dear future kids,
your mom is so ready to read to you. she's got books galore, all for you. books to put on your shelves and books for you to take in the car. books to color in and books to teach you about phonics. books with nice illustrations and books with wise words. books for bedtime and books of nursery rhyme. she really hopes you'll love books as much as she does.
yes, i collect children's books and i have no kids in the home or on the way. let's just call it being prepared. or maybe being obsessed. however you want to say it, i am kid book rich. they are currently lining one of the downstairs closets, and i'm finding i have a good little hoard going. the past few months brought in a nice stack of inventory for the book closet. this page (see photo) is from the little old woman who lived in a shoe, which i picked up from preschool. i nabbed a handful more from the november book sale at the library, scored some for christmas, and grant brought me a couple from the scholastic book order at school. (remember those flimsy order forms?)
yep. the books are stockpiling around here. but don't get me wrong, i don't take just any old story. i like to be picky about whether or not they are worthy. good lessons, familiar characters, classics, and vintage illustrations will usually win me over with a look-through. and as long as they keep coming in at about 25 cents a pop, i don't see any reason to slow my stockpiling. one more thing. have you seen inchmark's library book category? every once in awhile, she'll share some fabulous book from the library shelf. i eat it up. then i put a star on it so i can remember what to look for someday. truly, she always has fantastic picks. it inspires me to keep collecting. if you guys have any big shot books for me to watch for, please do share.
10 comments:
i am doing this same thing. :-)
such a grand idea. i love the vintage books you seem to collect; all charming and cherubic. (surely you'd love eloise wilkins' books.) please keep us posted on your growing collection! am so jealous that you have scholastic forms and bookfairs at your service. enjoy the mounds of pretty pages. it'll be that much more fun when your little one learns the words. you are going to be such a fun mom.
one word of advice, if i may. don't skimp out on the board books. really, truly, they will save your life. not as quaint as real books, but definitely as essential.
One of the best childrens Christmas books of all time (in my oppinion) is called "The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree" . . . Look for it!
"Are You My Mother", "Goodnight Moon", "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" are some of my favs from when I was little, which I now enjoy sharing with my children. :) A new favorite of mine is "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs", the original 70's-illustrated one. :)
My personal favorite is OLIVIA! My niece makes me read it to her over the phone!
oh how i like this post and can relate...i'm overly prepared as well, in the book & clothes department!
i think it's sweet & wonderful!
xo.
k
for my baby shower, all the guests were asked to bring their favorite book for the baby. it was a great way to help build his library and discover new authors and amazing children's books.
I LOVE Eloise Wilkin books- simply charming. Anything illustrated by Tasha Tudor and Richard Scary are also favorites. Oh, and I recently came across a book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Garth Williams--I was delighted- now, that is truly the best of both worlds!! What a fun post, Summer. I want to come browse your library!
Well, I was putting off commenting on this book because I wanted to compile The Authoritative List of All Our Favorite Children's books with authors and illustrators and all. But guess what. It's not going to happen (which is okay because you probably didn't WANT a huge list, right?). Here goes the off-the-top-of-my head version:
Board books:
~On Mother's Lap
~Here, There, Everywhere, Jesus is with me
~Thank you, God, for My Two Hands
~James Balog's Animals A to Z
~Doggies by Sandra Boynton
~The Big Truck Book by Roger Priddy (you can tell I have boys)
~My New Baby by Annie Kubler
~Duck is Dirty
~The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Picture books:
~The Story of Ping
~The Year at Maple Hill Farm
~Where the Wild Things Are (another good boy book)
~Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
~Over in the Meadow (illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats)
~Anything by Eloise Wilkin
~The Curious Little Kitten
~One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (but NOT The Cat in the Hat, imo)
~Ducks Don't Get Wet
~Poems to Read to the Very Young
~I'm Glad I'm Your Mother and I'm Glad I'm your Father
~The Saggy Baggy Elephant
~Let's Grow Vegetable Soup
Other Books:
~The original Winnie the Pooh books by A. A. Milne.
~The All of a Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor
~The Little House Books by Laura Ingles Wilder
~The Alpha Bakery book put out by Gold Medal Flour (I think)
And I could go on, and on, and on, but I'll stop. We love to read around here. I am reading my childhood books to my sons as well as expanding my horizons by looking through yard sales and library sales...It's amazingly fun.
Oh, I forgot "Guess How Much I Love You" in the board book category.