna: Why Mosquitos Buzz in People’s Ears

Ada, Alma Flor: I Love Saturdays y Domingos

Allard, Harry: Miss Nelson is Missing!

Asch, Frank: Happy Birthday, Moon

Baker, Keith: Big Fat Hen

Bang, Molly: Ten, Nine, Eight

Bang, Molly: When Sophie Gets Angry, Really Really Angry

Barrett, Judi Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Cloting

Barrett, Judi: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Barton, Byron: The Three Bears
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Bauer, Marion: How Do I Love You?

Becker, Bonny: A Visitor for Bear

Bemelmans, Ludwig: Madeline

Blackstone, Stella: Bear's Busy Family

Bornstein, Ruth: Little Gorilla

Boynton, Sandra: Moo Baa La La La

Brett, Jan: The Mitten

Brown, Marcia: Stone Soup

Brown, Margaret Wise: Goodnight Moon

Brunhoff, Jean de: The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant

Burningham, John: Mr. Gumpy’s Outing
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Burton, Virginia Lee: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Campbell, Rod: Dear Zoo

Cannon, Janell: Stellaluna

Capucilli, Alyssa Satin: Biscuit Loves the Library
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Carle, Eric: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Christelow, Eileen: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Choi, Yangsook: The Name Jar

Coffelt, Nancy: Fred Stays with Me

Cooney, Barbara: Miss Rumphius

Crews, Donald: Freight Train

Cronin, Doreen: Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type

Degen, Bruce: Jamberry

De la Pena, Matt: Last Stop on Market Street

DePaola, Tomie: Strega Nona

Dewdney, Anna: Llama Llama Red Pajama

Dorros, Arthur: Abuela

Eastman, P.D.: Are You My Mother?
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Ehlert, Lois: Feathers for Lunch

Emberley, Ed: Go Away, Big Green Monster!

Falconer, Ian: Olivia, the Spy

Feiffer, Jules: Bark, George

Flack, Marjorie: Ask Mr. Bear
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Fleming, Denise: Mama Cat Has Three Kittens
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Floca, Brian: Locomotive

Fogliano, July: And Then It's Spring

Fox, Mem: Time for Bed

Fox, Mem: Where is the Green Sheep?

Freeman, Don: Corduroy
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Gag, Wanda: Millions of Cats

Galdone, Paul: The Three Little Pigs

Gerstein, Mordicai: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

Goble, Paul: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

Gonzalez, Lucia M.: The Bossy Gallito/El Gallo de Bodas

Grimes, Nikki: Meet Danitra Brown

Hall, Michael: Perfect Square

Henkes, Kevin: Old Bear

Hills, Tad: How Rocket Learned to Read

Ho, Minfong: Hush!: A Thai Lullaby

Hoban, Russell: Bread and Jam for Frances

Hoban, Tana: Is it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue?

Hoban, Tana: Black on White

Hoffman, Mary: Amazing Grace

Holabird, Katherine: Angelina Ballerina

Hutchins, Pat: Rosie's Walk

Jenkins, Steve: What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

Johnson, Crockett: Harold and the Purple Crayon
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Joosee, Barbara: Mama Do You Love Me?

Juster, Norton: The Hello, Goodbye Window

Kasza, Keiko: The Wolf’s Chicken Stew
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Katz, Karen: The Colors of Us

Keats, Ezra Jack: The Snowy Day

Kennedy, Jimmy: The Teddy Bears' Picnic

Kent, Jack: The Caterpillar and the Polliwog

Kimmel, Eric: Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock

Kraus, Ruth: The Carrot Seed
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Leaf, Munro: The Story of Ferdinand

Lionni, Leo: Swimmy

London, Jonathan: Froggy Gets Dressed
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

   

 

Martin, Bill: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Martin, Bill: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

McBratney, Sam: Guess How Much I Love You?

McCloskey, Robert: Blueberries for Sal

McLimans, David: Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet

McPhail, David: Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore

Morales, Yuyi: Nino Wrestles the World

Mullan, Kate and Jim: I Stink!

Munsch, Robert: The Paper Bag Princess

Muth, Jon: Zen Shorts

Noble, Trinka: The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash

Numeroff, Laura: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Parish, Peggy: Amelia Bedelia

Parr, Todd: It’s Ok to be Different

Penn, Audrey: The Kissing Hand

Pfister, Marcus: Rainbow Fish

Pinkney, Jerry: The Lion and the Mouse

Piper, Wally: The Little Engine that Could

Polacco, Patricia: Pink and Say

Polacco, Patricia: Thank you Mr. Falker
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Potter, Beatrix: The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Raschka, Chris: A Ball for Daisy

Rathmann, Peggy: Officer Buckle and Gloria

Recorvits, Helen: My Name is Yoon

Reynolds, Peter: The Dot
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Ringgold, Faith: Tar Beach

Rinker, Sherri Duskey: Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site

Rohmann, Eric: My Friend Rabbit
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Rosen, Michael: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt

Rosenthal, Amy Krouse: Duck! Rabbit!

Rylant, Cynthia: Henry and Mudge

Say, Allen: Grandfather’s Journey

Scieszka, Jon: The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

Scieszka, Jon: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro: Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro: First the Egg

Sendak, Maurice: Where the Wild Things Are

Seuss, Dr.: Green Eggs and Ham

Seuss, Dr.: The Cat in the Hat

Shannon, David: No David!

Shaw, Charles: It Looked Like Spilt Milk

Silverstein, Shel: The Giving Tree

Simmons, Jane: Come Along Daisy

Sis, Peter: Fire Truck

Slobodkina, Esphyr: Caps for Sale

Soto, Gary: Too Many Tamales

Stead, Philip: A Sick Day for Amos McGee

Steig, William: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Steptoe, John: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Taback, Simms: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

Thong, Roseanne: Round is a Mooncake

Tullet, Herve: Press Here!
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Vamos, Samantha R.: The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred

Van Allsburg, Chris: The Polar Express

Viorst, Judith: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

Walter, Virginia: Hi, Pizza Man!
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Wells, Rosemary: Noisy Nora

Wells, Rosemary: Yoko
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Westcott, Nadine: The Lady with the Alligator Purse
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Wiesner, David: The Three Pigs

Wiesner, David: Tuesday

Williams, Vera: A Chair for My Mother

Williams, Vera: More, More, More Said the Baby

Willems, Mo: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

Willems, Mo: Knuffle Bunny

Winter, Jeanette: The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps
(only available in digital format through BCCLS)

Wong, Janet: Buzz
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Wood, Audrey: The Napping House
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Wood, Don: The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Woodson, Jacqueline: Pecan Pie Baby

Yolen, Jane: How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

Young, Ed: Lon Po Po: A Red-riding Hood Story from China

Zelinsky, Paul O.: Rumpelstiltskin

Zimmerman, Andrea: Trashy Town
(unavailable at West Orange, click title to request from BCCLS)

Zion, Gene: Harry, The Dirty Dog