Thursday, May 20, 2010

Favorite Books for Children?

I commented on Becky’s post from Tuesday that I think e-books should never replace the experience of holding a child and a book together on your lap and reading and turning pages together. There’s just something so special about that, in my opinion anyway. Of course with my two young girls we’re still just reading picture books, but I look forward to when they are ready for the Little House series and the Chronicles of Narnia, Charlotte’s Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, Matilda.... I could go on and on listing my favorite books as a young girl!

My mom and I were laughing the other day at Jodi finding small spaces to crawl into and under. It reminded us of my favorite reading spots when I was little—an empty kitchen cupboard or under my daybed. I also often snuck out onto the roof of the porch that sat below my bedroom window. I loved to “get away” as I read so that I didn’t have to be interrupted!

So, in your opinion, what children’s books are must-reads to add to my collection for Jodi and Lilly? Whether they read them as e-books or sit down with me and turn pages together, the important thing is getting them reading! I hope my girls love books as much as I do!

Here's a picture of Lilly yesterday. I was so happy to capture her sweet, 8-week-old smile.

17 comments:

Carrie Turansky said...

Hi JoAnne, Lilly is darling!! What a sweet smile. I am so happy to catch a peek at her. : )

On a recent visit to see my grandsons, ages almost 4 and 6, I read them one of my favorite picture books: Make Way for the Ducklings. I have many fond memories of my mom reading it to me when I was a child. I also read it to my children. The author is Robert McCloskey. (sp?) He also wrote two other wonderful books: Blueberries for Sal, and One Morning in Maine.

When Jodi is ready to lose her first tooth, check out One Morning in Main from the library or order a copy on line. It is such a delightful book.

When the girls are a little older you might enjoy reading Heidi aloud. The author is Johanna Spyri. There are wonderful inspirational elements to the story.
Blessings,
Carrie

Vickie McDonough said...

Lilly is such a cutie! I know you're enjoying her.

My boys like a book called: Are You My Mother? Another one is Goodnight Moon and just about any of Mercer Mayer's Little Critters' books.

I asked my four-year-old granddaughter what her favorite book is, and she said her Dora the Explorer books.

Aaron McCarver said...

As a younger child I loved the stories of Richard Scarry. As I got older I liked mysteries. Of course I read Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. But if Lilly likes mysteries herself, check out Trixie Belden and The Three Investigators series or mysteries by Elizabeth Honness or Christine Noble Govan and Emmy West. Elizabeth Honness wrote several books with Christian and biblical themes also, but I loved her mysteries. They are simpler and less scary than some of the ones being done today. The same can be said of the ones by Govan and her daughter West. These stories take place around Chattanooga, TN, which provided more interest for me, but they bring lots of money today so I think many must look for them. I loved "Fantastic Mr. Fox" by Roald Dahl, different from movie as usual. The Freddy the Pig books by Walter Brooks are wonderful as are the nature books by Thornton Burgess. I als loved "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" by Dodie Smith--good movie, great book! Oops, went on longer than I meant to, but I have to mention one of my all-time favorites, "The Wizard of Oz." The movie, and I am a huge fan of musicals, pales in comparison. Love, love, love the book. Read it over and over. Oh and read the other Oz books by Baum. He actually wrote 14. Other authors wrote other good Oz books, too. As I have said...so many books, so little time.

Cecelia Dowdy said...

Adorable pic! Our four-year-old son loves books! When I shop for his books, I'm finding that children's books are often "recycled" meaning that they just keep reprinting books that I read as a child! - Harold And The Purple Crayon, Where The Wild Things Are, The Doctor Seuss books, The Snowy Day, Corduroy...my son loves most of the children's book classics!

Debby Mayne said...

What a precious little angel!

Both of my daughters enjoyed books from the moment they could hold them. My granddaughter loves books, too! There's nothing more special than cuddling with a child while you read a book together.

Lauralee Bliss said...

When they get a little older :) the old Nancy Drew series. Great to read aloud also.

Linda Ford said...

Lilly is a sweetie. Thanks for sharing a picture of her.

My favorite book to read to my kids and now my grandkids is Piggy In the Middle of the Muddy Muddy Puddle. It is so fun to read (over and over and over and over :-))

Linda

JoAnne said...

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I just remembered how much I loved the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books when I was little. Did any of you ever read those? Oh, and my mom always read us The Bobbsey Twins and when I was a little older I discovered her collection of old Cherry Ames books and just LOVED those, too!

Shannon Taylor Vannatter said...

When my son was a baby, we loved Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney.

As a toddler, he loved the Bob the Builder storybook. It had 15 stories in it, some short, some long. We'd read one every night and he got so familiar with them, he'd tell me what came next and pretend he was reading. He knew each story word for word.

Now, he reads to me. The Narnia Chronicles for kids.

Don't know if Bob would work for girls. Although Wendy and Dizzy are girls.

Both books are in the keeper chest and bring back fuzzy memories.

Sweet picture of Lilly.

Rose said...

Hi JoAnne,

My favorite children's book was Little Women and since you have daughters, they may enjoy it too. I also enjoyed Amelia Bedilia...it appeals to my sense of humor and love of lemon pie!

My son really enjoyed the Pee Wee Scouts books. He had all of them at one time. He also had some favorite stories from Little Golden Books but I don't know if those titles would still be available. One was Mr. Bell's Fix It Shop. I read that story over and over.

Anonymous said...

Lilly is so sweet!! Here are some of my favorites from childhood and ones I enjoyed reading to my own kids:
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
Big Max by Kin Platt (that's not a typo his name is 'Kin')
Aventures of Raggedy Ann by Johnny Gruelle
Miss Suzy by Miriam Young
The Sweet Pickles Series by Richard Hefter
The Wishing Penny and Other Fantasy Stories by Anita Lobel
ANY Dr. Suess books
The Curious George books by H.A. Ray
The Richard Scarry Books
Oh and this is an absolute MUST
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and you HAVE to let your girls put their fingers in the little holes where the caterpillar eats through the food!
The Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik
And this one is for when they are older: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
I could go on but this is already quite long. Enjoy your girls!

Erica Vetsch said...

What a sweet baby smile!

I love books, and the list you made is great!

I'd recommend anything by Marguerite Henry. I devoured her Misty books.

And Doctor Seuss is always fun for a read-aloud. :)

Then there are the Little Golden Books and the Scholastic books, some of which have already been mentioned.

Chicka-chicka-boom-boom and Tikki-tikki-tembo were big favorites around here too.

Erica Vetsch said...

I just read through the comments and saw that you liked Cherry Ames books too! I have a bunch of those and loved them.

Also Betty Cavanna, Rosamund Du Jardin, and Janet Lambert.

Elaine said...

Another must read is Egermeier's Bible Story Book. It is the closest to Scripture in my opinion. My dad read to us from that book on Sunday afternoons. I was delighted when I stumbled onto a copy as an adult. I quickly bought it, rejoicing in that part of my childhood coming back to me.

Mary Connealy said...

Tootle the Train. A little golden book. The moral to this story is, there are nothing but red flags for little trains who get off the tracks.
Read it to your children often and make sure they get the point.

The Big Orange Splot by D. Manus Pinkwater.

A Child's Garden of Versus by Robert Louis Stevenson.

And I have a particular love for Maude and Claude go Abroad by Susan Meddaugh. It's a book length poem that has the most wonderful use of language.

And when they laid eyes on
Land on the horizon...

How can you not love a book that rhymes 'eyes on' with 'horizon'?

Janet Lee Barton said...

One of my favorite series would be the Betsy Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace.

They begin when Betsy and Tacy are very young, then expand to include Tib as a friend. The series doesn't end until they all three are married. I loved these books. I didn't start reading them until I was about 12, and started with the high school books. But for little ones, it would be great to get the earlier stories so they could start from the beginning. I got those for my granddaughters.

These are all based on Maud Hart Lovelace's life they just bring the early 1900's to life. They take place in Deep Valley, Minnesota-- which is actually Mankato.

Plus, Betsy wanted to be a writer, and that's exactly what she did. I think these books played a big part in my writing life. I still pull them out from time to time.

You can find them on Amazon.com
I think they are putting them out in two-in-ones now.

Lisa Faye Harman said...

I'm so thankful that all three of my children love to read!

One of my favorite books to read to the kids was Wonderful You by Kate Gleeson. I still keep a copy in my bedside nightstand even though the kids are 14, 12, and 9 now. I try to sneak it out and read it to them occassionally despite their groans of protest. I think they actually still have the words memorized. LOL. The pages of the book are bent and taped. The last two lines of the book read:

You are my child, my precious one-special in every way...
I'm filled with the wonder of wonderful you, and I love you more each day.

Exactly how I feel about them!