What probably surprises people is that it’s taken me this long to get around to a favorite books post. This one, though, is pretty much dictated by the short man. He has decided preferences in his bedtime reading, so without further ado, Ben’s favorite books (plus, one for Katie).
1. The I Love You Book by Todd Parr. We love this book because it affirms that we love Ben just the way he is, no matter what that way is. We like the gentle rhythm of the statements and Ben loves Parr’s work. He’s been a fan since The Family Book which he can practically recite, but this is the new favorite.
2. I Took The Moon For A Walk by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay. We’ve been reading this one since Ben was a baby. We picked it up from Chinaberry Books (and if you don’t know them, then go here without delay and check them out. I rarely miss when I buy books from them. This one is a sweet, gentle story of a young boy who dreams of making friends with the moon and going for a walk.
3. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney. If you need a link for this one, then you haven’t been reading much children’s literature in the last decade. Some folks object to this one as it does make it seem like the little nut brown hare is always outdone by the big nut brown hare, but you know what, I’m about convinced that kids don’t hear things the way we do. At any rate, it’s a good story about the unconditional love a parent feels for a child.
4. The Amazing Machines: A Truckload of Fun by Tony Mitton. This is a collection of books that each focus on a specific type of machine. Ben is big into rockets, boats, trucks, and racing cars, so these books are right up his alley. He likes the rhymes and the fact that the last page of each book has a bunch of specific items that need to be identified from the vehicle under discussion. These are a great addition to his collection and much loved.
5. The Spot books by Eric Hill. Again, these probably don’t need a URL as they’re fairly well known. He loves these books because a) they feature dogs and b) he can predict based on the pictures what is happening in the story. He has a number of them including the baby sister book which really helped make the transition to being a big brother much easier. He almost always wants to take a Spot book to his room during quiet time and he can be heard “reading” them to his “friends.”
And, as mentioned, one for Katie:
Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman. We read this one to Katie every night before bed. It’s her Time For Bed and Prayer for a Child bundled into one book. She currently adores the illustrations. They are full of so many different things and at almost five months she likes to see all the different animals on the “Words Written on a Wall” page best of all. We like to read it. Granted, we both have a bit of difficulty with the proximate rhyme in one spot (fifteen/been — works if you’re British, not so much if you live in the south), but otherwise these are the kinds of wishes that we want for our daughter and we expect this will be her most favorite book the way that Parr’s books are for Ben. There’s a mix of wonder and reality in the blessings that Gaiman calls down for the blueberry girl and that mix is precisely what I think little girls need more than the prince charmings and the unrealistic views that other “for girls” stories offer.
Edited to add: This was supposed to be finished yesterday, but I was felled by a migraine, so it’s truly review Wednesday on Thursday this week.
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