There is a revolving door of Children's Books that shows up along the reading chair in my daughter's room. Some books come to visit and stay for a very long time while others come for short visits. But each time when the books return to the library, we talk about how we are returning the books, so others can love them as much as we did. She understand this and is delighted to 'share' them with others.

So while I gave a rundown of the books I've been reading, I thought it worthy to share the books that all of us are reading together. She reads them. She recites them. She takes them into her heart and curls up around them like a cat near a warm fire. And isn't this what a good book should do? Should make us feel happy and content,a nd enlighten our lives somehow? Even at this age, she gets this. Some of these books the library has. Some I don't know if they do or not.

                                                        An Egg is Quiet

   Beautiful, rhythmic, with incredibly elegant and detailed illustrations worthy of a nature guide. it will lead you to walk slower, and to enjoy the beauties and simplicities that surround us in our world.  There is magnificence, even in a simple egg. 

                                                     The Sea Serpent and Me
One of our favorites, about a sea serpent that drops into the tub before bath time, and the little girl that takes care of him, until it is time to take him back to the sea. The story reads like prose poetry, and the illustrations are layered and dream like, with a slight vintage feel to them.  This was one of the first books we bought for our daughter, not only because she loved it, but because we wanted to stem any library preschool smack downs.  It was the first book that if she saw it, it had to come home.  It also lead us to another of the author's books Firefighters in the Dark that is equally dreamlike and poetic.

Big Red Lollipop - very beautiful illustrations full of paisley and detail couple together with this story of sisterhood.
 Olivia and the Missing Toy - if this little girl reading Olivia isn't enough of an advertisement, I don't know what's wrong with you :)   really how much more fun could Olivia be?  A pig with pizzazz, Olivia is someone little girls can look up to. 




Blueberry Girl - I reviewed this book as soon as I saw it in the library. All can say is that I absolutely adore this book. It is a prayer for every girl, of every age. It was and is my prayer for my daughter, and for myself. I find it comforting my heart and soul as much as it does hers I imagine.  

because Duck is beautiful...a story about dreams, and family, love...charming, and sweet.  because it is Duck.

My Heart is Like a Zoo - fun with shapes and scissors, rhymes and silliness.. That is My Heart is Like a Zoo :)




I Don't Want to Live on the Moon. - this was the first book that my daughter picked out. She was just a little one, but we found it at H.A.N.D.S. and brought it home. She fell in love with it. I began singing it, as it was based on a Sesame Street song, and it has since become one of those family classics that is passed down, and passed down. Months later, after we stopped reading it, and stopped singing it, I heard her singing it to herself. It's just one of the most gentle and sweet songs. Sesame Street (before it became Elmo's Street that everyone just happens to live on) had some really sophisticated yet charming music for kids. (Anyone else remember the Pinball animation for the number 12? sung by the Pointer Sisters no less...)


On top of these, we've made our way through the first Three Harry Potters, the first three Narnias, the Hobbit, and the Faerie Queene. Why do I say this? Why should you care? You don't have to, and I'm not asking you to. But what I see each time we read together, is her eyes and ears open up, her ideas get bigger and change, and stretch out until they fill the room and beyond. Do I think she understood the Faerie Queene? Probably not. If I hadn't had a devoted professor in college to guide us through it, I wouldn't understand or care about it either.

But the point is, that reading really is fundamental. (Man, that sounds like a planted slogan.) It really is going to be one of the best tools you can give to your child. And don't be scared to go above your child's head. If it sounds beautiful, if the words are said with patience, if you enjoy it, then so will they (though I don't think we should be reading bodice rippers and erotica to children, just because you enjoy it.. and maybe hold off on the Carrie and Cujo at least until, well, middle school...) The more you read together, the more they'll love it, and the more you will love it. For stories, beauty and bonding all at the same time.

Or let me try it this way.  You know how you say whats wrong with kids today? They have no imagination. They just play on their cell phones, or the Nintendo DS all day...  Or they don't talk. They can't spell/  They have a limited vocabulary, they type in IM speak.   Or whatever.  Or they can't problem solve.  The greatest stuff from our world is being lost... (I had a teacher friend of mind who told me she had to teach her HIGH SCHOOL students what the real Little Red Riding Hood story was because they only knew the movie with Amanda Seyfried.... It doesn't follow the original. Suffice it to say it's about werewolves, and forbidden love, and really, very pretty  people.  Nowhere near the original.)   Give them a book.  Or give them several.  Let them see the wold beyond them, beyond Facebook (which I do love by the way...)  See what happens.

And if you're going to read to your child, and you don't want to gouge your eyes out over the six millionth time you've read a Barney Book, or Elmo, it might as well be something that you enjoy, that has beauty, that has depth and beauty to it.  Good books have those things.  It's never too early, and it's never too late to read.  For yourself, for your child.  Forever.

These are just a few of my favorites.  I hope they become some of yours.