Books, books, books ~ old favorites

We've grown out of a lot of the 18 month- 2 year old books lately.  The boy wants stories: long stories with interesting things that happen... Things we can talk about.  It's pretty thrilling, not only watching how his literacy skills and love of books is growing but because we like the stories too.  There are only so many times you can read few words per page board books without losing genuine interest in the story-telling (I can fake it but oh, how my mind wanders!).  There's a big, annual toy and book sale at our neighborhood elementary school and this year I stood in line before they opened the door.  Last year I got a bag full of beautiful board books (pay what you will) and this year I found "stories."  I've rediscovered so many old, favorite books from my childhood and the three of us are enjoying them together now.  Here's my current list of "old favorites" for age two and up.  What are yours?!

• The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss
• Sammy the Seal, Danny and the Dinosaur, Hoff
• The Fire Cat, Averill
• Tootle, Crampton, illustrated by Gergely
• Big Red Barn, Brown
• Are You My Mother?, Eastman
• Debbie and her Nap, by Frances & Werrenrath, illustrated by Wehr
• I Decided, by Frances & Werrenrath, illustrated by Horwich
• The Little Book, Horvath, illustrated by Wilkins
• But No Elephants, Smath (not actually from my childhood but from a collection of books a parent bought off eBay as an end-of-the-year gift for me when I taught, for my own kids someday...  They were her older children's favorites.  Wasn't that kind?)
• The Poky Little Puppy, Lowrey & Tenggren
• We Help Daddy, Stein, illustrated by Wilkins
• We Help Mommy, Cushman, illustrated by Wilkins

Comments

[Sarah]

But no elephants happens to be *my* very favorite childhood book. Oh how my copy was dogeared and tattered.

Jack is 3, but right now he digs the Berenstain Bears books quite a bit.

[Jen]

The Frances books are big at our house--all four of us like them--especially Bread and Jam for Frances and A Baby Sister for Frances.

[Kayte]

My girl will be two in January -- I have noticed a shift in her story preferences lately too both for longer texts and an interest in illustrations verses photographs.

Our current favorites are...

We All Went on Safari by Laurie Krebs
Silly Sally (and just about anything else) by Don and/or Audrey Wood
One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root (LOVE this one!)
One Gray Mouse by Katherine Burtin
Bark George by Jules Feiffer
The Foot Book and The Eye Book by Dr. Seuss
I'll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words by Micheal Frith
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman (I don't think she gets this one yet but the illustrations and the rythym of the text keep her interested --and I personally love the story)

She also loves looking at the illustrations and the size (they are big) of the books in the This Is series from Miroslav Sasek --even if she isn't ready for the stories. We have This Is Paris, This is Texas and This is Edinburgh. She will sit in her reading corner all by herself, flip through the pages and scour the pictures.

Also have you tried Paperback Swap yet? We get lots of books there and it's a great place to pass on all the book you grow out of...

[Tracey]

How about -
Hand, Hand Finger Thumb by Al Perkins
Meg and Mog - Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy - Lynley Dodd
This Is The Bear - Sarah Hayes and Helen Craig

[Holly]

Thanks for the great recommendations. My daughter is just about the same age as your son, so I really appreciate your ideas.

[kim]

Love love love those old golden books with the retro illustrations.
I second a vote to get The Seven Silly Eaters by Hoberman - makes me feel good about being a parent and all the creativity it takes (and energy!)

[meg]

The current house favorite seems to be Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Horton Hears a Who also pops up every week or so, but there are now a couple of pages missing and it drives the grown-ups nuts! ;)

[Kristin]

He might enjoy the Mr. Putter and Tabby series. We also love the Gus and Grampa series.

[Trina]

Let me have Cassie go through her books for the ones she has grown out of to give to you guys. That would be a ton of fun!

[Holly]

We just read a Harold book for the first time this morning, and it was a big hit. Harold's Circus by Crockett Johnson was the one we had on hand. Such clever books!

[kirie]

We have two favorites for that age (and beyond). The first is The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown. Harder to find, but worth a search, is Little Richard and Prickles, by Patricia Scarry.

[kirie]

We have two favorites for that age (and beyond). The first is The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown. Harder to find, but worth a search, is Little Richard and Prickles, by Patricia Scarry.