Last week Sam and Ashley sent a lovely gift to Becca, The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name. So I guess it’s time to start thinking about Becca’s literary immersion once she gets home!
We’d love to hear from you about your favorite one or two children’s books — either books that were read to you when you were young, or books you love reading to your children/nieces/nephews/grandchildren/etc. In the comments section, simply give the title and why you love that book.
Personally, I love the Frog & Toad stories. Last year Amy and I bought three Frog & Toad books for our nephews in China, but I liked them so much, I never sent them. (Charity, please don’t tell the boys!) A new favorite is the luxoriously illustrated, It’s Time to Sleep, My Love.
Now it’s your turn. (This is your big chance, Grandma Hess!)
a new book – not published yet, but called “Becca, Our Beautiful Baby” – written by Amy and Josh Jensen. You will want to read it to her every night, and she will love hearing it every night! 🙂
Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
We just got one a few weeks ago called “Full Moon Rising,” telling how the moon was stealing the sun’s glory–teaching about the importance of humility and the dangers of pride. Not quite an ‘infants’ book, but we’ve loved reading it to Zoe! Happy reading.
Okay, I’ll probably post several times as ideas hit me! But here are a few off the top of my head: Make Way for Ducklings (and the other McCloskey books), A Child’s Garden of Verses (yes, I learned to love poetry from hearing my mom read this to me), We Help Mommy & Baby Dear (little golden books that might be hard to find), and of course the classic Winnie the Pooh (the real stories, not Disney versions . . .) and Little House on the Prairie. Just to start her off . . . 😉
Besides Frog and Toad, the McCloskey books and Little House on the Prairies, all of which I loved and have already been mentioned… Good Night Moon, Amelia Bedelia, Richard Scary books, Dr. Seuss, Egermyer’s (sp?) Bible Story Book, fairy tales, a big book full of folk tales and children’s poems (I don’t remember the name), and when I was a little older, a children’s version of Pilgrim’s Progress (again, don’t remember the author’s name, but I LOVED that book and read it dozens of times), Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, Charles & Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare (gotta start’em early). Just a few I thought of now. 🙂
Good Night Moon is currently Jacob’s favorite book (from Uncle Josh when Caleb was a baby!). The older boys are a bit tired of it since they both went through a time when it was their favorite as well. Jacob loved finding all the things in the pictures and is fascinated by finding the moon outside every night. The older two have new favorites every week! Their favorite truck books probably wouldn’t be such big hits with Becca! 🙂
The Beatrix Potter books – just for the sheer flow and beauty of the words. Where else can you read about Jemima Puddleduck and the superfluous hens? or Benjamin Bunny being affronted? Fabulous. Coming in a close second would be the McCloskey books — in particular Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine. I could go on and on and on…….. my girls could NEVER get enough. Good books will make them LOVE reading!
Little House on the Prairie. Mom read it to us at night before bed several times in my childhood.
I love children’s literature! The Anne of Green Gables series won my heart as a little girl although I must say I read “Farmer Boy” from the Little House on the Prairie series hundreds of times! A more modern favorite are the “Skippyjon Jones” Series http://www.skippyjonjones.com/ … Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is another favorite — I read that to Sam when visiting a bookstore on one of our first dates…”Eloise” is another favorite…my grandmother read that book to my mom and my mom read it to me!
There are so many to choose from!!
I loved reading One Cow Moo Moo. It’s a counting book and a book that she’d be able to read herself before she goes to school…very fun with lots of animals.
One comes to mind from my K-4 class that I would love to locate, because it was fun to read. Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel.
I love Beatrix Potter books — I love all the mischief those cute little animals get into! 🙂 Another favorite is Richard Scarry’s I Am a Bunny — cute litlle book about the seasons, and I remember as a child thinking Nicolas the bunny was so cute in his little overalls. (I just recently read it to Evan; he liked it, too!) And don’t forget Dr. Seuss — love them all, but Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? is my personal favorite. OK, I’m going to stop now. 🙂
My very favorite “children’s” author is Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne of Green Gables series is classic, but Montgomery’s best book in my opinion is The Story Girl. Another great series is the Elsie Dinsmore series which was written around the time of the War Between the States (but that isn’t what it is about); very sweet stories (a bit sappy at times) with a good moral theme in each one.
One of my favorites to read to my girls when they were growing up was The Secret Garden. When Julie was little her favorite book was Too Loose the Chocolate Moose (however, I’ve looked for it for years and can’t find it) and Christina’s favorite was Green Eggs and Ham. Read to her as much as possible. It’s a great joy for the parents and beneficial to the children.
One of our favorites is “No Pets Allowed.” The artwork is by a guy that was on my hall in college.
http://www.amazon.com/Pets-Allowed-Morgan-Reed-Persun/dp/1579240771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260480007&sr=8-1
A Little Girl after God’s Own Heart by Elizabeth George
http://www.amazon.ca/Little-Girl-After-Gods-Heart/dp/0736915451/ref=sr_1_12/191-2927560-3136146?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260480036&sr=1-12
(There’s also one for boys. We have both.)
My three personal childhood favorites: The Little House, THe House on East 88th Street, and Madeline. I tried reading all three (actually more if you count the other Madeline books) to my three sons, but they preferred such titles as The Pokey Little Puppy, THe Runaway Road, and the Plant that Ate Dirty Socks. Could there be a gender bias here? We’re praying it won’t be long utnil you can hold little Becca in your arms and share your love of literature, especially the greatest book of all, God’s Word, with her!
I always enjoy reading GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU by Sam McBratney and I’D CHOOSE YOU by John Trent because it gives me another opportunity to remind them again that they are special (regardless of their looks, talents, or popularity) and that they are loved unconditionally more than they can comprehend (“…right up to the moon—and back.”). Uncle David says to tell you that his favorite books to read to our children were: THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER and OH WHERE, OH WHERE HAS MY LITTLE DOG GONE? both by Iza Trapani because there has been some research that indicates that as you sing the text to them it will help develop the child’s musical potential (the disclaimer is: the one who sings the book to Becca will need to have some musical abilities…like singing correct pitch….I guess Amy will be in charge of these books!!!..just kidding Josh).
I love all children’s books but a few of my favorites are: guess how much i love you; where the wild things are; are you my mother; chickachicka boom boom; and all the Dr. Suess books.
Your grandma just gave me your blog site..and I have read all you have posted..rebecca is beautiful.and we rejoice with you that she is progressing so well. You all continue to be in our thougts and prayers..how wonderful you got to hold her…what a happy day.
I would have to agree with Charity on Good Night Moon for a little one esp. after Amy and I scoured Greenville to find the plaque and the bronze mice (great memory!). When Becca is older I would recommend the Tales of Uncle Wiggley which I bought for my grandchildren and read to them. Every time I visited, I would bring each one “a bag of books”. Books are treasures! Love, Great Grandma B
We’re praying for you — and rejoicing in every good report. Every time I see new pictures, I marvel at Becca’s tiny perfections!
It’s hard to pick one or two favorite books to suggest… One that I recently read and look forward to reading with Elizabeth is “The Basket of Flowers” — a classic about a father’s love for his daughter (and vice-versa) and more importantly God’s love and sovereignty.
Besides “Good Night, Moon” and “Guess How Much I Love You” and the Beatrix Potter books (already mentioned) another current favorite has been “The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear” — lots of fun with dear illustrations!
My younger daughter, Liz, had me read this book again and again to her, “Whose Mouse are You? by Robert Kraus. The sing-songy lyrics can be memorized and told at all different times. Kraus is a wonderful author and has several other books. I have considered re-writing this book and putting Liz’s pictures in the book.