Significant Life Lessons From Childhood Books

Thinking about our childhood often brings up memories of books read before bedtime and renowned children’s authors like Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak, among others. But books from our childhood are actually more than just bedtime stories; in fact, many actually contain lessons that can be applied to growing up, college and life in general.

Photo Credit: Honey Bee Books

One beloved figure from childhood books is Winnie the Pooh, a character from A.A. Milne’s stories, who lives with his boy Christopher Robin and his gang of animal friends in the Hundred Acre Woods. Pooh and his tales are chock-full of great quotes and inspiring lessons. We can learn to “dress for comfort” from Pooh, who only wears a red belly shirt and dresses to please himself and be comfortable, as well as  to “own and embrace your body” as Pooh does his round tummy and short stature.

Another childhood book is Laura Numeroff’s If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. A mouse is given a cookie and then asks for a glass of milk, followed by a straw, and then asks for several other things until at the end he again requests a glass of milk. This story is definitely reminiscent of those people in our lives who constantly ask us for a piece of gum, a pencil, a piece of paper, etc. There will always be those people who want others to get and do stuff for them; this book shows that it’s a slippery slope when you keep giving someone things they want as they may start to feel entitled. A life lesson then is be careful who you do things for as they may not pay you back but instead just ask for more things.

One of my all-time favorite books from my childhood is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

The little boy in the book, Max, is sent to his room for being too rowdy and being upset with his mother, imagines his room is a jungle filled with the beastly-looking monsters which are the Wild Things. Max is crowned King of The Wild and leads them on a romp before returning to his room and the hot supper waiting for him there.

This delightful tale holds a valuable lesson: our imaginations have no limits and there is a wild thing in all of us, as well as a time and place to let it free.

A great childhood book that’s sure to be found on every kid’s shelf is Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could. 

When a train gets stranded, no other engine is willing to take on the task of getting it unstuck except for the little blue engine who puffs “I-think-I-can” as it pushes the train.

This little book actually has several valuable lessons for readers. One lesson is to believe in yourself; if you can dream it, you can do it — and if you think you can, then you will. Another is to never give up, no matter the task or how difficult; hard works pays off and is its own reward.

Most will also be familiar with the well-known childhood book that is Judith Viort’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. 

We’ve all had those days when nothing goes right – when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed only to trip out of it and have the day go downhill from there. In this book, Alexander is having one of those days and at the end of the story and a truly awful day, he announces that he wants to move to Australia.

This book is wholly relatable in that the lesson Alexander learns is that everybody has bad days, no matter what you do, who you are, or where you live. The best and only thing to do after a truly no good, very bad day, is to hope for a better tomorrow.

Of course, a look back at lessons learned in our childhood from books wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging infamous author Dr. Seuss. One of his most renowned books is Green Eggs and Ham which teaches us to try new things as they might surprise us, like they do when Sam-I-Am convinces the character in the hat to try green eggs and ham.

Other Seuss books with important lessons include The Cat in the Hat, which teaches us not to lie to our mothers as the story ends with the question, “What would you do if your mother asked you?” as the Cat leaves the house, leaving no trace of him behind, and the children’s mother asks what they did while she was gone.

Perhaps the most obvious childhood book with life lessons in it is Dr. Seuss’s Oh, The Places You’ll Go! in which he imparts to readers that:

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”

This advice is perpetually timeless — our future is up to us and is in our hands; so make good choices and aim for where you want to go.

From these books and more, we can learn valuable life lessons that we should remember and take to heart, even (or perhaps especially) as adults — so perhaps it’s time to reread these bedtime favorites!