Lately I've been frustrated at the library. I gravitate towards my favorite authors and to character books that I know Chloe will like (i.e. Curious George). I don't want to be so limiting to Chloe in our book tastes but I do want to be cautious. A few times I've picked up a book hastily and taken it home without realizing it contained questionable language (can you believe some children's books actually have bad language?!? c'mon!), a dumb plot, or drawings that weren't appealing.I tend to like old authors and illustrators. One of my faves is Harold and the Purple Crayon. We've read almost all the Don Freeman, Beatrix Potter, H.A. Rey, and Dr. Seuss books from our local library. (Other favorite authors include Sandra Boynton and Karen Katz. I'm sure there are more but it's too late in the evening for my brain to function at full capacity. And even full capacity ain't much these days.)
We've also discovered the fun of wordless books like the Carl series by Alexandra Day or the Polo books by Regis Faller. I especially like wordless books because then I can make up slightly new stories each time to follow the pictures and point out different details. It keeps reading fresher for me. (We dig the Ella books and also the Coco books. Don't you love how little kids attach to characters?)
So now I need your help. What are your favorite books for toddlers? Do you particularly like certain authors or illustrators?
10 comments:
My girls love the Angelina Ballerina books by Holabird. Also the Francis books are cute by Hoban. An old author with creative stories and great illustrations is Bill Peet. Our girls think they are pretty funny. May be a little too old yet for Chloe. The Frog and Toad books are super cute, too. I guess I could go on for a while. I really love kids books!
Oh! I thought of one more. There is a series of books by an author named Holly Hobbie (for real) about two pigs who are best friends--Toot and Puddle. Really cute!
Alicia, my niece & nephew both really like the Critter books. I'm sorry that I don't know the author's name. The pictures are really cute & there is a spider or some other little thing in every illustration that you can hunt for. Also, what about Amelia Bedilia? I loved those when I was a kid & like Holly said, the Frog & Toad stories. Have you ever read any Shel Silverstein? My mom worked as a substitute teacher quite a lot when I was little & she always took a book entitled, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" to school with her to read after lunch. Excellent book & fabulous illustrations. Couldn't tell you who wrote it...I'm not sure if my suggestions are age-appropriate but maybe you can keep them in mind. Have a great weekend!
My all time favorites are the "Happy Ending" series by Jane Carruth, published in the 80's, stories about little animals who go through "situations" in their lives like getting lost, needing glasses, going to a new school, breaking an arm, etc. They might be a little old for Chloe depending on how long she likes to listen.
UNfortunately they are all out of print so I try to pick them up at sales. Some are available online but by the time you pay shipping...
What a great post! I'll be writing down some of these authors for future reference.
We like the Richard Scarry books and The Little Golden Books.
Clifford and Curious George books are always a big hit too.
we LOVE Brown Bear..by Carlisle. They love the Berenstein Bears too.
Anyway, I just read them whatever and think I've done my duty :) and hope they learn something :)
Hey, the nap thing is a must for me! I don't think it matters if they sleep or not, but they have to stay in their rooms looking at books for 1 hr....Most times they fall asleep!
love you.
I haven't kept track of particular authors, but when i get a book from the Library that I REALLY like I add it to a "favorites" list that I have started, so that maybe someday we can search on Amazon and buy some of the ones we really enjoyed. Silas is a huge fan of Harold and the Purple Crayon:)
Have you ever heard of "Honey for a Child's Heart" by Glady Hunt? In it she lists character building/positive books according to age levels.
We seem to have a lot of Eric Carle books, I also like Jan Brett and Leo Leonni. I'm always looking for new books also. We'll have to look for Harold and the Purple Crayon.
I need to branch out more with reading. I haven't taken advantage of the library like I thought I would...good blog topic.
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