Our picture book shelves

Fridays are good days to look back and reflect, so I’ve decided that will be the day I write my book reviews.  Since this week I’m mostly reflecting on how I got nowhere in my Newbery project because I was too busy reading the entire Hunger Games trilogy, I decided to answer a question by Jessica over at My Time As Mom about toddler books.

Question:  Which toddler books don’t drive you crazy?

Answer:  None of them.

Explanation:  I cannot think of a single picture book that has ever entered my house that I haven’t wanted to hide after the 20th reading in 2 days.  The problem isn’t with the books but with the toddlers who insist upon reading them until my head wants to explode.

However… there are some that can last until that 20th reading and some that must be hidden immediately.  I did a list of favorite baby books a long time ago when only my mom actually read my blog, so a recap of those is below.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of additions to that list:

William and the Night Train by Mij Kelly
This one is tough to find, which is a shame because it is one of the best going to bed books ever.  “All aboard!  All aboard the night-train that goes to tomorrow.”  William and his mother are on the night train, but though “everyone sleeps on the night train,” William is wide awake.  The illustrations are incredible, so you can always pause your reading to look for some new detail within them.  At first the inconsistent rhyme scheme bugged me, but after repeated readings, I found that this is one of the reasons it’s not as big a crazy-maker as say, Dr. Seuss books can be.

Corduroy by Don Freeman
I was surprised at how early on Sebastian loved this book.  Now I see why it’s a classic.  Corduroy is a bear in a big department store who needs a home.  When he overhears that he’s missing a button, he gets up at night and goes searching for it.  We love how he tries to make sense of everything he sees.  “This must be a palace!” he thinks upon seeing the home department of the store.  And “This must be a friend.  I know I’ve always wanted a friend.”

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
This book is absolutely wonderful.  Harold draws his way into and out of little adventures and finds his way back to his bedroom and “draws up the covers.”  It is fairly short and very simple, but even reading it several times, I still adore it.  There is an animation of this that is equally terrific done by Scholastic.

And now, here is the original Team Rasler Favorite Baby Books List (I’ve gone back through and the starred the least crazy-making among them):

• **The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin
• Peek-a Who? by Nina Laden
• Happy baby/Priddy books series with real pictures (there are lots of good ones)
• **Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton
• Where is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz (tons of good ones by her with this same lift-the-flap idea, but this is our favorite)
• Ten Wriggly, Wiggly Caterpillars by Debbie Tarbett
• Trains by Byron Barton
• **Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss
• **Horns to Toes by Sandry Boynton
• **Another Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone (we have the original, too, but the one with Elmo is SP’s favorite)
• **Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
• More, More, More said the Baby by Vera B. WIlliams
• Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood

Good night books:

• Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
• **Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
• **Fish Kisses by Marianne Richmond

Now that Sebastian is older, he’s actually gone back to a lot of these to “read” them by himself during his quiet time in the afternoon.  This is the best because I don’t have to read them for the six-hundredth time!

Your turn:  what are your favorite toddler books (a.k.a. the ones you can read longer than the others before wanting to chuck them out the window)?