Books I'm saving for my grandchildren
November 12, 2010Children's books floor me. The well-written ones, that is. Boy, are there some crap kid's books out there. But the good ones--they're like magic. They seem so simple and effortless, and yet they're such a pleasure to read out loud. Damn it, I wish I could do that.
I love some of Henry's books more than he does. And even now that he's (maybe) outgrown these, I will be keeping them. Forever and ever.
Hondo and Fabian
;)
Hondo is the dog. Fabian is the cat. Hondo goes to the beach. Fabian stays home.
I not only want Hondo and Fabian to be my dog and my cat, I want to live in this world. Look how peaceful it is! Nothing bad ever happens in Hondo and Fabian's home. You can tell. There is always tidiness and order and turkey sandwiches.
I bought Hondo and Fabian when I was pregnant with Henry. One look at the pictures, and I was hooked. We read it together pretty much from the time he was born, and even though it's way too babyish for him now, he'll still deign to let me read it to him, if only to humor me. He is a patient and understanding boy. While I'm reading it I try not to cry into his hair.
Cars and Trucks and Things that Go
;)
All the Richard Scarry books are so charming and magical and witty, but I especially love this book. It's like ten books in one. Henry has loved it since he could sit up, and he'll still spend an afternoon flipping through it, when he thinks I'm not looking. It's incredibly weird, like all excellent children's books are.
;)
Ferdinand is a gentle bull. He doesn't want to fight in the bullring, like all the other young bulls do. All he wants is "to sit just quietly and smell the flowers."
I love that "just." The first thing I was told in my first writing class was to remove the word "just" from all of my stories, but that is one hell of a perfect "just."
And check out this line [the italics are my own]: "His mother saw that he was not lonesome, and because she was an understanding mother, even though she was a cow, she let him just sit there and be happy."
Even though she was a cow. Come ON.
Also, is she not the best mom ever? I wish I could be as sanguine about my kid when he refuses any and all opportunities to get some fresh air. She leaves him alone, and Ferdinand ends up being happy and content with himself! Some of the best children's books are also excellent parenting guides.
Toot and Puddle
;)
There are a bunch of Toot and Puddle books, but I'm partial to the first, which was gifted to Henry by my friend Lexie. (I've also heard that there's a Toot and Puddle cartoon, but I have never seen it and hope to never have to. Don't ruin the Toot and Puddle who live in my head! Yes, they live in my head! Don't judge me!)
The watercolor illustrations are stunning. And I never stopped snickering at the name "Woodcock Pocket," because I am a child. Also, what is this relationship between Toot and Puddle? They've got some kind of Boston marriage going on, here. And yes, I realize that's a term reserved for two women, but you tell me what you'd call this Bert-and-Ernie living situation going on between two pigs. You tell me!
So! I'm sure you have some favorites, too. And now you're going to share them with me and the rest of us. Yes, you are. Go on.
Reader Comments (112)
I bought "Toot & Puddle" when I was pregnant and loved it so much, I framed pages from it and some of the others for my son's nursery. I made the mistake of clicking on the preview of the cartoon on Amazon and am still upset at how AWFUL it was. I guess in my mind Toot and Puddle have adult voices, and the cartoon had little kid voices. Ugh. (though I agree with on their odd relationship. Sometimes they wear pants, sometimes not. Odd)
I loved Hondo and Fabian so much I tried to figure out a way to paint the figures on the nursery walls. Then I realized I can't paint stick people, much less beautiful, sweet-faced cats and dogs, and instead bought four copies of the book. Obsessive much? Not me.
You Are My I Love You. I got this as a shower gift before my first daughter was born and have read it many many times to all of my children. The best bedtime book we have. Gorgeous illustrations, lovely rhyme, the perfect book to quietly illustrate the unique and special parent child relationship. Some pages are torn but I will continue to repair it and keep this one forever!
I love "Good Dog, Carl" by Alexandra Day. It doesn't have any words and was always one of my favorites as a kid. The dog is left to take care of the baby and they get into a ton of trouble together. You can narrate however you'd like because it's just pictures :-). I also love all the "pigeon" books, especially "the pigeon finds a hot dog." And "Duck for president" has always made me chuckle.
My current favorite is The Lonely Moose. You can never have too many friends.
I also like A Mama for Owen, even though it's so poignantly sad, even with it's happy ending.
There are also the Boynton books, pretty much every single one, because they are so quirky and cute.
Oh, yes, Knuffle Bunny! It even takes place in Brooklyn. It's kind of a weeper, but in a good way.
Also:
Where the Wild Things Are
More More More Said the Baby
Tacky the Penguin
Frog and Toad
Elephant and Piggie
and so many more. So many more, in fact, that I had to become a children's librarian so I could keep reading them forever.
Thanks for the suggestions. I have a lot more books to add to our to-read list now!
A few of my favorites that no one has mentioned yet:
The "George and Martha" books by James Marshall.
"Mouse Tales" by Arnold Lobel.
"The Shrinking of Treehorn" and "The Problem with Pulcifer," both by Florence Parry Heide.
"Chicken Soup with Rice" by Maurice Sendak.
"Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown (though I see on Amazon that this book has been re-issued with new illustrations - criminal! The original Tomi Ungerer illustrations are a key element of the story.)
My favourite one that I read to all my neices and nephews is "A Very Special House." This book is just SO MUCH FUN to read outloud. Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak. How can you go wrong with that combination?
Children's books! Don't get me started. I just have to weigh in here. There's a whole room full of them at my mom's house and one night while I was pregnant with our daughter my husband and I were staying there and stayed up much of the night reading Bambi (the *real, original* Bambi) together. You're never too old, is what I'm sayin'.
Picture books -- my childhood favorite (which we read all the time) is the previously-mentiong and totally brilliant Millions of Cats.... my husband's is The Cat at Night. I'm not sure why such a feline theme, but these are favorites forever.
But now that Henry is older, he can read The Hobbit! Lloyd Alexander! Mrs. Pigglewiggle! and so many more books that you can steal from him and stay up at night reading after he goes to bed. My dad used to read chapter books out loud to us which meant we could read things that maybe were a little too advanced for us to read on our own -- I think A Wrinkle in Time came at about 9.... The Phantom Tollbooth in 4th grade.... so many fond memories.
Arnie the Doughnut!!:)
Well, at the risk of being exceedingly cliched, I will admit I absolutely love, love, love anything by Dr. Seuss! Anything. But particularly The Lorax. An incredible cautionary tale about the importance of being responsible caretakers of this beautiful world we live in. And it was written long before the environmental movement was even a glimmer in anyone's eye. Often times, when reading it, I get choked up. Yes, it is possible I'm a little too emotional at times. But these are all the books I will be saving for my grandchildren.
And, although I don't know which book it's from, I have a quote of his that is my life motto. Matter of fact, I love it so much, I put it on my FB info page:
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”
How simple and brilliant is that?
The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boyton is very lovely to read aloud.
A fun one to read aloud that my daughter loves is We're Going on a Bear Hunt (I can't call up the author right now).
Ferdinand is amazing- I didn't realize the history behind it.
Frederick by Leo Lionni. “I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days" is one of my favorite lines ever.
Books from my own childhood that have stuck with me: "Drummer Hoff" by Barbara Emberley, "Where the Wild Things Are" and "In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst, "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats, "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown, and "Bread and Jam for Frances" by Russell and Lillian Hoban.
Books that my almost-12-year-old loved: "Animalia" and "The Watering Hole" by Graeme Base, "Penguin Dreams" by V.L. Walsh, "Good Night Gorilla" by Peggy Rathmann, "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" by Dr. Seuss, and all the Sandra Boynton books.
Also, in third grade I was in a bilingual Spanish class, and we put on a Spanish/English play based on the Ferdinand the Bull story. I still remember the song from the part where Ferdinand got to leave the bullfighting ring and go back to the pasture. Adios matadores, hola las flores, adios amigos, hasta la vista!
We love the Hairy Maclary books by Lynley Dodd. Lovely rhyming books full of great characters (Bitzer Maloney all skinny and bony, Schnitzel von Krumm with a very low tum....) Totally recommend.
My grandmother gave my 6-year-old a book for Christmas a few years ago called "Russell the Sheep". We still read it frequently. The story is adorable, but the pictures are what do it for my kids. A sheep standing behind a skinny tree has no rear end. A sheep who is half naked (in boxers) because another sheep is using his wool to knit. A sheep brushing his teeth. Priceless.
One I forgot. " And Tango Makes Three."
Ah, I love children's books! Not only are there the ones that I remember from my own childhood but there is a list of new favorites in our house. Here are some more current favorites we've discovered since our son was born:
"Library Lion" by Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes - beautiful illustrations and wonderful story
"SkippyJon Jones" by Judy Schachner - love that crazy cat who thinks he's a chihuahua!
"Time for Bed" by Mem Fox is a great addition to our bedtime ritual (my 2 yr old has it memorized now)
"Kitten's First Full Moon" by Kevin Henkes
We just introduced "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein - my son thinks it is hilarious! The Mrs. Pigglewiggle stories for when they are a little older.
I could go on and on and on...
Anything and everything by Mo Willems, especially "Leanordo the Terrible Monster." I found a great book called "Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors" which has poems, illustrations, and then paragraphs of sciencey-stuff. My 2.5 year old prefers the poems, and I like the sciencey-stuff. "The Paper Bag Princess" for my budding little feminist, and my all-time favorite: "Where the Wild Things Are." My proudest reading related to my daughter is how much she loves poetry. While potty training, I kept a book of Campbell McGrath poems by the toilet and read to her from that book. Now we are reading Elizabeth Bishop.
My VERY favorites EVER are "Mr Pine's Purple House" and "Pickle's the Fire Cat".
Yes to all of the above.
Three more that I don't believe were mentioned yet:
1) The classic Harry series by Gene Zion (remember Harry the dirty dog?)
2) The lesser known Ducks In Muck by Lori Haskins, which is a first-book for toddlers. It's only thirty words long (many of which are repeated), but she manages to build a suspense-filled plot, with a stunning twist at the end. This book deserves a Caledcott Medal.
3) Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann. Another baby/toddler book. In this case, it's the pictures that tell the story almost entirely. There's only about five words total in the book. Five words is all you need: all three of our kids still weep with laughter whenever we "read" it.
Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are was already mentioned, but I'll mention it again. This is the book that I can't read without wanting to weep, simply because my son Jamie (age 4)loves it so much. When he pretends to read books aloud to himself, he ends every one of his stories with: "And it was still hot." (A reference to Sendak's brilliant final line in the book)
Great post.
Kristina Katrina and the Box. I read it over and over and over.
In my opinion, the two greatest children's books OF ALL TIME are Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson and Hey Willy, See The Pyramids by Maira Kalman. Owl Babies is sweet, charming, and endearing in a classic children's book way. The story of three baby owls who wake in the night and don't know where their mother has gone. And Hey Willy, See The Pyramids? It is the ULTIMATE in weird. No children's book I've ever read is anywhere near as delightfully bizarre as this series of bed time stories told by a big sister to her little brother in the dark. It really captures the rambling certainty of a kid telling stories she made up. It is a young girl's imagination run wild in the most beautiful way.
Okay, first I have to say that I find both Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and I'll Love You Forever extremely creepy. I'm sorry. But dissent is the purest form of patriotism. Or whatever.
Anyway, books we do like: "I Love You Stinky Face" is a big hit with my kids, and we love, love, love "LaMont the Lonely Monster" that used to belong to my husband when he was a baby, I don't even know if they make it anymore, but we love it. Also, we're done with childbearing (two is nearly more than enough, most days), but if I ever design a nursery, I'm going to frame pictures from this lovely story on the wall (and the story is really, well, lovely, and on the bad days, we still read it to even my oldest, a 9yo: "A Good Day" by I think Kevin Henkes.
Miss Spider's Tea Party is far and away one of my all time favorites, and beloved by both my children and their parents. Gorgeous and sweet.
Finally, I wouldn't say it's high children's literature or anything, but I second everyone's comments on the Boynton books, particularly "BarnYard Dance." I can still recite that from memory. "Bow to the horse, bow to cow, bow to the pig if you know how." Wait, what? You don't want it all here? Well alrighty then.