Stories for Kids: 12 AMAZING Authors for Preschool & Kindergarten

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When looking for stories for kids, don’t miss these 12 amazing authors! Your preschool and kindergarten children will love the friendly, fun characters in these memorable stories, poems, and picture books. Read on to find our very favorite, award winning authors.

Funny Stories for Kids

1) Mo Willems

You probably already know that rascally pigeon who drives the bus, but you may not be familiar with all of the friendly, funny characters from award-winning author, Mo Willems. Introduce your children to the entire Pigeon series, Elephant and Piggie, Knuffle Bunny, and the Unlimited Squirrels!

Related: Mo Willems Author Study

2) Anna Dewdney

I can’t say enough about the gentle, humorous tales of little llama’s all-too-familiar drama. My oldest fell in love with this funny little guy when he was 3, and all of my children have enjoyed laughing along with the entire llama llama series. Your littlest ones will enjoy reading the picture books side-by-side, and older children can begin reading on their own with the new llama llama leveled readers.

3) Jane Yolen

Your little one will laugh and learn with the character building “How Do Dinosaurs…” picture book series. Yolen also authors the Piggins, a 3 book series about a mystery-solving porcine butler, that makes a fun read-aloud. And you will not want to miss owling on a moonlit winter night with Owl Moon.

Related: Jane Yolen Author Study

Kids Stories by Amazing Storytellers

4) Dan Santat

Your child will love Santat’s memorable stories adventure stories for kids and modern twists on their favorite fairy tales. Honestly, these are some of the stories that I enjoy reading most! You can read as much in Santat’s stories as you can in his rich and beautiful illustrations.

5) Tomie dePaola

I loved introducing my oldest son to dePaola’s picture books when we read around the world in kindergarten. You’ll find enchanting tales from Ireland, Mexico, England, Native American stories for kids and Strega Nona, our favorite Grandma Witch from Italy.

6) Patricia Polacco

Once your child has read one of Polacco’s touching and thoughful stories, they will keep coming back. Truly memorable stories about children and families will stick with your kids. Mine mention baking a Thundercake during every summer storm.

Kids Stories for All Seasons

7) Eric Carle

Eric Carle‘s beautiful picture books are really great for any time of year, but I especially love to bring them out in the spring. Books like The Very Lonely Firefly and The Very Hungry Caterpillar will encourage your little ones to take a closer look at nature and an interest in all the tiny animals and plants growing around them.

8) Arnold Lobel

I’m probably a little partial to Frog and Toad because I can remember reading about these quirky little characters when I was a child. Now, I love sharing Arnold Lobel‘s stories with my own children. Many of Lobel’s books have a seasonal theme, which is fantastic for young children. We’ve loved the audio books, read-alouds, and have gone on to use these leveled readers as some of my kid’s very first chapter books.

9) Jan Brett

Winter would not be complete in our house without Jan Brett. The Mitten and The Three Snow Bears are family favorites, but Brett has dozens of beautiful, fantastic stories for kids that can be read year-round.

Related: Jan Brett Author Study

Poetry & Short Stories for Kids

10) Shel Silverstein

Your child will love to laugh along with wildly funny rhymes and poems from Shel Silverstein. Where the Sidewalk Ends was one of my very favorite poetry books as a child, and I was so excited to share it with my children. Silverstein’s books are a wonderful introduction to poetry for young children.

11) A.A. Milne

You probably remember A.A. Milne for Winnie the Pooh. Your kids are probably already familiar with these sweet stories of friendship with Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Christopher Robin, and the rest. However, if you’ve tried to sit down and read the chapter books to your child, you might have been met with a bit of frustration. The Pooh series is lovely but long. At ages 3, 4, and even 5, my kids didn’t have the listening stamina for the full Pooh chapter books.

That’s why I’ve added Milne under poetry and short stories. Two of our most used, most loved books from the early years are Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young. We have read the poetry, recited and acted out poems, and listened to the audio books in the car for hours on hours – two audio books that have never been tiresome!

Oh, and if you still want to read Pooh, as my youngest did, check out the Winnie the Pooh Complete Collection. It breaks up the long chapter books into shorter little-kid-sized stories.

12) Dr. Seuss

I just had to add Dr. Seuss. You’ll have lots of fun with these whimsical tounge-twisters. Plus, your little ones will love expanding on their reading with some of the many games, activities, and shows that go along with the well-known books.

Ashley

Ashley helps parents who want to homeschool find the resources they need to successfully teach their children. Ashley is a former teacher, current homeschooler, published author, and designer behind Circle Time with Miss Fox printables as well as the creator of this website, The Homeschool Resource Room.