My Bookworm

So often in one of my online communities, mamas will ask what books toddler and parents really want to read. I'm going to start a running list, to be updated as we go. For now, here are 10 books that we enjoy on a regular basis:

1) Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?: Thank you, Auntie Shawna for this one! This was the first Dr. Seuss book that Kieran really loved. It also inadvertently fast forwarded the letter recognition process: one day we realized Kieran recognized most of the sound words from the book (moo, buzz, pop, etc.) when he pointed them out on the inside front/back covers. Who knew?! It definitely helped him become fascinated with letters.

2) If You Give a Mouse a Cookie: I was really excited Kieran liked this one. I used to read this book my preschool class, so I wasn't sure if he'd be ready for it - he is! It's a fun book of silly "consequences."

3) Doctor Dan the Bandage Man: My mom surprised me last year with a copy of several classic Golden Books that I had loved as a child - this was number one on the list. Tom makes fun of me because I often have to change wording in books to align with my parenting/life philosophies (bottles become mama's milk, firemen become firefighters, etc.), this is one of them. (Ok, for those who will ask - when Dan hurts his finger, he cries and runs to his mama. His mama says "Dan, that is nothing to cry about!" I change it to "Dan's mama gave him a kiss and said, 'here let me help make you feel better!'" Per my Toddler Commandments post (#2), I hesitate to minimize Dan's feelings by telling him he's crying over nothing. Let the making-fun-of commence!)

4) Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball: not only is this a really cute story, but it's got wonderful illustrations. It's one of several that we've checked out from the library for months at a time, and we need to just buy our own copy. The star of the book is a spunky little wombat - Kieran likes to mimic the wombat's actions, and he loves to point out the detail of the other Australian (I assume) animals.

5) Biscuit books: these are actually easy reader books - they are meant for kids who are just learning to read. Kieran just likes the dog and the simple stories; he can "tell" most of the stories from memory. The one we have next to the bed that gets read daily is Biscuit Takes A Walk. Any book with a family member in it is a favorite in our house - Biscuit Takes A Walk is about a grandpa. Kieran alternately tells me that it is either about "Grandpa Hat" (my dad who always wears a hat) or "Grandpa Motorcycle" (Tom's dad who owns a motorcycle). The other family member favorite book is called "My Grandma and I." We also read that one at nap/bed times.

6) Llama Llama, Red Pajama: since I'm on the subject, his favorite "mama" book is this one by Anna Dewdney. It's got great verse, and it's another one that Kieran likes to act out while we are reading it (particularly the part that says "Baby Llama stomps and pouts, Baby Llama jumps and shouts"). It's also on the list of "books we've kept too long from the library and just need to cough up the money for."

7) Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and Hop on Pop: three Seuss favorites that Kieran could have read over and over. These bad boys are LONG, so I try to limit them to one or two readings a day. On a side note, Kieran is a sensitive boy - there are several books that I either have to skip pages or take time to soothe him when we get to a problem page, because he tends to get overly emotional. Hop on Pop has a page where a boy bites a tiger's tail - he doesn't like that at all. My Grandma and I (mentioned in #5) has a page where a boy falls off his bike and cries - Kieran "fake cries" every single time we get there, and I have to stop and say something about how the grandma gives him hugs and kisses. Ah, toddlers.

8) Caps for Sale: this is another one that I loved as a child and I purchased it for half-selfish reasons. Tom teases me relentlessly for it, but he also does really funny voices for the peddler when he reads it.

9) Boynton and Carle: I couldn't pick just one book by either of these authors. Boynton's verse is awesome - we particularly like Barnyard Dance and The Belly Button Book. She's a really fun read. Carle has trippy pictures, but Kieran loves his books, especially The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?

10) Goodnight Moon: ah, Goodnight Moon. My mom and I started to calculate the number of times I've read this book in the last year or so. It's the last book we read as Kieran is nursing to sleep at nap and bed times, and I usually read it 3 times each time before he's out. He's just now transitioning to one nap/day, and I started reading this book when he was not yet a year old. So let's do a conservative estimate - 9 times/day since he was 12 months old . . . I've read this book almost 2500 times in the last 9 months. Just so you know, Kieran *just* ripped the back binding off last week, so we're in need of our second copy. That's pretty good for a book read that many times! It is a nice way to drop off to sleep though (I've fallen asleep reading it many times!) - she put lots of "shhhhhhh" sounds in, so you can shush your little one to sleep within the verse.

And now it is time for me to go read a little Goodnight Moon to myself. Goodnight, noises everywhere!

~d