Last night was the first time that I read a whole story to Jamie that wasn’t about trains or farm animals and was, you know, long (except for Go Dog, Go, which has been in reading rotation since he was an infant). We read lots of board books, two-minute trips through Sandra Boynton’s weird world of animals doing silly things, but until yesterday, Jamie has rejected the Dr. Seuss and the P.D. Eastman. Too long to hold his attention? I don’t know. All I know is, we’re back, with stories that I love and could read a million times (have read a million times).
We go to the library every few weeks to stock up on more books. I had a collection from my own childhood of Dr. Seuss and P.D. Eastman and The Berenstain Bears. If you’re looking for great books for your kids and haven’t yet read all of those, head to your local library. They’re timeless and interesting to kids and adults. I have also picked up random books from the shelves and found that Charles loves all the Jonathan London Froggy books, the Babar books by Jean de Brunhoff (these are LONG, and isn’t it amazing to see your child’s interest held by a long book?), and most recently, the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel and the Amelia Bedelia books by Peggy Parish.
Classic books are classic for a reason – they fun, silly, they involve children, and their plots or morals or jokes are always relevant. The new Berenstain Bears? Terrible. But the really old ones, done in verse, or the ones that are an involved story with lessons for both children and parents, are fantastic.
We let Charles read pretty much whatever he wants, and that’s how we ended up owning about 20 Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man books (easy readers bought in six-packs for $9.99 at Costco), but the novelty wears off pretty quickly and he gravitates back to the stories that are less… action, I guess, and more substance.
What are your favorites? We are headed back to the library soon, and I badly want to get something new (to them). What amazing books am I forgetting?
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3 comments:
I would echo your recommendations. My kids also like Clifford, Arthur, and Frank Asch's Moonbear books. I also prefer the older Amelia Bedelias. Oh, and we own a few books by Jan Brett that are good.
The boys really like the Fly Guy books, the two Zoomers books, Barbapapa (not sure if they have an English version for that one), Stella Luna, the little bear books (can't you sleep little bear?) some of the classic golden books (The tawny scrawny lion), the berenstein bears, the Olivia books, the dog who had puppies, good night construction site, we are going on a bear hunt, and a bunch more. Would need to be home to look at the bookshelves for more but that gives you a start
And they also like the froggy books but for se reason, I really, really do not like those.
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