Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Tell me a story...

During the summer C and I pretty much live at the Library. (J gets his own squishy book to chew on while we browse) We love the Library. Except for THIS trip to the Library you may recall. Anyway, we are pretty much obsessed with books. If you have ever seen C in action, you know he is in constant movement. Even in his sleep, he moves like the hands on a clock in his bed. But you crack open a book, two books, three books and the child is as still as a stone. He will literally sit for hours while you read. It doesn't matter the storyline. You could read him a how-to on land irrigation and as long as there are pictures....
When we go to the library we check out 8 books. I don't know why. It is my favorite number, but that's really not why. Seven is too few and 9 seems a little excessive. Within this "Magic 8" C picks 4 and I pick 4. Mainly because there is a lot of rubbish out there. I mean some real stinkers. I don't want to hurt his feelings when he chooses "Trains vs. Sharks" so I smile, look excited and tell him "That looks like a good one!" Then I choke through ridiculous plot lines and sad illustrations. All for the love of literature, the whole time thinking "Why can't I write a children's book???" So, four and four. I've compiled a summer reading list* for us and I NEED YOUR HELP. I feel like I am at a bit of a loss remembering some great books we read as children or you've read to your kids.  Here is a preliminary list. PLEASE comment me and add your favorites!
*Some titles are omitted because we own them and have read them OVER and OVER again!

The List
Barrett, Judi. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. New York : Aladdin Books, 1982, c1978.
Base, Graeme. Animalia. New York : H.N. Abrams, 1993, c1986.
Base, Graeme. The eleventh hour : a curious mystery. New York : Harry N. Abrams, 1993, c1989.
Bridwell, Norman. Clifford, the big red dog. New York : Scholastic, 2002, c1963.
Cannon, Janell, 1957-. Stellaluna. San Diego : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, c1993.
Cronin, Doreen. Click, clack, moo : cows that type. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2000.
Day, Alexandra. Good dog, Carl. New York : Aladdin Paperbacks, 1997.
DePaola, Tomie, 1934-. Strega Nona : an old tale. New York : Simon & Schuster, [1988], c1975.
Degen, Bruce. Jamberry. New York, NY : HarperCollins, c1983.
Jenkins, Steve, 1952-. What do you do with a tail like this?. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
Johnson, Crockett, 1906-1975. Harold and the purple crayon. [New York] : HarperCollins, c1983.
Kellogg, Steven. A rose for Pinkerton. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, c1981.
Leaf, Munro, 1905-1976. The story of Ferdinand. New York : Puffin Books, 1977, c1964.
Lewis, Kevin. My truck is stuck. New York : Hyperion Books for Children, 2002.
Long, Melinda. How I became a pirate. San Diego : Harcourt, 2003.
Muth, Jon J. Stone soup. New York : Scholastic Press, c2003.
Numeroff, Laura Joffe. If you give a mouse a cookie. New York : Harper & Row, c1985.
Penn, Audrey, 1947-. The Kissing hand. Terre Haute, IN : Tanglewood Press, 2006.
Portis, Antoinette. Not a box. New York, NY : HarperCollins, c2006.
Rinker, Sherri Duskey. Goodnight, goodnight, construction site. San Francisco : Chronicle Books, c2011.
Rosen, Michael, 1946-. We're going on a bear hunt. New York : Little Simon, 1997, c1989.
Shaw, Nancy (Nancy E.). Sheep in a jeep. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
Silverstein, Shel. The giving tree. New York : HarperCollins, [2004], c1992.
Sobel, June. B is for bulldozer : a construction ABC. San Diego : Harcourt, 2003.
Stead, Philip Christian. A sick day for Amos McGee. New York : Roaring Brook, 2010.
Taback, Simms. Joseph had a little overcoat. New York : Viking, 1999.
Trivizas, Eugenios. The three little wolves and the big bad pig. New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1993.
Tullet, Hervé. Press here. San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 2011.
Van Allsburg, Chris. Jumanji. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 1981.
Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. New York : Aladdin Books, 1987, c1972.
Waber, Bernard. Lyle, Lyle, crocodile. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993, c1965.



Wick, Walter, 1953-. I spy treasure hunt : a book of picture riddles. New York : Scholastic, 1999.
Wiesner, David. Flotsam. New York : Clarion Books, c2006.
Willems, Mo. Don't let the pigeon drive the bus. New York : Hyperion Books for Children, c2003.

10 comments:

  1. 8 is my favorite and my best also!

    Here are a few of my favorites...

    Mo Willems writes a bunch of other awesome pigeon stories. Pigeon finds a hot dog, Pigeon wants a puppy, Don't let the pigeon stay up late.
    He also has a series of Elephant and Piggy books. I met Mo awhile ago and he said that the Elephant and Piggy books were written to be acted out. I use to do that in my kindergarten class...pretty hilarious.

    Melanie Watt, writes a series of Scaredy Squirrel books. A tale of a squirrel with silly irrational fears. A little over the head of youngster, but still fun.

    Doreen Cronin, Diary of a Fly, Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider. Basically, gives you a view of life as those creatures.

    Mouse Paint -teacher colors and mixing colors

    Oliver also really likes non fiction books. We pick up books about diggers, trains, airplanes, Russia, stringed instruments, etc.

    Hope something there is helpful.

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    1. Wow Trisha! This is a very thorough response! You rock. Adding all of these to the list since I haven't heard of any of these. :) Can't wait to explore!

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  2. Take a look at picture books by these authors: Jon Scieszka (Truckery Rhymes) , Audrey Woods (Napping House), Eric Litwin (Pete the Cat) , Eric Carle, Leo Lionni (Inch by Inch), Bill Martin (Brown Bear, Brown Bear)

    (I am an elementary school librarian and can probably list authors/books all night, so I will leave you with those. But let me know if you need more ideas.:) )

    Oh and you could always ask the librarian for help finding award winning books, if you are trying to gear him towards classics.

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    1. Thank you for your hints Kelley! These are GREAT suggestions. Many will be added to the list. We are on our way to the Library today as a matter of fact. Before Charlie came home I got a "lot" of books on Ebay all written by Eric Carle, like 20 books in all. We LOVE them.

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  3. Here are some of my favorites:

    The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen

    The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

    Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

    Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.

    Corduroy by Don Freeman

    Also, any of the classics by Dr. Seuss!

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    1. Todd! Great suggestions! I am adding the Pout-Pout fish- haven't heard of that one. We own the rest, and I think I can recite them from memory- those are great books.

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  4. We love The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

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    1. Love that one! I read it as a child, but Charlie hasn't experienced that one yet. Good suggestion.

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  5. I second the recommendation of Diary of Worm, Diary of a Spider, Diary of a Fly. My boys actually picked these up again this week at the library.

    My personal favorite (and Ethan's)

    Kitten's First Full Moon, Kevin Henkes

    Other good ones:

    Love You Forever, Robert Munsch
    Guess How Much I love You, Sam McBratney
    Pocket Full of Kisses, Audry Penn
    Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judy Viorst
    The Empty Pot, Demi
    The Story of Ferinand, Munro Leaf
    Town Mouse, Country Mouse
    Frederick, Leo Lionni

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  6. (okay I had some repeats but I am sure you can forgive me!)

    Anotehr I wanted to add by Leo Lionni is Alexander and The Wind Up Mouse

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