1. “The Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss
2. “Guess How Much I Love You” by Sam McBratney
3. “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak

I chose these because children can be easily discouraged, and their dreams snuffed out. The Places You’ll Go fosters success with a sense of adventure, trials, and hardship, but ultimately achieving their goals. It is supremely important to every child’s growth that they know they are loved, and Guess How Much I Love you has that in spades. My third choice could be easily swapped out with your personal favorite, but I chose Where the Wild Things Are because it triggers a child’s imagination (especially boys) in a way that many other books don’t, and because schools are often stagnant, cookie-cutter, rule-oriented factories, imagination is often undervalued and can fall to the wayside.

As my kids got older I would have them read:
1. The Bible
2. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
3. How to Win Friends and Influence People

These are the most important books that I can think of to date that anyone can read at any age. The 4 gospels alone hold more moral value than any 50 self-help books combined, and therefore the Bible, in its entirety, cannot be left of the list. Psalms and Proverbs are also vastly important books.

Of course I would want my kids to read books like The Lord of the Rings, A Tale of Two Cities, and other classics, but I’m up to six already…