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 is among the most honored illustrators alive — two Kate Greenaway Medals — and effectively invented the modern baby-book aesthetic: round, weighty, real babies doing real baby things. Her drawings are used in child-development training.
She began in theater design, married fellow picture-book giant John Burningham, and turned to baby books partly because, with small children herself, short projects were all that fit between naps.
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.