Children's Books

There has recently been some discussion on the What books are you reading right now? | The TFP thread and I thought I'd start a new thread on what books you believe to be wonderful for young children. When I worked part time in a library for some extra spending money, I shelved the books in the Young Adult section and read a lot of them. I have acquired some of the titles to save for BabySquirrel for when she's older. I have all the Harry Potter books and most of the Series of Unfortunate Event books.

What did/do you read to your children? What age are/were they when you read those books? What was your favorite book growing up?

BabySquirrel is only a tiny babe, but I am planting the seeds of a reader in her now. I read a lot as a child and I'd like for her to expand her mind through reading too.

Currently we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault because I like it. We also read the Llama Llama books because I think they're funny. She'll probably have different preferences once she's able to communicate them.

 

Chicken Soup With Rice by Maurice Sendeck
It's part of the Nutshell box.
The neatest little box set of books ever.

 

Little Levite's favorites so far are:
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
Baby Be Kind, by Jane Cowan
Little Gorilla, by Ruth Bornstein
Happy Hippo, Angry Duck
Moo Baa La La La, both by Sandra Boynton

And we get him Highlights Hello, which is like a magazine for babies. He fucking adores it.

He's a very verbal little guy, and if my childhood and Mrs. Levite's childhood are any judge, he's going to be an early, quick, and facile reader. We're already planning for when he's a little older, say first through third grades.

That'd be stuff like D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, and D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths; Roger Lancelyn Green's Tales of Ancient Egypt and King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, and The Adventures of Robin Hood; Aesop's Fables, The Blue Fairy Book, The Gray Fairy Book, and the various other colors of fairy books; Names Upon The Harp: Irish Myths and Legends, by Marie Heany; Seasons of Splendour: Tales, Myths, and Legends of India, by Madhur Jaffrey, and The Ch'i-lin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories, by Linda Fang; A Child's Book of Midrash: 52 Jewish Stories from the Sages, by Barbara Diamond Goldin; The Little Midrash Says: A Digest of the Weekly Torah Portion, by Moshe Weissman; the Prydain Chronicles and other stories by Lloyd Alexander; the Wrinkle In Time series by Madeleine l'Engle; the Earthsea trilogy, by Ursula K. LeGuin; and The Hobbit, by Tolkien.

 

Hey @Levite how old is Little Levite?

I'm really interested in Highlights Hello. I looked it up and it looks fun.

 

He's a year and a half (19 months, but I swore that once he hit 18 months, we would stop counting in months-- it's kind of a pet peeve, people who tell me their kid is like "29 months" or "38 months," or whatnot).

He LOVES Highlights Hello. My mom got him the subscription when he was like nine or ten months, and he probably started holding it out to us to have it read to him when he was around a year old.

 

DaddySquirrel hates the month thing too. We'll probably stop at 18 months...at least that's the plan.

I think I'm going to Subscribe. If I don't think we want to keep the magazine, I'll send it to my brother for his daughter who is only a month older than BabySquirrel.

 

My little girls have always loved the books by David Shannon like Duck on a Bike, and No David!
They also like Dr. Seuss in all flavors.
Russian fairy tales go over well.
And they will never pass up Fancy Nancy books either.

 

Anything by Marcus Pfister (try not to giggle when reading his name to the kids). Two of our most favoritest books are Rainbow Fish and Milo & the Magical Stone. Delightful illustration & a relevant moral. As bonuses: Milo is actually 2 books in one; halfway through, the reader can choose the happy ending, teaching about gratirude & balance, or the sad ending, teaching about the dangers of greed and excessive competitive-ness. And one can find on Storyline Online & the Youtubes Rainbow Fish read by Ernest Borgnine.

 

He did one called the Paper Bag Princess that is wonderful.

 

This makes me happy!

 

This is my little guy's favorite book. I swear I had no influence... honest.

 

This fucking book.

My mom and I still cry when we talk about it. It will make good memories.

 

Shitballs, I can barely even look at the cover of Love You Forever!

Get anything and everything by Eric Carle that you can find.

One of my own favourites is Child of Mine, Know This by Rebecca Gittrich Whitecotton. I bought it when Mrs Moose was pregnant with the Elder Crackhead, and I'm about to read it with both my boys right now.

 

I read that book to my kiddos many times but I have to admit there was a little bit of a disquieting vibe to it with the mom sneaking into the son's house.
than I read an interview with the author about what had made him write the book and I was properly chagrined.
The sad, sweet story behind ‘Love You Forever’ | BabyCenter Blog

 

How did I forget Curious George?

 

You know, we just got Curious George for Little Levite, and I was shocked. I have fond memories of Curious George, but looking at the book as an adult,I was like, "oh my God, this is a children's book romanticizing colonialism in Africa!"

I'll still read it to Little Levite, because for him it's just a book about a monkey and a guy with a weird penchant for dressing in yellow. I mean, my parents read it to me, and I didn't get indoctrinated to find colonialism acceptable. But it was a bit weird to realize....

 

Oh, and for the more independent young readers, the Choose Your Own Adventure books will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

We read this one at the Doctor's office: How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends?: Jane Yolen, Mark Teague: 9780439856546: Amazon.com: Books

I want the whole series now. I mean. BabySquirrel wants the whole series now.