Which Children’s Books Always Make You Cry, No Matter How Many Times You Read Them?

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane for the exact same reason.

Getting rid of stuffed animals needs to be outsourced.

“Real love isn’t how you’re made, it’s a thing that happens to you” has been a reassuring thought for me for many years

This book gave me a complex when I was a kid. Not only were my stuffed animals sentient beings, but they were jealous of each other if I didn't play with them all equally. I refused to read it to my kid when I grew up!

This was my favorite book as a kid but I always ended up sobbing by the end and I’d pile all my stuffed toys on the bed afterwards lol

Came to say this.

It makes me think of my childhood stuffy. I hope he is Real now. I put him in a storage unit that was lost for non payment. I still remember closing the door, looking at him on top of the pile thinking I shouldn't leave him there. And then being like, "Don't be ridiculous, he's not real".

Someone bought my storage unit and threw him away. This was 20 years ago and I still think about it sometimes.

I was going to say this. The first time I read it to my kid, I was sobbing

I haven’t read this in probably 25 years and I still get weepy if I think about it too long. I think it established some core piece of me - I love old worn out things and the only reason I can think of is “because they’re real.”

The kids I nanny had me read this book to them and were very surprised when they saw me crying. They now say “let’s read a book that doesn’t make canteloupe-cantelope sad”

It’s ok, it took the author 17 takes to finish the end of the recording for the audiobook because he kept losing it and having to take a break. And he wrote it.

On The Night You Were Born makes me bawl in a happy, sentimental way. It reminds me of both my babies in different ways. When I had my daughter, the book reminds me of how out of this world levels of magical and perfect life felt. And then my son was a very much wanted pregnancy after 4 horrific miscarriages/losses, and the joy of having him. I think I may be crying right now 🥹

Eta: I didn’t realise I wrote this comment in reply to another one, whoops!

Just had this exact same experience with my five-year-old. My husband could barely make it through the last paragraph, I was wiping away tears, and my daughter just wanted to talk about the cute spider babies.

This is the one. Every time.

This one made my 6 year old son cry

The movie always made me so sad.

My daughters second grade teacher reads it to every class

She told me she always ends up crying at the end

I did the same. She did the same.

Her book “wherever you are: my love will find you.” The first line is, “I wanted you more than you’ll ever know.” Immediately choked up. One of the last pages has, “And if someday you’re lonely, or someday you’re sad, you strike out at baseball or think you’ve been bad…just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair. That’s me, my sweet baby, my love is right there.” 😭

This is mine too. Years of infertility and IVF and I still can’t believe I have a child.

This one gets to me the most. All I ever wanted was to be a mom and my little boys are my world.

Nancy Tillman books get me too! Her Christmas one, the spirit of Christmas, makes me cry every single time.

Absolutely the same. I get so choked up reading, every time.

Love this one!! Especially because my oldest was born at night and every time we’d visit the zoo, the bears would be sleeping and she’d get excited to know they’d been dancing all night for her. the magic wasn’t quite there with my youngest. Birth order really creates different lives. 😂

Every single time I read this I choke up a bit by the end and now that my son is a bit older and more comprehensive, the last time we finished it he had tears in his eyes wanting to know the tree would be okay 🥺

Fucking hell. You guys are my people. First 3 on here are all the ones I was going to say!!!

I always LOVED the giving tree as a kid, but reading it as an adult I never realized what a terrible piece of shit the boy was and I just cry and cry every time I read it!!!

Can’t get through more than a few pages. It’s the loss of childhood wonder and innocence for me 😭

Right after I found out I was having a boy I saw a tattoo on Pinterest of the giving tree and the quote “and she loved a little boy” and I just lost it and sobbed lol.

This!!! What a selfish cruel little boy! And why didn’t I see it as a kid!

I'm sorry for your loss. ❤️

So very sorry you lost your son ♥️

So sorry for your loss and if this post brought you any sadness. That’s devastating. ❤️

I’m so sorry for your loss 💛

My aunt, like a second mother to me, passed away from Alzheimer's a couple of years ago, and we used to read this every time I'd stay with her. Several times a week, for over a decade. I didn't realize how much this book meant to me until this post, and I teared up. She was a strong and witty, hilarious woman. It's perfect that this is the book we shared.

Yup! This was my husbands favorite book as a child. He’d cry reading it. His mother, who gifted us a copy when we were pregnant with our first child, passed away when our baby turned 3 months old. It was just like the story, my husband came home and rocked our daughter knowing his mother was gone. So reading that story makes both of us crying uncontrollably.

My kids call this the “crying book” because mommy inevitably ends up sobbing at the end.

This is mine. The author wrote it about his 2 stillborn babies and my first was stillborn, so it really gets me.

Yes! I don’t think I knew it as a kid but my wife did. I tried reading it to my firstborn when he was just a month old and literally angered him with how much I was raining down tears on him. Just the most beautiful, poignant story. I wasn’t ready for that.

I was about to say this book! Love You Forever. My husband bought it for my son when he was a newborn and I immediately sobbed reading it while he giggled at how hard I was trying to keep it together…we thought it was just my post partum but turns out 5 years later, I still can’t read it with out sobbing. As a matter of fact I read it to my 5yo yesterday and he cried for 30 straight saying he’ll never leave me haha

I’m a teacher and when I have subbed during Mother’s Day that book has always been thrown at me. My mom died 10 years ago now and I have a toddler now and ever since my mom died I literally cannot get through that damn book without weeping. Even in front of a class of first grade students lol.

My brother and I read this at our mom’s funeral.

Still haven’t bought this book (and my son is now 4) because I know I’ll be a wreck trying to read it to the end.

A friend gifted it to me when I was pregnant. I cried reading it by myself before my baby was even born. She's 15mo now, she doesn't sit still long enough to read an entire book, but I'm dreading the day she does, because I'll be a mess with that book!

Lol. Im not making fun of you by any means, but i cannot stand that book because of how creepy it is to me.

I know its loved by many, but the mom just creeps me out! I had to throw away the book.

Came here for this. “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be”….. Masterpiece I wasn’t prepared for 🥹

Looking at my kids too big for this book now (and not much time for mum too lol) and I miss those baby days, I’m kinda glad I haven’t got to try and stifle sobs over children’s fiction anymore tho!

Back and forth...back and forth...

I heard a psychologist speak on narcissistic parents, and they pointed out that the book can reinforce/romanticize certain aspects of a narcissist's unhealthy behavior and point of view. They made a point of stressing that the book was not advocating unhealthy parenting (they did discuss the overall theme of infantilization and concepts of respectfully parenting adult children), but that some of the messaging could be problematic to an already problematic parent.

Now, that book gives me the ick because I can only associate it with a particular narcissist in my life and the damage they've caused to their children.

That’s the one

Same. I just can’t do it anymore. By the second page I’m a mess.

Just thinking about it is rough

I do too, especially recently. My eldest is now enjoying having the stories read to him and I remember reading the same stories with my adored grandmother when I was tiny too. So I always associate Winnie The Pooh with her. She passed recently so it hits hard at the moment 

And the movie based on a lot of the book, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The end always makes me tear up when Christopher Robin has to go back to school.

We have a book version and at the end it shows Jackie’s kid playing with puff 🥺

That song came on the kids radio station the other day in the car and I hadn't heard it for years - I had completely forgotten everything but the first verse. Here's me all chipper "Oh hey kids, this song's so old I heard it as a kid!!" and then it hits you with the last two verses and I have to change the station or I won't be able to see the road...

My dad used to sing this song to me as a lullaby and even then it made me sad. Now I play it as a lullaby for my son and I cry every time. I’m actually crying right now. All this talk of Charlotte’s Web, the Velveteen Rabbit, Bridge to Terebithia and now Puff the Magic Dragon, Jesus. I’m a mess.

I think that's the first book that made me cry... 

Or where the red fern grows. 

When I first started dating my husband, we bonded over our love of reading/books. He found out I had never read it so he brought it over. No warning. Didn’t say anything, just told me to read it. I still haven’t fully forgiven him for it 🤣

I know I've read that book but can't actually remember the plot except that it's sad!!

“Love you forever” is the best/worst book ever written

This is my favorite Julia Donaldson book

Donaldson is my kryptonite. The Paper Dolls, Stick Man, Smeds and the Smoos, Room On The Broom, all get me at some point.

Corduroy gets me every time.

Nothing like a classroom full of kids openly sobbing.

Oh my god, this fucked me UP

I remember in school reading it and being devastated 😭 not everyone in class read it but they still decided to show everyone in our grade the movie for some reason. Judging by their faces, the teachers couldn’t possibly have been prepared for the inconsolable wailing and heartbreak of a bunch of like 8 or 9 yr olds.

My first grade would have parents sign up to come read a story for circle time once a week. I remember my dad coming straight from the office, still wearing his suit and tie, to read us The Stinky Cheese Man. He could barely get through it, I thought he was going to fall out of his chair laughing. 

I lost my copy! Used to read this to my 5th graders!

"Maybe she's just saw something she wanted. " So many tears!

We bought the book version of Sleepy Time and I can’t read it because I start sobbing. My husband has to read that one instead

"What We'll Build: Plans For Our Together Future" by Oliver Jeffers always gets me. We put our hands together on top of the illustration and I'm done. He has a few that are tear jerkers.

I was just about the post this!

LOVE that book, but so many lines get me emotional— “your time will go by faster than you think,” “if I’m not here, you can ask someone else,” etc.

There’s a short movie adaptation of it (I think on Prime) that was different, but decent.

It's by Giles Andreae / Guy Parker-Rees (maybe one of them is the illustrator). Not cos I have a good memory, and it doesn't make me cry, although it's a lovely story, just that it's sitting right next to me on my son's bookshelf 😁

Love The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse! Beautiful, gentle reminders for life.

I was hoping someone else felt this way. Reading that book as a parent made me think that I do want my kid to believe in all the myths, so that he can have that magic too.

at the end when it talks about how the author still hears the ringing, i lose it

Oh my god, absolutely. The whole book is so touching, the illustrations are just magical.

Me too! I’m always choking back the tears

Came here for this. Gets me every time.

"and it was still hot."

My heart

Omg the hormones. My favorite example of this is when I was pregnant and watched Bill and Ted face the music. It's such an absurd, silly movie but the whole world comes together to make music at the end and I was bawling my head off 🤣

Lived 12 little girls in two straight lines

This is the one that inspired this post. Even if you start strong you’re a wreck by the end.

We were trying to make our kids bilingual, so that was one of the books we had in Spanish and English. But now it's stuck in my head in spanish "Eres tu mi Mama? No! Un feo pronk!" (or something to that effect)

I'll have to seek this one out. I LOVE Streganona.