Favorite Children's Books

[littlemissmariss]

I only know a few childrens books. I love Dr. Seuss, I read and reread all of those many times when I was a child! I still love those books now. I love The Very Hungry Caterpillar. My friends child got this book "Press Here" by Herve Tullet that I thought was very cute. It had shapes and colors that the book would tell you to press as you read it. Her son found it to be very fun. At the bookstore I passed by books about Pigeons that were very silly, like Pigeons Have Feelings Too or something. I got a good laugh from it.

I tend to like the childrens books that are beautifully illustrated. Maybe you can bring your son to the bookstore and ask him to pick out a book? Its hard to tell if he'll love the book as much as his other books but you never know.

[miloowen]

I have worked in children's books for a number of years. You should try some classics: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Ferdinand, Caps for Sale, Pickles the Fire Cat, Katy No Pockets, Curious George, Blueberries for Sal, Make Way for Ducklings, etc. There's Nancy Tafuri's Where is my Duckling, the Eric Carle books, the Eric Hill Spot books, Rosemary Wells's Max books, Byron Barton's books (they are all planes, trains, boats, etc), Donald Crews's books (again, lots of trains), Nancy Shaw's Sheep In a Jeep books, and a dozen versions of the monkeys jumping on the bed, Jan Brett's books....My very favourite book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, which is a zany alphabet book that children adore, and anything by Bill Martin and John Archambault. Michael Rosen's books. Kevin Henkes's books. Arnold Lobel's books. The Little Bear books. Frances the Badger books. Anything by Maurice Sendak but especially the Nutshell Library which children love. Then to read up, there's Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney and Wilfred Gordon MacDonald Partridge by Mem Fox. There's 17 Kings and 42 Elephants by Margaret Mahy. Not the Pooh stories but definitely the Pooh poetry books, When I was very Young and Now I am Six. (My children can still recite the poetry and they are in their 20's.) Go to your local library or bookstore and look at the Caldecott books. Ask a librarian for more. Oh -- A Porcupine Named Fluffy, good book.

If your son wants to read the same books over and over again, it's perfectly natural and normal. It's part of the reading process; he's learning to pre read. You just have to pick up the calibre of book so that you don't get bored (lol). Personally, Dr Seuss is a little too old for a 2 yr old, except for Mulberry Street; those are I Can Read books and you want to hit them at three or so when actual pre reading starts.

I could go on and on so contact me again if you want more. This is my business and I enjoy it! (He's a little young for my book.)

[jwalling]

My daughter is two and a half, and here are a few she loves that we don't get tired of reading again and again:

Any of the Frances books, by Russell Hoban (Bread and Jam for Frances, A Birthday for Frances, Bedtime for Frances, A Bargain for Frances)

The Knuffle Bunny books, by Mo Willems (Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too--there is a third one but it's too sad for me!)

The Lyle the Crocodile books, by Bernard Waber (Loveable Lyle and The House on East 88th Street are my daughter's two favorites. She also loves Ira Sleeps Over by this author)

The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson (a great one if you do "voices" while you read)

Bear Snores On, by Karma Wilson

365 Penguins, by Jean-Luc Fromental

We also love Pooh books, by A.A. Milne--instead of reading the originals, though, we read the Disney ones that are abridged and illustrated. (Some of the newer ones are completely rewritten and much of the charming language is taken out--we prefer to read the ones that are the original text, just shortened.) I don't know if these are still in print--they are leftover from my childhood, and are Golden Books. Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie-the-Pooh Meets Gopher, and Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger are the ones we have.

Hope this helps! I know that it can get so tiresome to read the same book over and over, but they love it so much, right? Last year we were on a long car trip and my daughter started to get bored and cranky. We were almost there and didn't want to stop, and were lamenting that we'd packed the books in the trunk, unreachable without stopping. Then we realized that all three of us had every book we'd packed memorized anyway!