There are several books that I consider to be classic children's literature that I love to read to my children. I can't swear that these were part of my own childhood because I honestly don't remember. But I know that these are books that are imprinted in my memory. And these are also books that I love to share with my children.
Goodnight Moon is one that most anyone in this house can recite from memory at any time. It is the perfect "last story" to read just before tucking in.
Mr. Brown Can Moo! is one that my mom and I used to recite to my brothers in the car on long car trips. We had it memorized and we really got into making all the different sounds that Mr. Brown could make. I remember one particular road trip where we had to do it many, many, many times to keep Ted entertained. Makes me appreciate and regret built in car DVD players.
Mr. Shaw's Shipshape Shoeshop is a book that most people probably haven't heard of but it is a great book about a man and his shoeshop and about dreams. It has long paragraphs and fantastic hand drawn art. And my kids love to listen to the story and stare at those gorgeous pages of art.
The Monster At The End Of This Book is a fantastic and fun story- Grover is terrified when he hears the title of the book and learns that there is a monster at the end of the book. He goes to great lengths to try and stop you from turning the pages and it all comes to an adorable end (of course).
Corduroy. Who doesn't love Corduroy? A bear goes on an adventure in his department store but comes to realize that what he's always wanted is a home and a friend- and he gets both.
Where The Wild Things Are is a book that has been one of my favorites for many years. I think I fell in love with it in high school or college. Teagan never took to it. She didn't dislike it but just really never picked it or cared to have it read.
Zach, however, has come to love this book- just this week! He asks to read it, he gets excited when I pick it up, and he loves to recite it along with me. We talk about the pages that have no words- he likes to tell me what the Wild Things are doing during their rumpus. He also likes to joke at the end... before that last page... by telling me "It's not hot!"
My favorite part is towards the end when Max realizes that he is "lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all." At this point, I always tell Zach that Mommy and Daddy love him best of all- and he grins at me and says "I love you, Mommy! And I love Daddy, too!" Then we have a fantastic little side conversation about all the people who love Zach and all the people that Zach loves, too.
I posed the question on my Facebook fan page and on Twitter:
Your fave book when you were a kid? What are your faves to read to kids?
The answers took me on a nice little trip down memory lane and gave me a nice list of books to be certain to add to our bookshelf or library list.
Curious George, Little House on the Prairie, If You Give a Mouse (series), How Do Dinosaurs (series), Nancy Drew (series), Hardy Boys (series), anything Dr. Seuss, Where the Red Fern Grows (I just re-read that one recently- one of my fave classics!), The Snowy Day (I love Ezra Jack Keats- Pet Show! is one our favorites), Sweet Pickles (series), anything by Robert Munsch, The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (I still fantasize about staying overnight in a museum), A Cricket In Times Square, A Wrinkle In Time (another of my personal favorites), Skippyjon Jones (series- we have the first one and I love to read it!), Berenstain Bears, Ramona Quimby (series by Beverly Cleary), Sara Plain and Tall.
And all those suggestions kept bringing other books to mind...
Pippi Longstocking, Heidi, the Wind In the Willows, The Littles, Encyclopedia Brown, Anne of Green Gables, anything by Judy Blume, anything by Shel SilversteinMrs. Pigglewiggle, anything by Roald Dahl, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Madeline, Harriet the Spy...
And more and more and more and more and more.
How about you? What were your favorite books when you were growing up? What are your favorite children's books now? What about Young Adult Fiction (The Book Thief is one of my all time favorite books)?
Mr. Brown Can Moo! is one that my mom and I used to recite to my brothers in the car on long car trips. We had it memorized and we really got into making all the different sounds that Mr. Brown could make. I remember one particular road trip where we had to do it many, many, many times to keep Ted entertained. Makes me appreciate and regret built in car DVD players.
Mr. Shaw's Shipshape Shoeshop is a book that most people probably haven't heard of but it is a great book about a man and his shoeshop and about dreams. It has long paragraphs and fantastic hand drawn art. And my kids love to listen to the story and stare at those gorgeous pages of art.
The Monster At The End Of This Book is a fantastic and fun story- Grover is terrified when he hears the title of the book and learns that there is a monster at the end of the book. He goes to great lengths to try and stop you from turning the pages and it all comes to an adorable end (of course).
Corduroy. Who doesn't love Corduroy? A bear goes on an adventure in his department store but comes to realize that what he's always wanted is a home and a friend- and he gets both.
Where The Wild Things Are is a book that has been one of my favorites for many years. I think I fell in love with it in high school or college. Teagan never took to it. She didn't dislike it but just really never picked it or cared to have it read.
Zach, however, has come to love this book- just this week! He asks to read it, he gets excited when I pick it up, and he loves to recite it along with me. We talk about the pages that have no words- he likes to tell me what the Wild Things are doing during their rumpus. He also likes to joke at the end... before that last page... by telling me "It's not hot!"
My favorite part is towards the end when Max realizes that he is "lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all." At this point, I always tell Zach that Mommy and Daddy love him best of all- and he grins at me and says "I love you, Mommy! And I love Daddy, too!" Then we have a fantastic little side conversation about all the people who love Zach and all the people that Zach loves, too.
I posed the question on my Facebook fan page and on Twitter:
Your fave book when you were a kid? What are your faves to read to kids?
The answers took me on a nice little trip down memory lane and gave me a nice list of books to be certain to add to our bookshelf or library list.
Curious George, Little House on the Prairie, If You Give a Mouse (series), How Do Dinosaurs (series), Nancy Drew (series), Hardy Boys (series), anything Dr. Seuss, Where the Red Fern Grows (I just re-read that one recently- one of my fave classics!), The Snowy Day (I love Ezra Jack Keats- Pet Show! is one our favorites), Sweet Pickles (series), anything by Robert Munsch, The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (I still fantasize about staying overnight in a museum), A Cricket In Times Square, A Wrinkle In Time (another of my personal favorites), Skippyjon Jones (series- we have the first one and I love to read it!), Berenstain Bears, Ramona Quimby (series by Beverly Cleary), Sara Plain and Tall.
And all those suggestions kept bringing other books to mind...
Pippi Longstocking, Heidi, the Wind In the Willows, The Littles, Encyclopedia Brown, Anne of Green Gables, anything by Judy Blume, anything by Shel SilversteinMrs. Pigglewiggle, anything by Roald Dahl, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Madeline, Harriet the Spy...
And more and more and more and more and more.
How about you? What were your favorite books when you were growing up? What are your favorite children's books now? What about Young Adult Fiction (The Book Thief is one of my all time favorite books)?
7 comments:
I don't remember anyone reading to me as a child, but I've been an avid reader since I was a child. I just loved all the Nancy Drew Mysteries!
My all-time favorite book to read to a small child was Come And Have Fun by Thatcher Hurd. I probably could recite quite a bit of it even today. It was one of the few books I didn't pass on to other families once Dani outgrew them. Now I wish I had saved more of them.
I should have read your post all the way through before commenting! haha!!! My kids LOVED Shel Silverstein and I have 3 of his poetry books that I'd only give away to one of my kids if they wanted them.
I love all the books you cited and I think I'm going to have go get some of them to add to Will's collection.
My faves...
"Ten, NIne, Eight" by Molly Bang
"Ashanti to Zulu" by Margaret Musgrove
"The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats
"Happy to be Nappy" by bell hooks
"Homemade Love" by bell hooks
"Be Boy Buzz" by bell hooks
"Grump Groan Growl" by bell hooks
"Skin Again" by bell hooks
"Whoever You Are" by Mem Fox
"All the Colors of the Earth" by Sheila Hamanaka
"The Lord's Prayer" by Tim Ladwig
"I Love You as Big as the World" by David Van Buren
"On Our Way Home" by Sebastien Braun
One of our favourite books with Doodle has been One Ted Falls Out of Bed. When he gets older I look forward to introducing him to Stuart Little. I was completely enthralled by that book as a kid.
We have all of those and love them! I was a HUGE fan of Amelia Bedelia when I was little, and my boys like her, too.
The Monster at the end of this Book has read to each of my kids until the book was worn out!
I LOVE that book too! SO fun to read outloud. We also enjoy Shel Silverstien's Where the Sidewalk Ends--to read outloud with the family!
The Monstor at the End of This Book!!!!!!!!!!!! That was our ALL TIME fav as kids. That and Harold and the Purple Crayon. LOVE! Another one of my favorites was the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe series by CS Lewis. Not because i really remembered them, but because my dad read them to us. I remember the exact spot I would lay on the floor, exactly where dad sat, and exactly what the lamp looked like where he read from. :)
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