How long does it take to read the 50 best-rated children’s books in the US?
byConnections Academy
5 min to readTest Taking Tips and Strategies
From the shiny pages of The Rainbow Fish to the snappy rhyming of The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, the books we read in our childhood stay with us for a lifetime.
Looking at book ratings, length in words, and average read speed per minute for children in Grades 1-5, our new study reveals the best-rated children’s books and how long it’ll take your children to read them at home.

Reading the top 50 best-rated children’s books
Here’s how long it takes children on average to read the top 50 best-rated children’s books:
- Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin and James Dean - 5.4 minutes
- A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss - 10.9 minutes
- Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry and Vashti Harrison - 7.2 minutes
- Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love - 55.3 minutes
- What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada and Mae Besom - 51.9 minutes
- Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller - 46 minutes
- Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts - 59.9 minutes
- The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson - 23.6 minutes
- The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willams - 56.1 minutes
- Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney - 13.2 minutes
- The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne and Ernest H Shepard - 10 hours and 28 minutes
- The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce and Joe Bluhm - 1 hour and 20 minutes
- Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes - 1 hour 13 minutes
- The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers - 1 hour
- Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper - 10 hours and 36 minutes
- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein - 1 hour and 21 minutes
- Jenny and the Cat Club by Esther Averill - 5 hours and 9 minutes
- Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw - 48 minutes
- The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson - 19.1 minutes
- The Three Questions by Jon. J. Muth - 48.9 minutes
- Elephant and Piggie (Series) by Mo Williems - 3 hours 40 minutes
- Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss - 10.6 minutes
- I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen - 6.2 minutes
- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss - 21.9 minutes
- Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling - 8 hours and 45 minutes
- Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? by Bonnie Bader - 1 hour and 52 minutes
- The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen and Dan Hanna - 10.5 minutes
- Corduroy by Don Freeman - 8.6 minutes
- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith - 7.9 minutes
- Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems - 7.2 minutes
- Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss - 8.2 minutes
- Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard - 8 minutes
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle - 2.8 minutes
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd - 3.9 minutes
- Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling - 1 hour 29 minutes
- Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry - 1 hour and 49 minutes
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff - 56.4 minutes
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury - 38 minutes
- The Colour Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown, Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen - 6.4 minutes
- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson - 8.4 minutes
- Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats - 5.3 minutes
- Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day - 49.8 minutes
- Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin - 7 minutes
- We are the Ship by Kadir Melson - 3 hours
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr - 9.9 minutes
- Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton - 55.9 minutes
- Stellaluna by Janell Cannon - 18.3 minutes
- Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley - 10.1 minutes
- The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswalk - 14.5 minutes
- Madeline (Series) by Ludwig Bemelmans - 1 hour and 16 minutes
4 Top Tips to Help Children Enjoy Reading
1. Make books a part of family life:
Having books around your home will make them easy to access throughout the day — whether you’ll be reading with your children or they’re reading alone. Adding in a nightly bedtime story to your routine is a great way to bring in reading with the added bonus of spending valuable time with your children.
2. Read about something they’re interested in:
To help keep your children engaged, let them pick out different subjects for you to read together. You can also consider different types of reading materials such as fiction, non-fiction, magazines, and poetry.
3. Ask questions:
Ask your children about the storylines, characters and twists and turns within the story. This will help keep them interested and more likely to read along with you.
4. Make the most of rhyme and repetition:
Books and poems with rhymes and repeated words or phrases are great for getting your kids to join in and remember the words. This can be particularly helpful with young, new readers.
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Methodology & Research: Data collected April 2021. Full data on all 50 books available on request.