Favorite picture books?

[conuly]

Something appropriate for young toddlers to preschool kids, thanks. I want, of course, the babies to be readers. Right now, I'm confined mostly to board books for them, but when they're a little bigger they can have actual storytimes with adults, right? And for that, I need picture books. Mine, from what I recall, were:

Where the Wild Things Are
Green Eggs and Ham
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (comes in board book form)

and I think it's never to early to plan ahead. So, start posting. Fond memories? Nightmares? Just a thought? Whatever, I wanna know. Because I'm just that into spoiling my babies.

Comments

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Where shall I start? ;0)

I've stuck a few into an Amazon list (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/24LQBVNZBK8DC/026-8003383-4095605) to make linking a bit easier ;0)

Basically, I can't recommend Janet and Allan Ahlberg books highly enough. Their library carries through from babies to 9-10 year olds, which is great if you get into their style.

Each Peach Pear Plum is, simply put, one of the most delightful children's books ever written. Ok, it might not feature wizards and pumpkin juice and all that jaz, but its simple rhyming ("Each peach pear plum, I spy Tom Thumb, Tom Thumb in the cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard, Mother Hubbard in the cellar, I spy Cinderella") draws together characters from so many fairy stories, and Janet's gorgeous illustrations are packed with things for the reader to spot.

Peepo and The Baby's Catalogue are great fun too, though the former might be a bit too old and English *shrugs*

I do indeed still quote Burglar Bill. The subject matter might be serious (stealing is wrong) but it doesn't stop the book being enjoyable.

I didn't list Funny Bones, but it's a fairly compulsory read. *Sings* "The knee bones connected to the hip bone"

Dogger is just... I dunno, I just love it.

Penguin Small is listed on Amazon as too old for your guys, but I'm sure we bought it for Krissie when she was 15 months or so. Or maybe it was later, hmm... It's a great book anyway.

Hmm... I've run out of inspiration now. Most books I think of (the Brambly Hedge series for example) are a bit too old. Ask me again in a couple of years ;0) And of course I don;t know what availability of these books is in the US (I started out on amazon.com but switched to .co.uk to make my list.)

Also try people like Babette Cole and for great humour with good illustrations. As soon as they're old enough, start them on Roald Dahl. Erm...

It's a shame I'm not at home - I have a compendium of Children's Literature that I could grab some great recommendations from.

Overall - read Ahlberg! Above all else, try and find their books, particularly Each Peach Pear Plum.

And Where the Wild Things Are scared me ;0)

[joevic.livejournal.com]

And Where the Wild Things Are scared me ;0)
It scared me too!

Some books that my kids love are the Bartholemew bear ones by Virginia Miller (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0763619418/qid=1078502122/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-5812319-4233621?v=glance&s=books). They're about potty training, going to bed etc and Ba's father George is very patient.

And another one that I can't recommend enough is Guess How Much I Love You (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/076360013X/ref=pd_sim_books_1/002-5812319-4233621?v=glance&s=books)

They all have board versions.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is totally classic and we have the video as well, which has three other stories by the same author. We also have a Maori version that I taped off TV.

And if you can find any of Ana Laranaga's (Jolly Jungle and Playful Pets are the two we have) they'd be perfect for Seth and Ana right now. I read them to Trent and Quinn from about 4 months and they loved them.