Helen Oxenbury
Recognized in the Creative Minds Montessori 2026 Teacher’s Choice list.
Helen Oxenbury is one of roughly one hundred authors whose work was selected by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list — 120 books chosen across four reading stages, from first lap-reads to first chapter books. The selected book was chosen for how precisely it meets children at a real developmental moment. This recognition cannot be bought: no author or publisher paid to appear on our lists, and we take no commission on any book sale.
About Helen Oxenbury
Helen Oxenbury has won the Kate Greenaway Medal twice, for The Quangle Wangle's Hat and for her Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In 1987 she published the board books Clap Hands, All Fall Down and Tickle Tickle, built on her realisation that babies are interested in pictures of other babies — work her publisher credits with bringing about a board-book revolution.
Oxenbury studied theatre design at the Central School of Art and Design and worked in theatre, film and television set design in the early 1960s before turning to children's books. She met the illustrator John Burningham at art college and married him in 1963.
Also by this author: We're Going on a Bear Hunt (illustrator) · Tickle, Tickle · All Fall Down
Official website: helenoxenbury.co.uk
Selected for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list
Part of The Best Children’s Books by Age, chosen by the teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX.