Comments on Girl's Gone Child: books for children, advice for adults

Hmm... Gotta be Ferdinand the Bull. Great illustra...

2010-05-13T06:24:26.233-07:00

Hmm... Gotta be Ferdinand the Bull. Great illustrations, even better story.

Eloise books. and "Noisy Nora."

2010-02-03T18:05:28.489-08:00

Eloise books. and "Noisy Nora."

Oh, I love, Love, LOVE children's books! My fa...

2010-01-23T16:22:05.038-08:00

Oh, I love, Love, LOVE children's books! My fav growing up and still today is Shel Silverstein. For real little ones, I love Sandra boynton board books...and Beatrix Potter. My nephews love skippyjon jones, and I have to admit they're pretty fun to read. Fancy Nancy is a cute series, a.a. milne, Audrey and don wood...if you've never read the hiccupotamus by Aaron zenz, it's a must! Hilarious! Oh, and Eric Carle is awesome! The Harold and the purple craton books, and raffi...and I think that's all..lol!

Two beautiful children's books that I loved as...

2010-01-22T13:35:31.050-08:00

Two beautiful children's books that I loved as a child, and love as an adult. My little ones ask for these two again and again: Andrew Henry's Meadow, written and illustrated by Doris Burn - made me cry the first time I picked it up as a adult, I'm not sure why. It's all about appreciating a child's strengths and idiosyncrasies. The other book, Christina Katerina and the Box, written by Patricia Lee Gauch and illustrated by the same Doris Burn as the above book, is just cute, creative, and sweet.

Ok, so here is my story - when I was 16 I watched ...

2010-01-22T08:51:52.735-08:00

Ok, so here is my story - when I was 16 I watched the labrynth for the first time in probably 10 years and as I was watching it I started saying "Holy crap, I know this story. I had a book and it was really disturbing and had scary pictures of ice babies in it." My little sister knew what I was talking about but my older brother and parents thought we were crazy. For years we would press them about how they could possibly let us have such a deranged, scary book. And so we spent years trying to figure it out, we went to every book store, rummaged childrens sections, searched the internet only to find it two christmases ago. And yes, it was every bit as disturbing as I remembered.

I love love love that you asked this question, bec...

2010-01-21T07:59:59.654-08:00

I love love love that you asked this question, because I'm always looking for more children's books and when I have a little more time, I'm going to read through everyone's responses and go out and get a couple.
The books that have stuck with me since I was a kid is "Tikki Tikki Tembo" not to be confused with Rikki Tikki Tavi. Although now that I'm older, I wonder if the book is...proper?
Another one is "Sylvester & the Magic Pebble"
My Boh's favorite book right now is "How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight"
I love Boynton books too! "Night Night Little Pookie"
Man, I could go on and on!

for older kids check out the "keys to the kin...

2010-01-20T23:32:08.561-08:00

for older kids check out the "keys to the kingdom" series. It's available in audio book as well and the reader is great!
For little guys- which I currently have- we love "Peek-a-who", it's one of the only books in our house that does not mysteriously vanish after multiple readings in a day.
One of my favorite childhood books was "the giving tree". It was a fun story when I was small, it meant more when I was a teen and when I read it now, as a new(ish) mom, it's so powerful. I can't wait to share it with my son.

Oh my gosh look at those beautiful kids of yours. ...

2010-01-20T21:00:06.016-08:00

Oh my gosh look at those beautiful kids of yours. All growed up and everything.

I'm starting to read chapter books to my kids and Charlotte's Web is so far a fave. It's a little dark though and the language isn't dumbed down, which is why I think it's great. One of their favorites is also Caps for Sale which I remember loving as a kid. Even Sage "reads" it to herself, always acting out the part with the red caps, right on the top.

For contemporary picture books Mo Willems writes h...

2010-01-20T19:54:25.106-08:00

For contemporary picture books Mo Willems writes hilarious stuff! Stuff that I remember loving as a kid: Richard Scarry books. Loved them. It's interesting to go back and think of your history with reading and how you become a reader- or not a big reader for that matter.

Avocado Baby by John Burnigham is fantastic!!

2010-01-20T17:06:03.594-08:00

Avocado Baby by John Burnigham is fantastic!!

I'm totally a kids book lover (and now that I ...

2010-01-20T15:22:51.364-08:00

I'm totally a kids book lover (and now that I have "nieces of the heart" its not creepy for the 24 year old to be in the kids section score!)

My favorites are Jake Bakes a Cake, Ann M. Martin books (BBC and the 10 kids no pets series), the Amelia Badelia books (which was my best friend's name). As I got older I loved Meg Cabot's books (Princess Diaries and now her adult stuff too). I read Harry Potter in middle school and as they came out after that. My brothers both memorized "Playing Hockey," which was weird for kids in Maryland but whatever. Right now said "nieces" love the FANCY NANCY books... which are girly and ridiculous but its kinda awesome to hear a three year old tell you that your outfit is sublime and that your apartment is 'so posh', or to have the five year old tell you your gift is stupendous or that your accessories are too cool is pretty neat (and yes they use the words correctly without prompting).

(the books also have awesome pictures which is fun)

oh, and it's this particular copy of the the m...

2010-01-20T04:59:30.326-08:00

oh, and it's this particular copy of the the mitten
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Alvin%20Tresselt

The little match girl. Loved that book. I was fa...

2010-01-20T04:52:58.604-08:00

The little match girl. Loved that book. I was fascinated by the illustrations of our particular copy. Sylvester and the magic pebble and the mitten are right up there as well

My absolute fave childhood books that I still love...

2010-01-19T23:34:08.692-08:00

My absolute fave childhood books that I still love today are two books called: “Ivy Cottage” by E.J. Taylor and, “Goose Eggs” also by E.J. Taylor. To this day (THANKS to my MOM) I still have them and I’ll cherish them forever since the books are no longer in print. But if you can find them on EBay; I’d recommend you buy it for Fable to read to her when she gets older. I just love them so! I also have this big yellow hardcover book full of, “Curious George” stories that I’ll also never part with. Other childhood books I loved reading were, “Amelia Bedelia” books and others such as: “A Chair for My Mother” by Vera B. William and “Tar Beach” by Faith Ringgold. When I got older I loved collecting, “The Babysitter’s Club” series and I still have a fondness for them. <3

A childhood Christmas story that I absolutely loved is, “The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story” by Gloria Houston and Barbara Cooney. I think it’s a sweet story with great illustration.

Recent great books I’ve discovered are: “Love You Forever” by Robert N. Munsch and Sheila McGraw (a mother-son book) and “Someday” by Alison McGhee (a mother-daughter book that I read in a Toys R Us with my sister, that made me want to cry).

Happy Reading! ;o)

It is so funny that you bring up outside over ther...

2010-01-19T22:20:10.594-08:00

It is so funny that you bring up outside over there - it literally is the book that I consider to be the scariest children's book ever. It's not just the story, but also, all the children have scary deformed faces - imagine hanging out with weird deformed gnomes in the forest and then taking acid!

as a kid I loved Narnia, Frances, The Bedspread (book about 2 women who document their childood by embroidering a bedspread - sounds awful but is great), Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny, Tootle, The Little Engine that Could, a book of children's poetry called "Imaginary Gardens," a book by peter spier with no words called "Rain" which is just illustrations of people and scenes in the rain (my favorite book for a long time!), babar, A.A Milne poems (Now we are six and when we were very young), all the shoes books (ballet shoes, circus shoes, etc) ALL THE EDWARD EAGER BOOKS (half magic, knights castle, magic by the lake), ALL THE E NESBIT BOOKS (the phoenix and the carpet, enchanted castle, wet magic), the little house books, ramona, little women, anne of green gables, the secret garden, an amazing new kids book called Zoology, ALL OF THE OZ BOOKS (rinkitink in oz, ozma of oz, kabumpo) cynthia and the runaway gazebo, mandy, hiawatha's childhood, the poky little puppy, and the polar express. I could go on forever but if it was a golden book from the 50's, a book where magic happened, or something about english children in the countryside, then i was down...

Can't wait until I have children of my own to read these books to...

Seeing the reference to "If You're Afraid...

2010-01-19T21:56:53.119-08:00

Seeing the reference to "If You're Afraid of the Dark Remember the Night Rainbow" brought tears to my eyes. My grandmother used to read that book to me when I was little, and then when I was a little older but having nightmares, she bought me a beautifully illustrated paperback version to tuck under my pillow. I'm so thrilled that my Oct 08 baby boy is now getting in to "reading" too. He pulls up his little chair, grabs a blanket to wrap himself in, and then grabs a book to "read" himself, or crawls into my lap with a book. Yeah for reading to our little ones and carrying on the love of the book in an age of electronic everything!

So this is completely unrelated to this post, howe...

2010-01-19T20:37:38.166-08:00

So this is completely unrelated to this post, however, I somehow missed the Happy Holidays momversation, and I just caught it, and I just wanted to say that when Fable said bye-bye, it just SLAYED ME!

Old Turtle is amazing. AMAZING. Archer just starte...

2010-01-19T20:22:53.046-08:00

Old Turtle is amazing. AMAZING. Archer just started reading (er, we started reading it to him) and after his first read, turned to Hal and said, "that book was so so beautiful.")

And Anon 7:34? I think it says something about our want to save something... ourselves, most likely. From goblins? Perhaps?

Love Blueberries for Sal and also love Night Kitchen! And Ms Rumphius! Forgot about that book! A classic!

Lots of these I haven't heard of. Will have to check them out! Thanks, all!

I recently had the same experience. Outside Over T...

2010-01-19T19:34:03.933-08:00

I recently had the same experience. Outside Over There was my favorite book as a child and I still have the copy that was given to me on my 2nd birthday. My daughter won't sit through it and says its scary too. What does that say about those of us who grew up in the late 70s/early 80s?

Love this list. I'm with previous posters on ...

2010-01-19T18:33:33.910-08:00

Love this list. I'm with previous posters on the Maurice Sendak, Beverly Cleary, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Robert McCloskey love. Another favorite as a kid and now as a mom is Donald Hall's Oxcart Man: simplicity, beauty, dedication, love. All the good stuff in a short picture book. The magic of the everyday.

My absolute favorite kids book is In The Night Kit...

2010-01-19T17:45:31.574-08:00

My absolute favorite kids book is In The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. "milk in the batter milk in the batter we bake cake like nothing's the matter!"

So so good especially when my son can recite it all becuase we've read it so many times.

I also like Blueberries for Sal & not just b/c my son looks like Sal (who is totally a chick)!

http://www.chefswidow.com/2009/08/12/blueberries-for-sal/

The children's book that has 100% had an absol...

2010-01-19T14:46:24.613-08:00

The children's book that has 100% had an absolute impact on my life is Ms. Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (also known to many as "The lupine lady"). The general gist of the book is that whatever else you do in the world, you should do something to make the world more beautiful. In the book the "whatever else" is to travel the world and make beautiful friendships - acts which are in and of themselves beautiful. My father would ask my then-3-year-old-self what I at that little age could do to make the world more beautiful. We always made different lists, and this book was on a weekly rotation - I LOVED it. The illustrations are beautiful too. I now have a tattoo of the lupines from the book along the side of my torso as a tribute to both my parents and their energy and love raising my siblings and I (three kids, 3 flowers) but also as a statement of my continued commitment to making the world more beautiful through grand and everyday actions. Give it a look, its just an all around beautiful, beautiful book.

"Jamberry" is one of my favorites. &quo...

2010-01-19T13:57:14.134-08:00

"Jamberry" is one of my favorites. "The Talking Eggs" is also a great story- retold by Jerry Pinckney. It has wonderful illustrations to boot.

My #1 favorite children's book is probaby &quo...

2010-01-19T13:53:21.380-08:00

My #1 favorite children's book is probaby "The Maggie B."- my mom gave it to my siblings and me when we were little with the inscription "To my three children- to add a sparkle of fantasy to your lives." I love even smelling the binding of that book- brings back memories. I also love "The Ox-Cart Man"- great for lovers of the simple life. And a huge fan of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary- I would consider naming my daughter Ramona because I love that character so much.

Oh this is a GREAT list! I feel like dropping ever...

2010-01-19T13:35:29.839-08:00

Oh this is a GREAT list! I feel like dropping everything and going to the book store to grab a bunch of these suggestions.

Some of my favourites that I have foisted on my kids and they love:
- Silly Sally
- Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain (awesome vintage adventure with some small fear factor that isn't overwhelming and gives kids a real sense of being daring)
- any Shel Silverstein (although why that man had to put those scary pictures of himself on the back of some of the books is beyond me... I kinda think it's cool, but my kids are totally creeped out by him)
- In the Night Kitchen (I have no idea why we all love this book so much... It's so trippy)
- Winnie the Pooh stories