12 fantastic children's books you can buy on Taobao

Every child knows that dragons love tacos – and can’t deal with spicy salsa. This goofy, playful, imaginative book has become a contemporary classic, and surefire hit at storytime. When you’re done with this, be sure to get the even weirder Dragons Love Tacos 2 – because in some parallel universe, dragons love diapers! 

How can a picture book with no pictures be any fun? Easy. The rules of every children’s book is: the grownup has to read every word on the page – every word – no matter how ridiculous. In this book, the words get really ridiculous to the complete delight of your child. The Book with No Pictures brings new meaning to the phrase ‘Ba-DOONGY FACE!’ 

Your kids won’t know that this book teaches them colours, counting, the days of the week, healthy eating and the process of metamorphosis. They’ll simply love the story – and poking their tiny fingers through the holes. All the more reason to admire one of the world’s most perfect picture books. 

It’s always hard being the new kid at school, but it can be particularly difficult when you’re from Washington Heights in New York City and you earned a spot at an elite private school across town. New Kid follows Jordan’s first year at Riverdale, addressing racism and other tricky issues head-on. This thoughtful book was awarded the Newbery Medal in 2020, becoming the first graphic novel to win its category. 

First Zita saves the planet, then she saves her best friend. The first title in this three-volume series follows Zita as she goes from a little kid with interstellar dreams to a hero famous throughout the galaxy. In a later volume, she must face her greatest adversary: a copy of herself. These imaginative adventures will get your child’s mind soaring. 

It might seem like just a silly witch tale, but Room on the Broom is a masterpiece of wordplay and story,

a good-hearted adventure with enough plot twists to keep your little one riveted – and with one of the happiest endings in all of broomish literature. Room on the Broom is a book you’ll look forward to reading at bedtime. 

A polite young bear, dressed in a stylish red hat, shows up in London’s bustling Paddington Station with no more than a suitcase full of marmalade. The Brown family takes him in, unprepared for the mischief that Paddington and their children, Jonathan and Judy, will get into together. 

What makes a family a family? Love, of course. This bright and cheerful board book explores how a family isn’t only defined by a mummy and a daddy, but can include a diverse range of people: a family with two daddies will read to their child at bedtime, while a family with two mummies will start the day with a happy breakfast, and both deeply love their little ones. 

Before he became Aidan, he didn’t feel like himself: He didn’t like his name, his clothes, or the gender that the world told him was his. Now that he’s a boy, Aidan is excited to be a big brother to the baby his family is about to have. Full of hope and joy, this book explores timely issues with positivity and sensitivity. 

The number one sleepytime rhyme award goes to Margaret Wise Brown, who created the rare book that can be read a hundred times over without ever becoming tiresome. Amazingly, the quintessential bedtime story wasn’t a hit in its day back in 1947, but the sheer levels of comfort it offers have made it a go- to book for generations. 

Lewis Carroll’s classic has encountered a number of retellings, but nothing quite compares to the original story. An inquisitive little girl named Alice journeys down the rabbit hole after a bunny hops by with a pocket watch. That’s when she arrives in a convoluted world where a vindictive Queen of Hearts will stop at nothing to get what she wants, a Cheshire cat accompanies her on the journey and so many other wacky scenarios take place. Children’s literature will forever be influenced by this fan favourite.