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With Mother’s Day on the Horizon, Someday by Alison McGhee is the perfect gift for Mother’s Day.

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi was written when Italy formed into a nation, making it one of the very first pieces of modern Italian literature. This latest retelling, illustrated by Gris Grimley, follows the adventures of Pinocchio, a mischievous wooden puppet, who wants more than anything else to become a real boy.

While on vacation, Little Miss Sunshine visits Miseryland and convinces the sad king that being the king of Laughterland is a lot more fun.

The Cat in the Hat is a classic story that transformed a dull, rainy afternoon into a magical and just-messy-enough adventure. It was also the first beginner reader book that also attempted to be a work of literature.

The award-winning and highly popular The Very Hungry Caterpillar follows the progress of a hungry little caterpillar as he eats his way through a varied and very large quantity of die-cut food until, full at last, he forms a cocoon around himself and goes to sleep.

All In A Day is a perfect read for Earth Day. It illuminates all the possibilities a day offers—the opportunities and chances that won’t ever come again—and also delivers a gentle message of good stewardship of our planet.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a classic story of selfless love and devotion. I was first introduced to The Giving Tree when I was a kid. In the story, a tree gives and gives and gives, and the boy takes and takes. As the boy grows, he continues to take, right on through adolescence, manhood, and old age. In the course of lifelong service of giving, the tree relentlessly and quite sadly diminishes. In the end, the tree transforms from a gloriously alive, leaf-resplendent tree to a plain stump. Needless to say, this story had a huge impact on me at the time. For me, The Giving Tree was simply about somebody’s love for another involved giving in ways that, while sometimes sad, lead to happy endings. Over the course of my childhood, I would pick up the book and re-read it and connect to the moment I first heard the story. I hadn’t picked it up for a long time when I picked up my dusty and tattered copy a few days ago as I cleaned my house. As I began to read one of my favorite books, I was able to connect with the moment I first heard the story, but this time my feelings of awe and wonder were followed by feelings of overwhelming sadness. Am I sad becasue the relationship appeared to be one-sided for me for the first time? Is the boy really grateful becasue every time he gets what he wants he leaves the tree? Am I sad because I too have been like the boy and have taken and taken without reciprocating back? I’m still trying to work through these thoughts and feelings.

Harry Potter’s popularity can be attributed to J.K. Rowling’s careful use of the standard genres and motifs found across children’s literature. For example, the first motif J.K. Rowling uses is the lack of parental figures. In the second motif, J.K. Rowling uses is the school setting as a backdrop for her stories. Although not a motif per se, J.K. Rowling has also been quite clever in the way she has structured her fantasy. Her fantasy world is in the here and now. The difference is that this world she has created is heavily populated with witches and wizards.

Mary Blair’s vibrant art in Alice in Wonderland helped shape the look of Walt Disney’s classic animated film. Collected in a picture book for the first time, her illustrations capture the essence of such memorable characters with stunning immediacy and a nostalgia that borders on simplicity. Jon Scieszka’s captivating text celebrates all that is curious-and all that is nonsensical-about the world that holds Alice spellbound.

The illustrations in Where The Wild Things Are serve as a metaphor for the story. The illustrations begin very small, a page with wide with empty margins if you notice carefully. As Max’s adventure grows, so do the illustrations, until they encompass an entire double-page spread. As Max makes his way back home, the illustrations get smaller and smaller, until the last page has no picture at all. This is what makes Where The Wild Things Are a children’s book that is truly alive.