Monday, May 17, 2010

Books to Treasure


I have a new baby and a three year old. (And there's my wonderful husband, too.) They're the first grandchildren on both sides of the family, so they're getting spoiled with way too many toys. I've started telling people that if they absolutely must buy things for my kids (and sometimes you just gotta), they should get books.

But there are a lot of not-so-great books out there, ones that I get sick of reading. What can I say? I'm picky about my children's literature.

So, I'm creating a list of books I want my children to have, books I loved as a child, books they will treasure for years, books they will save for their own children.
There are the picture books: Goodnight Moon, Blueberries for Sal, Where the Wild Things Are.
And then there are ones for as they get older. Beautiful, illustrated, hardcover editions of Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, the Chronicles of Narnia, the stories of Hans Christian Anderson, and on up through Beverly Cleary, Charlotte's Web, A Little Princess, and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Oh, the list goes on and on. But I need help. Which books would top your list? Quick, before we get another toy that makes horrid bleeping noises. We need more books!




10 comments:

Kristi said...

Congratulations on the little one!!! And as a fellow mom, I agree that we need more kid books!

Dana Elmendorf said...

My favorite books for my boys:

Goldie Locks has Chicken Pox (fun rhyming book)
and
If you Give a Mouse a Cookie (that mouse is so darn cute)

I did find a book at the 99cent store with my first child "Homer the Baseball" by Michael Serrian I always read it with a special obnoxious voice. It made him smile huge in his sleep if I whispered the words in his ear. You'll find that special book with your boys too.

Lisa said...

Thanks Kristi!

GwOE - We have If You Give a Pig a Pancake and my son just loves it. There's a moose/muffin one as well. Those sleep smiles are wonderful, aren't they?

Rachele Alpine said...

I love all the picture books from when I was young!

I would suggest "Ticki Ticki Tem bo," "Madeline" and "Harry the Dirty Dog."

Vicki Rocho said...

I loved the Dr. Suess books for sheer fun.

My kids loved Little Critter books. I liked them because they were quick and easy reads, so if the kids talked me into reading 3-4 books at bedtime, Little Critter came to the rescue!

Sarah said...

I loved the Churchmice books by Graham Oakley when I got older. The pictures were amazing.

Michelle said...

I vote for my favorite really old school book: A Hole is to Dig, by Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak. My mom had a copy when she was a teacher, and it's the first book I remember being able to read on my own.

Lisa said...

Wow! So many books that I don't even know about. I've never heard of Little Critter or the Churchmice books. MissV and Sarah, I'll have to check them out.

And Rachele, I loved Tikki Tikki Tem Bo as a kid and still love it as an adult!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

prashant said...

It made him smile huge in his sleep if I whispered the words in his ear. You'll find that special book with your boys too.
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Brenda St John Brown said...

The Gruffalo is also really fun, as are most of the books by Julia Donaldson.