Bed-time Books

kept DD going from about 2 until she was 5+ and had been reading independently for quite a while. Dr Seuss too, except they aren't exactly gentle. Go for stuff that has a rhythm when you read it, something bouncy for non-bedtime stories. Mine were positively boring with their book choices for ages, and I know most kids like to hear books over and over until their parents want to scream, so don't worry about having too wide a choice.

It's often useful to go into a decent bookshop and see if you can find someone working in the children's section to ask what's popular. Of course The Gruffalo is making a comeback, with The Gruffalo's Child coming out recently. Maurice Sendak stories like 'Where the Wild Things Are' is good, and Jane Hissey for cute bear stories, and if you haven't got a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar I think we may have to call Social Services on you!! Well okay, other Eric Carle books are good too, but the Caterpillar is the place to start. The pictures are so specific to the words that it's easy to follow, and I remember loving the holes in the book as a child myself!

ok, I think I'm done for now!

Kerri.

by Gail Carson Levine

Here is one my DD loves. This is from the Amazon description:

"Unbeknownst to many, the fairies of Never Land have an intricate community in which everyone is useful to society. And, sadly, the newest arrival, Prilla, just doesn't fit in, for she appears without knowing what her particular talent is. Is she a tinker who likes to fix pots and pans like Tinker Bell? Or should she play with water like sweet Ree? Prilla's problems quickly become moot when the source of all magic on Never Land, a mysterious egg belonging to motherly Mama Dove, is destroyed in a vicious hurricane. Now Prilla and two other fairies must embark on a quest to save the egg and, with it, Never Land's secret of youth before it is too late. This book isn't going to bowl anyone over with its originality, and Levine isn't afraid to employ a little deus ex machina when the fancy strikes her, but overall it's an engaging tale. The story is exciting, the characters accessible if stock, and Christiana's lush, full-color illustrations breathtaking."

I would have posted a link, but don't know how to do it and ensure that Lynn gets the credit. Sorry!

-Jo

I love two year olds. That's wonderful that she's enjoying these books, that's kind of at the 5 yr old level.

My recommendations are the books I really really liked when I was pretty little, or that my neice or daughter liked/likes. I second by the way the Beatrix Potter. The naughty mice are a favorite of mine.

Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Fairy Tales though it's out of print. I ADORE her illustrations, they're magical. The fairy tales are cleaned up a bit, the witch is redeemed in Hansel and Gretel, for instance, but they were my favorites when I was little. If you can't find Hilda's version, any set of fairy tales for ages 5 to 7 would probably do provided they're illustrated enough.

Frances books by Russell Hoban. Bread and Jam for Frances, Bedtime for Frances, A Birthday for Frances, etc. Frances is a very sweet little critter, I think she's a badger, but I can't quite remember.

The Golden Sleepy Book by Margaret Wise Brown. A collection of stories, songs, and poems by my favorite children's author of all time barring the inimitiable Laura Ingalls Wilder. This was THE naptime book for DD when she was two. The pictures entranced her.

Just Imagine: A Book of Fairyland Rhymes by Guy Gilchrist. A collection of poems that are by turn charming, silly, and sublime. "My Teddy Bear, he talks to me he does, he really does! He's certainly the most talkative bear there ever ever was." This has been loved by both neice and DD since they were toddlers, it's still a favorite with DD at five.

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Great yarns, but I don't know specifically which edition has really good illustrations.

Aesop's Fables by Aesop! There are lots of editions of this out there, some complete, some selected, can't recommend a specific edition in regards to illustrations again, though.

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. A classic.

Guess How Much I Love You? by Sam Mcbratney. A newer classic.

I Am a Bunny by Richard Scary. OK, so this one isn't a meatier book, it's a very simple book, but the illustrations are so vivid, detailed, and fascinating, it should be in every child's library. It was my all time favorite book growing up. I would sit and just stare at the pictures for what seemed like hours (probably all of ten minutes, but I was five, time was experienced differently then.)

Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. If you've not read this, you must. If you have read it, I don't need to explain why it's so good.

Day and Night and Other Dreams by Cooper Edens. Originaly released with an accompanying cassette. The "Fine and Curious Company of Singers" sing the songs in the most delightful way. My mother and I could listen to the tape over and over and over and never get nauseated by it, something I can say about very few children's recordings. If you can find the book with the accompanying cassette, you're a better woman than I, but even with just the book it's great. It's an enchanting collection of poems by William Blake, Tennyson, and others with vintange illustrations, if I remember correctly. Cooper Edens has a thing for vintage children's illustrations.

As you can see, my tastes run to Fairy Tales, Poems, and Bunnies. I make no apologies.

Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally

Look at My Father's Dragon: "My Father's Dragon--a favorite of young readers since the 1940s and a Newbery honor book--captures the nonsensical logic of childhood in an amusingly deadpan fashion. The story begins when Elmer Elevator (the narrator's father as a boy) runs away with an old alley cat to rescue a flying baby dragon being exploited on a faraway island. With the help of two dozen pink lollipops, rubber bands, chewing gum, and a fine-toothed comb, Elmer disarms the fiercest of beasts on Wild Island. The quirky, comical adventure ends with a heroic denouement: the freeing of the dragon. Abundant black-and-white lithographs by Ruth Chrisman Gannett (the author's stepmother) add an evocative, lighthearted mood to an already enchanting story. Author Ruth Stiles Gannett 's stand-alone sequel, Elmer and the Dragon, and her third volume, The Dragons of Blueland both received starred reviews in School Library Journal and are as fresh and original as her first."

We also have a very lightly illustrated Wind in the Willows.

I absolutely adore all things Arnold Lobel: the Frog and Toad books, Mouse Tales, Owl at Home, Grasshopper on the Road. Also the little bear books. These are actually "early readers" that comprise 4-5 stories. We usually told 2-3 at a time. They are just wonderful wonderful books.

Frog and Toad forever!

Shaun
www.homeschoolblogger.com/shaunms

Love that. Seconded for "I Am a Bunny," also the classic Golden Books if you can find them like "Very Shy Kitten" and "Tawny Scrawny Lion."

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Quite a few have rung bells with me, others I've never encountered.

I'm looking forward to exploring

Zillah

We almost always have to read "Go Dog, Go" and "Goodnight Moon" every. single. night. with 3 of the kids (4 is only 6 months old, so he really doesn't care yet. LOL!). They never grow tired of Go dog. and if I skip a page they always let me know (rats!). How about Cat in the Hat? One I actually don't have (YIKES, how could I NOT!!).

The Clifford books are excellent, too.

Or go the other route. I read Gone with the Wind to my first born her first year of life! LOL!

We just recently purchased a copy of "Goodnight Moon", first I got a copy from the library and it really seems to be a great last book. My DS 2, is facinated with the cow jumping over the moon, how the moon comes up a little each page and where the mouse is. Things you don't notice the first time you read it. (at least I didn't) We also took out Runaway Bunny, so he recognises the one picture on the wall from that book.

He's just starting to like, Guess How Much I Love You. But, I think of that as more of a Daddy book. (father and son bunnies?)

For illustrations, I love Jan Brett books. Maybe I'll collect them...for myself?!!?

(I love hearing about what you all are reading to your little ones! I'll check out some on the others too, for our almost weekly trip to the library!)

*~* GLITTERY.HOMEMAKER *~*

I know this post was from a long time ago but I just went on vacation last week to Walt Disney World. It brought back so many memories of when I was younger and how my mom, sister, and I would read Disney story books together before we went to bed. I remember dreaming to be a princess or a new adventure with Winnie the Pooh. I can't wait to have children to read these books at night with them. They are definitely classics that children of all ages will love.

Look for Disney books at the bookstore, or try taking her to a book store and letting her pick one out for herself