6 Picture Books You’ll be Excited to Re-Read Over and Over at Story Time

Nothing, by Jon Agee
Jon Agee is consistently hilarious—both his words and his pictures amuse on multiple levels. But not only is Agee a comedic master, he’s also clairvoyant. This book, originally published in 2007, tells a funny story that presaged the Marie Kondo home-decluttering craze. Otis’s antique shop has a great sales day—so much so that when wealthy customer Suzie Gump enters and asks what’s for sale, Otis replies, “Nothing.” Trend-setter Suzie Gump is enchanted and writes Otis a check for the nothing, setting off a mania throughout the town for everyone to pitch out their stuff, directly onto the streets. It’s only when Suzie lacks a towel after her bath that she realizes there’s a limit to how much nothing is a good amount. You and your kids will read this book repeatedly to relive the dynamic entrance of a character called Tubby Portobello at the end.

Toestomper and the Caterpillars, by Sharleen Collicott
Toestomper is one mean…hamster? At any rate, he’s some kind of furry mammal who wears punk-spiked cuffs and a red bandana and hangs out with guys known as the Rowdy Ruffians. They specialize in being “mean, rude, and disgusting.” That is until Toestomper, in a fit of anger, smashes up the house of a group of fuzzy blue caterpillars and then feels sorry for them. He takes them in, and his gruff heart is warmed by their adorable presence until the Ruffians accuse him of having gone soft, and plot to put his caterpillars on the menu for a group of birds. You’ll never tire of trying out your grumpy Toestomper voice, nor of seeing him transform in these pages toward a finale that will make you say, “Awww!”

Little Gorilla, by Ruth Bornstein
You’re going to want to invest in a sturdy board-book version of this classic story that shows Little Gorilla growing from a tiny infant ape into a big, sturdy grown ape, because your kids are going to want to reread it many times. Bornstein’s simple, reassuring message bears repeating—that no matter how big Little Gorilla grows, “everybody still loved him.”

Katy and the Big Snow, by Virginia Lee Burton
If your kids are in that transportation-themed-book phase…good luck to you! It’s wise to stock up on books featuring vehicles that have more to offer than the standard, “this is a truck.” This classic fits the bill, as Katy the old-fashioned snow plow is called in for duty during a blizzard that’s too much for the other snow plows in the town of Geopolis to handle. Virginia Lee Burton’s illustrations, especially the two-page spread of the town map, give you a lot to discover each time you read it.

Fox in Socks, by Dr. Seuss
There’s a reason why Dr. Seuss’s birthday is celebrated at schools across the country, and why his popularity only seems to increase with each new generation that discovers him. His books are just plain fun to read—perhaps none more so than this rhyming, easy reader classic. If your kid makes you read it over and over, that’s just an opportunity to say his rhymes faster and faster as your tongue becomes accustomed to the words! Go ahead, say, “tweetle beetle battle” ten times fast.

Firefighter Ted, by Andrea Beaty and Pascal Lemaitre
Andrea Beaty’s winning series of books inspired by an enthusiastic young bear named Ted’s quest to discover what he wants to be when he grows up do not become tedious no matter how many times you read them. When Principal Bingham, a warthog, grows red in the face with anger and ends up getting burned on the bottom by a science experiment and having to take off his pants, revealing his jaunty yellow briefs with a red heart pattern, just as he’s soaked by the fire extinguishers—that’s the kind of madcap sequence you need to read again and again.