Children’s Book Recommendations

I am so pleased my son likes to ‘read’ and be read to.

We have been lucky, or I guess I should say I have been lucky, in finding books I don’t mind reading over and over until I have memorized them and I can recite them in the car while driving.

My son is now 19 months and for the most part he has enjoyed these books since he was a baby.

Bear’s Day Out by Michael Rosen. Rosen has another book, Going on a Bear Hunt, that my little guy is just getting into but my son still prefers the story of the bear who takes a trip to the city by train.

Duck and Goose by Tad Hills. Auntie L. and family gave my son these two books. One is a book of opposites – clean and dirty, heavy and light, slow and fast – and the other is a book of emotions. He likes both, although I believe the book of opposites is his favourite and my guy laughs hysterically when I shout ‘loud’ and whisper ‘quiet.’

Maisy’s Fire Engine by Lucy Cousins. We have read many of the Maisy books about a white mouse, but this seems to be our favourite. My little guy can point out the little black cat on every page and help make the water go ‘swish.’

The Ears Book. This is part of the Dr. Seuss board book series. My little one claps his hands, snaps his fingers and taps his toes at the right time. After that part of the book is done, he usually closes it up and goes to another book.

Bunny’s Noisy Book by Margaret Wise Brown. This wasn’t a hit until I stopped trying to read the actually story, which is long, and make up my own based on the pictures. It’s absolutely adorable to watch my son as he repeats the actions of bunny – eating, stretching, yawning, sneezing, scratching and tapping his feet. Wise Brown is famous for her Good Night Moon book and my son is just starting to enjoy it.

Priddy books. This publishing company out of New York creates a lot of touch-and-feel books, which have always been a hit. We also have their My Little Word Book. At first I thought I would never read this book but my guy loves it. He loves pointing to all of the pictures so I can tell him what we are looking at. He particularly likes pointing to body parts, attempting to eat the cookies on the food and drink page and looking at the TV and computer. Sigh.

I am putting Sandra Boynton's books in here. While my son seems to enjoy Pajama Time and Barnyard Bath (the bathtub version of Barnyard Dance), it's me who picks out these stories when it's my turn to pick a book. These books make me laugh. Pajama Time and Birthday Monsters make me laugh. Snuggle Puppy and the Belly Button book are some of my friend's favourite, but we don't think they are as goods as some of her others.