The best part about great children's stories is that moving book quotes never quite leave you
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45 Inspiring Children’s Book Quotes for People of All Ages
Updated on Sep. 10, 2024
Famous children’s book quotes
1. “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I know I can.” —The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
2. “When things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.” —Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
3. “Let the wild rumpus start!” —Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
4. “If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk.” —If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
5. “Once there was a tree … and she loved a little boy.” —The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
6. “It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Mom says some days are like that. Even in Australia.” —Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
7. “She was not a slowpoke grownup. She was a girl who could not wait. Life was so interesting she had to find out what happened next.” —Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
8. “We all can dance,” he said, “if we find the music that we love.”—Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
9. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” —The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
10. “I love you right up to the moon—and back.” —Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
11. “Just close your eyes and keep your mind wide open.” —Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Sure, they may be shelved in the kids’ lit section of the library and bookstore, but what makes the best children’s books special is their wide appeal. These stories touch the hearts and imaginations of all of us—like the famous Nat King Cole Christmas carol says, these are “for kids from 1 to 92.”
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Children’s book quotes about friends and family
12. “It is when we are most lost that we sometimes find our truest friends.” —Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Cynthia Rylant
13. “You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.” —Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
14.”There is nothing sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name.” —The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
15. “How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live ’em. How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give ’em.” —A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
16. “I wished she’d never stop squeezing me. I wished I could spend the rest of my life as a child, being slightly crushed by someone who loved me.”—Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
17. “In the beginning there is light and two wide-eyed figures standing near the foot of your bed and the sound of their voices is love.” —Love by Matt de la Peña
18. “By the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” —The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
19. “Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow.” —The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
20. “After all, one can’t complain. I have my friends.” —Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
21. “There is no place like home.” —The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
You can always count on a great children’s story to remind you of the importance of true friendship and the unconditional love of family. Of course, these same themes and lessons are repeated in YA books and adult fiction too.
Inspiring children’s book quotes
22. “There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you until the day you begin to share your stories.” —The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
23. “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” —The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
24. “I’m not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” —Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
25. “You do not write your life with words, the monster said. You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.” —A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
26. “Nothing in life is easy. But that’s no reason to give up. You’ll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it.” —Holes by Louis Sachar
27. “So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.” —The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
28. “You can’t pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing, that’s the blessing.” —Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
29. “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” —Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
30. “Courage, dear heart.” —The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
31. “I don’t understand it any more than you do, but one thing I’ve learned is that you don’t have to understand things for them to be.” —A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
32. “Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.” —Coraline by Neil Gaiman
33. “Memories are precious … they help tell us who we are.” —The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
34. “A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” —The Twits by Roald Dahl
Inspirational books can change your perspective, your mind and your mood. Sometimes, they can even change your whole life. Books that aim to inspire young readers to develop trust, faith and belief in themselves are a comfort to kids and adults alike.
Funny children’s book quotes
35. “George and Harold were usually responsible kids. Whenever anything bad happened, George and Harold were usually responsible.” —The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
36. “I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.” —Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
37. “If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.” —Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
38. “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” —The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
39. “E is for Ewe. Eileen the ewe was so euphoric the wolves were eaten, she even gave the eulogy.” —P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter
40. “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” —Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
41. “It is one of life’s bitterest truths that bedtime so often arrives just when things are really getting interesting.” —The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket
42. “I’ll be famous one day, but for now I’m stuck in middle school with a bunch of morons.” —Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
43. “Here is how books work: Everything the words say, the person reading the book has to say.” —The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
44. “I like people who make me love them. It saves me so much trouble in making myself love them.” —Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
45. “When they’ve finished reading, Olivia’s mother gives her a kiss and says, ‘You know, you really wear me out. But I love you anyway.’ And Olivia gives her a kiss back and says, ‘I love you anyway too.'”—Olivia by Ian Falconer
Yes, a children’s book that has a smart, teachable moment at the center is always a good thing. But kids can learn lots of valuable lessons from funny stories and children’s book quotes that make you laugh out loud.
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