Forum from the Archives: What’s Your Favorite Children’s Book?

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KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There’s the picture book you wanted your parent or caregiver to read to you over and over. There’s the one with musical rhymes you love performing for your kids. The editors at the Atlantic’s books desk chose 65 “essential” children’s books, spanning the 1936 classic “The Story of Ferdinand” to 2024’s “I’m Sorry You Got Mad.” The list includes bedtime stories, books that teach counting and tales that make big emotions comprehensible for little ones. We’ll talk with the book editors about how the Atlantic made its list. And we’ll hear what your favorite books mean to you and your children. Guests: Boris Kachka, senior editor, The Atlantic Emma Sarappo, senior associate editor, The Atlantic Maya Chung, senior associate editor, The Atlantic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Sponsorship of this podcast comes from Stanford Summer Session,
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0:08.3	Learn more at summer.standford.edu.
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0:28.1	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim.
0:49.3	Coming up on forum, editors at the Atlantic chose 65 essential children's books, including 1936's
0:56.0	The Story of Ferdinand about a bull who only wanted to sit quietly under a tree and smell the flowers.
1:01.0	Was that one of your favorites too?
1:03.0	Or maybe you loved last year's I'm Sorry You Got Mad about a kid who learns to write an actual apology?
1:10.0	We listened back to our conversation last month,
1:12.7	all about the books you consider essential to your childhood
1:15.5	or love reading to kids today and why.
1:18.4	That's next.
1:19.6	After this news.
1:31.8	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
1:39.8	So here's an excerpt from one of my favorite books to read aloud to my kids, because I still remember when my teacher read it to me.
	...

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