Where the Wild Things Are (1963)

Just 338 words in ten sentences carry the whole story, which makes this the gentlest possible first finish in a new language. Sendak's pictures do the heavy lifting, so unfamiliar verbs still land: you see Max's mischief, the voyage and the wild rumpus before you need the words for them. It holds up for adults better than most picture books, because a furious child finding his way back to calm has real emotional weight. Sendak wrote it in English, and translations are easy to find: Max et les Maximonstres in French, Wo die wilden Kerle wohnen in German, Donde viven los monstruos in Spanish. Read it aloud a few times; the long, rolling sentences are a painless way to absorb word order.