conuly | Hm.

Don't Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus, by Mo Willems.

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, Mo Willems.

I'd imagine any of the Pigeon series are good, but I only have those two.

Amazon.com gives a really big link.

http://www.mowillems.com/ is the author's page, though.

Ted and Finbar (3 and 5) love these books. And they were a breakthrough book in my son's development, my older son. He wouldnt talk in class, participate, read. We got the first as a gift, and he loved it, and brought it in, and read it aloud to his class -- and since then he's opened up a great deal.

But the books are fun and interactive in a way, because kids talk to the pigeon.

I don't remember which books I enjoyed when I was under four. I don't remember very clearly anything anyone in my family read to me. I know that I was read to, but the only memories I have in relation to this were the times when everyone was too busy to read to me. I also remember my sister trying to teach me to read and how much of a complete failure that was (her approach worked well for many of my siblings, but I needed a different method, I learned fairly well and easily once my first grade teacher started working with me using a phonics-based approach).

When I was babysitting, I rather liked Pat the Bunny. It's cute; it's tactile; it has fun things to do.

As a young reader around ages 5 to 7, I recall being especially fond of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and also Mr. Pine's Purple House. For a long time I would state Mr. Pine's Purple House as my favorite story. I wish I had a copy still. I do remember the plot.

Mr. Pine lived on a block where all the houses looked just the same. One day he almost went into the wrong house. He got tired of all of the houses being identical and he painted his house purple! The neighbors were shocked. The neighbors were scandalized. The neighbors did not approve. But he could find his house and he liked it being purple. Over time the neighbors decided it was cool. So, they all painted their houses purple too. But then they all looked the same again! So he had to paint it some other color, maybe green. Then the neighbors decided to each paint their house in a color they liked and the neighborhood had variety.

I may be misremembering some aspects, but it was more or less like that. I think it's pretty easy to see why I loved the story. It was really a story for a kid like me. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is just fun. Oh and I liked Green Eggs and Ham, because it's funny.

I'm not sure I had any traditional toddler books like Pat the Bunny or books talking about baby animals or whatnot. I did have one of those plastic books you could read in the bathtub, and I loved that it was a book that wouldn't get damaged in the bath, but I don't recall the book.

I could use plastic books as an adult. Any book that is clearly MINE gets wet. Some people are horrified by that -- me? I can't live without reading constantly. So some books (try at least to get used paper backs) are sacrificed, have an scalloped edge from where they rested on my wet belly.

I want plastic books too. Well, after I can read normal print again...
I gave up on reading in the bath because I inevitably at some point drop the book and it becomes totally ruined. But I wish I could read in the bath.

I actually could if I bought print/Braille books and then separated out the Braille pages. In print/Braille books they put the Braille on clear plastic sheets so both the print and Braille can be read at the same time (good for a blind/sighted pair reading together or one of them learning to read. And handy as it works with the learner being blind or sighted). So, anyhow, I could take out all the plastic pages and then read them in the bath. Hmmm...

Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type is another family favorite.

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=8-0689832133-0&partner_id=23921

The sequel, Giggle, Giggle, Quack, is good too.

I don't remember being read to, though I'm sure I was, so I can't answer the first part, but when I could read (so, from kindergarten on), some of my favorites were:
- Each Peach Pear Plum (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/014050639X/qid=1111034673/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/002-4102126-9684806) - The pictures, with the stuff hidden in them, the rhymes, the story - I don't know what it was, I just really loved this book.
- Strega Nona (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671666061/qid=1111034906/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-4102126-9684806) - Strega Nona's the best! I always liked the story, and the slightly funky illustration. I really liked the idea of the spaghetti pot gone wild. I was always a fan of pasta and I thought it would be pretty awesome if I could fill my town up with spaghetti.
- The Teacher from the Black Lagoon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0590419625/qid=1111034961/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-4102126-9684806) - because it's funny. '
- Miss Nelson Is Missing (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0395401461/qid=1111035400/sr=5-2/ref=cm_lm_asin/002-4102126-9684806?v=glance) - it's funny too.
- Love You Forever (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0920668372/qid=1111035070/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-4102126-9684806) - the classic preschool tearjerker.
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0689707495/002-4102126-9684806?%5Fencoding=UTF8) - because it's awesome.
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie - who doesn't love this?
- Trouble Dolls (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0152907904/qid=1111035324/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-4102126-9684806) - this one was just special to me because someone, either my parents or my grandparents, bought me some trouble dolls once.
- We also had some Little Black Sambo book that I liked a lot, but I can't find it on amazon. It was just great, because - dude! The tigers get turned into a stack of pancakes! With a little pat of butter on top and everything! They always looked like really yummy pancakes.

And the special Christmas books:
- The Twelve Days of Christmas - I can't find this on amazon. It was a board book with these great pictures, and the cover had all this glitter on it and parts that glowed in the dark. The pictures in the book might've too, I don't know. There was a pretty lady with cool hair on the cover.
- The Little Match Girl (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399213368/qid=1111034864/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-4102126-9684806) - my grandma gave this to me. We read it every Christmas for years.
- The Polar Express - Chris Van Alsburg RULES. I love all his stuff just for the pictures, and I really liked the story too.
- The Night Before Christmas - again, a Christmas tradition.

I can't remember quite when I read Where the Wild Things Are (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060254920/qid=1111035400/sr=5-3/ref=cm_lm_asin/002-4102126-9684806?v=glance) but I like it a lot.

It amazes me how fond I am of picture books, now that I think about it. I don't think I read them for all that long but some of them are really special to me.

Oh yeah, I was a pretty big fan of the Bernstein Bears, too. I do remember my mom reading those to me, actually. Or at least reading them with her. I liked them because they were funny, too, and I liked the characters.

Oh, OH! Dude, how could I forget the Magic School Bus? Magic School Bus is the best thing ever! I'm talking the originals, here, not the cheesy new Scholastic ones. So much cool stuff to learn, so funny, the great drawings, all the awesome little details (Miss Frizzle's constantly changing outfits that always match the situation, the bus). I LOVE the Magic School Bus.

Sorry for all the comments!

Oh wow how could I forget Love You Forever? Just thinking about it makes me want to cry my eyes out.

At my nephew's baptism, the priest told the story, and I swear, there wasn't a dry eye in all of Bay Ridge.

Is that the one where she rocks him after he's married? I always thought it was a bit creepy.

Oooh I do like several of those quite a lot. In Elementary School we did a play version of Miss Nelson is Missing. I didn't have an interesting part, but it was so much fun anyway. This is also when I learned that when in a play, I will be very nervous until I am actually performing. As soon as the curtain rose, I was calm and prepared.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is cute. It's one of the first few books I've read in Braille. I admit, the ending was very predictable to a twenty something, but I bet it'd have been much cooler had I been a really young. Still a good read.

And I utterly adored Where the Wild Things Are. To the point that when I had to pick a children's book to translate into Spanish my senior year of high school, that's the one I picked. I spent hours upon hours (about 3 hours per page) on the illustrations, because we were donating the books and I wanted the kid or kids who read mine to have something they could really enjoy. I'm quite proud of the copy I made. It was a little hard to part with it.

Apparently I loved Peter Rabbit as a toddler, though I don't remember why. And my parents still have The Owl and the Pussycat memorised from reading it to me so much.

Not exactly sure how old I was when I used to read some of these (some definitely weren't when I was four or under), but they're the books that come to mind when I think of my childhood.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/068983568X/qid=1111037429/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0461771-9557426) - Probably one of my favorite picture books ever. :D Love the rhyming and pictures (actual letters as the characters!).

Donna O'Neeshuck Was Chased by Some Cows (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0064432556/qid=1111037558/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0461771-9557426) - Old favorite about a girl who mysteriously gets a whole town to chase after her. Cute illustrations, too.

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/067084487X/qid=1111037724/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/103-0461771-9557426) - Classic. Total classic. Just about every kid I knew loved this book.

No More Monsters for Me! (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0064441091/qid=1111037826/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0461771-9557426) - Just rediscovered this book on accident at Borders last week. Very cute (but somewhat disturbing) story about a girl who finds a monster and doesn't know what to feed him.

Morris Goes to School (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0064440451/qid=1111037919/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/103-0461771-9557426) and Danny the Dinosaur (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0064440028/qid=1111037951/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0461771-9557426) - Two other books I found again at Borders that I'd all but forgotten. Oh man, good times with these.

Big Pumpkin (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0689801297/qid=1111038030/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0461771-9557426) - Best Halloween picture book ever. Good fun when someone does voices for the characters while reading it.

Arthur series (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=dp_searchBox_1/103-0461771-9557426?url=index%3Dbooks%26dispatch%3Dsearch%26results-process%3Dbin&field-keywords=arthur) - These are so cute, and they sort of remind me of the old Doug Nickelodeon show (everything in life has a corresponding Doug episode), which was another favorite part of childhood. My favorite was always Arthur's Valentine.

Mooncake (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0689835175/qid=1111038356/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0461771-9557426) - Our copy is falling apart because we used to read it so much. So adorable. My favorite Moonbear story.

Perfect Percy (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671652192/qid=1111038552/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-0461771-9557426?v=glance&s=books) - Cute story about a grasshopper named Percy who wants to be perfect but can't stand his weird parents. Awesome illustrations.

How Spider Saved Valentine's Day (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0590425145/qid=1111038629/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-0461771-9557426?v=glance&s=books) - This was just about the only Spider book we owned, but it is so amazingly cute!

We're Taking an Airplane Trip (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0307618692/qid=1111038717/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-0461771-9557426?v=glance&s=books) - Completely random book that I absolutely loved, mostly for the illustrations. Doubt you could find it anywhere now, though Amazon does have a few cheap ones from other sellers.

grammaravenger mentioned other favorites of mine, like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Berenstain Bears (favorite: Too Much Birthday), Polar Express, and Magic Schoolbus.

Also, Clifford. *hug*

The Gillygoofang was always my favorite (remains so to this day), And to a somewhat lesser extent, Where The Wild Things Are, though, for less personal reasons, the latter is far better. Another old fave in our house was Pop Corn and Mah Goodness, but that one always creeped me out a bit.

Oh, and there's Sylvester And The Magic Pebble, from which I routinely borrow the immortal phrase:

"I wish I were a rock."

Now, as for why I love The Gillygoofang, I really couldn't explain that without showing you, and I don't have a scanner. But what's not to love about a fish who swims backward to keep the water out of his eyes?

My favourite book used to be Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle. It's about a boy who wants pancakes for breakfast, so he goes out and milks the cows, and collects the eggs, and grinds the flour, etc, and at the end of the book he gets his pancakes. =)

Reading this reminded me of Where the Wild Things Are, that was a great book too. And I love the Dr Seuss ones.

A lot of my favorites have already been mentioned, but I have a couple to add.

Goodnight Moon - this was my absolute favorite book for a long time. I would insist my mother read it to me every night and I would find the mouse on every page.

The Very Hungry Caterpiller - self explanatory.

Anything by Beatrix Potter

The Paddington Bear series

Any pop up book. I loved pop up books.

I adored Dr. Seuss when I was really small. I think I liked the ryhmes and the really colorful pictures. Oh! And anything that had to do with someplace I'd been -- like "Make Way for Ducklings"
Then I got completely obsessed with fairytales, for a very long time. I still love them.
Now that I'm older, I like a lot of the more clever books, or the ones with really gorgeous illustrations.

I always enjoyed books like Animalia (we had it in my classroom) and others because of the massive, detailed like the ninja (liek whoa < like the wolf < like the ninja, when it comes to intensity) art. *_*.

But I liked Dr.Seuss because the rhymes were so slick and easy to say. Reciting Green Eggs and Ham is a joy for me (and really annoying to the parents.).

The sory is a distant third. meh, who cares abotu the story when I can reread the pictures and say the rhymes?

*massive sound dork.*

*reads posts*
...are the Richard Scarry books hopelessly out of fashion? I liked those. Other than those, I don't think I have read many little kids' books, I sort of skipped that stage and read youth fiction and, to everyone's horror, adult fiction. I especially liked - and still do - political satire by György Moldova. I picked up the first one because it had a comic book sort of cover, and it had comic-like illustrations, too. I thought it was a children's book! I very quickly found out it wasn't - and then proceeded to terrorise my family with political questions about the parts I didn't understand, because what I did understand I loved. My mom almost folded up when I asked her to explain what capitalism was. I wanted to know the reason why those differences were so prevalent. She simply replied, "I can't believe my kindergarten child is asking me to explain capitalism." and left it at that.
I was a freak. Well at least I didn't torture household animals (but only because we had none LOL)
I guess that wasn't a useful reply, was it? I can elaborate on my tastes in youth fiction, if needed.

Oh, I totally forgot about Richard Scarry! I loved those books! And Beatrix Potter! The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140544518/qid=1111098366/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-4102126-9684806) is pretty awesome too. I first read that one in school.

I'm so excited about picture books and I don't know why! I guess I loved all those books a lot more than I realized.