The desk at my job is littered with books from our library. Among the titles, there are lyrical verses, tongue-in-cheeks tales of the city, and quirky characters that stay with you long after you turn the pages. My co-workers and I circulate them among each other, always happy to read a new volume, and we each have favorites that remain near and dear to our hearts.

As adults, we’re not the target audience of these beloved books, which were written for children.

Working in a pre-school, I’m privy to a slew of books for the youngest generation: picture books, classic tales, poems, and other delights. Though you may only find yourself in the children’s section of a bookstore when shopping for a kid in your life, you can appreciate books for children as much as you can appreciate any other piece of literature.

Children’s books often include morals applicable to people from all walks of life. Think Crockett Johnson’s animation-turned-book Harold and the Purple Crayon (Harper Collins), a picture book that shows young Harold creating his own world with only a crayon and his imagination: fantasy bedtime story, or inspiration for the aspiring artist?

These books also feature sly humor that makes kids giggle and grown-ups smirk. William Steig, who’s original book Shrek inspired the movies, includes gems of word play on nearly every page.

The next time you find yourself browsing for a book, consider some titles that have less words and more pictures. Below are a few children’s books for a variety of grown ups.

Compelling yet affordable art book for the art-minded

Beside smart and clever prose and quirky characters, children’s book are also often gems for their fantastic illustrations. For those who love good art, but want something off the beaten art-book path, notable children’s books are a great visual pick-me-up.

A modern and recent publication. the oblong book Wave (Chronicle Books) by Suzy Lee has pages of gorgeous charcoal drawings and contrasting lush paintings of turquoise waves and spray. Wordlessly, the book shows a little girl’s playful back-and-forth with waves as they break on the shore, each page holding its on as part of an eye-pleasing narrative. It’s simple but expressive enough to be looked at again and again.

For the Bright-Eyes-listening, Goethe-reading emo type

Surely there’s someone in your life who loathes their birthday, but have they ever spent the day looking at their reflection, muttering to themselves, “Pathetic, that’s what it is. Pathetic.”? They may find good company in no other than Eeyore, the donkey with the pinned tail in A.A. Milne’s classic Winnie the Pooh books.

A tiny volume called “Eeyore Has a Birthday” (Dutton & Co.), excerpted from the original, is the ultimate anti-birthday manifesto. He response to Winnie the Pooh singing a little song:

“That’s right,” said Eeyore. “Sing. Umty-tiddly, umty-too. Here we go gathering Nuts and May. Enjoy yourself.”
“I am,” said Pooh.
“Some can,” said Eeyore.

The angsty-teen in all of us can relate to Eeyore’s depressive wit: clever lines that sail over children’s heads but may leave adults laughing out loud.

For the lover of Gossip Girl

Jenny Linsky is a shy but bold resident of Greenwich Village, who often prowls the sidewalks late at night in search of a party, or some sort of adventure. She’s a talented ice skater, inventive dancer, and has a host of interesting friends (firefighter, Club President, twin brothers, a sailor, just to name a few). Jenny Linsky isn’t some downtown second cousin of Blair Waldorf, though. She’s a cat.

Published first in 1944, the adventures of Jenny Linsky are chronicled in Jenny and the Cat Club (New York Review of Books) and other books, a series which follows shy Jenny around New York.

Written and illustrated by Esther Averill, each quirky tale realistically shows Jenny as she pines to be a part of the upscale Cat Club, or rubs shoulders with famous cat-of-the-town Alice Featherlegs. The slim volumes are illustrated readers for the early literate, intended for children ages 9 and under, but there’s not an adult at my pre-school who doesn’t adore them.