Children's Books: The New and The Classic

Since the day we brought my son home from the hospital, we have read to him.  I read everything to him—books (duh), labels, emails, TV commercials, rumparooz packaging, cookbooks (i.e. The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has AWESOME pictures that make babies—and mommas-- happy!), posters, ThirtyOne catalogs--you name it!  I feel like it will give him a good foundation for the [very near] future.  I want it to be a part of his regular routine.  He will be six months old in a couple weeks, and I can already tell that he “gets” books.  Not necessarily reading, just books.  He opens them expecting. J It makes momma’s heart happy. J

Much like cartoons, children’s books (and book series) have changed, but also celebrate a handful of the classics.  There are several popular books from my generation (and generations before) that I just never read!  Before my babe, I had never read Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are, and a bunch of Dr. Seuss books (we only had The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!).  I had a cassette tape that read OTTYCT- when I read it to the babe, I do it in the same tone and expression as that dang tape.  Hilarious!! I have had such a wonderful time catching up on my reads with my little boy. 

Here are some of our favorites (so far!):

 

Ones that stand out are:

Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman.  This one makes me BAWL like a big baby.  As much as I want to get her other books, I am not sure I could handle them! So sweet.  And the illustrations are just AWESOME.

And, Fox in Socks by the late, great Dr. Seuss.  This one is a serious tongue twister.  It even warns you in the beginning!  I love reading this, and I love making my husband read it even more.  My favorite part is about the Tweedle Beetles.  A must read!

My one beef (yes, I know… beef with a children’s book? Yes.  I have a beef.) is in Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (pictures by Clement Hurd).  The one and only beef is this:

Do you see that?!  You can’t rhyme MOON with MOON.  It just rubs me the wrong way when I read it.  But I still read it, nonetheless.  I can get over the “goodnight nobody” part, though that weirds my husband out.  (haha)

Moving on…

These are some of my childhood FAVORITES.  Yes, they are my originals from the ‘80s:

The Bugg Books are actually locally published books (Happiness Books, Inc.).  They are perfect for little hands—just not too little because they are not hefty board books!  My favorite one is Crick-Ette.  It’s about a little cricket that loves music, but just can’t sing.  Instead she finds an instrument to play with the help of an old caterpillar (that looks like my dad, come to think of it!).  If you can get your hands on them, they come HIGHLY recommended!  The illustrations are so fun, colorful, and just beautiful.  Each one opens with this poem (the season changes for each one, though—LOVE!):

Do you remember Bugg Books??

These are all fantastic books to read to your child no matter how old they are.  But you don’t have to take my word for it.

What other books and book series should I know about? J

Oh—and make sure you ‘like’ our Facebook page and keep posted on the next Book Swap!

(LeVar Burton image courtesy of YogiPlay.com)