favorite children's stories

 
I love going to the library with Vivi. I love the smell of the books, the quiet mixed with the sound of the crinkly cellophane covers, the impatient anticipation of having a new stack to flip through, and the fact that Vivi already displays the same love of reading. Y'all, we have a shared love! Oh, and now I'm getting all verklempt. Anywho.


Inspired by Design Mom's fantastic list of stories, I thought I'd begin compiling some of our favorites we've checked out. While I have written a few reviews before (see here and here), I could never come close to matching the sheer number of Design Mom's reviews. But I can do my part, right?


I have found some great books that I'd love both to share and have written down in list form somewhere so I can go back and check out our favs again. The blog has become my go-to place to collect pieces of information I don't want to forget. Since I know hope it will grow tremendously over the years, I have decided to give The List its proper due in the "top bar of things in my life." You know, the about me, 31 things, and other goodies? See it in the top right corner? Alright, for those of you visually impaired Interwebs users, here's a link that'll get 'r done.


My usual strategy in picking children's library books is to take four books from on display over the top of the shelves. My reasoning in doing so is two-fold:

1) I take four books so I never forget how many I have checked out and because this is the number Vivi can carry downstairs with her in the morning, which she insists on doing every single day so she can "read" under a blankie on the couch while I dress Charlotte; and

 2) I grab the ones from the top because the librarians simply stick the most recently returned books up there, and I assume the other moms are checking out the best ones.

So far, so good. Here's our current list of all-time (a whole two years), desert-island top choices: [Note: we love some of these books so much that we own them, but part of the excitement of a story is that we can call it our own for such a short time]

Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman

The Woods by Paul Hoppe

Bad Kitty and Who is Melvin Bubble? by Nick Bruel

Thumb Love by Elise Primavera

Pirate Girl and The Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke (awesome name, by the way)

Bubble Bath Pirates by Jarrett Krosoczka

Bedtime Bunnies by Wendy Watson

The Day Ray Got Away by Angela Johnson

Fancy Nancy series by Jane O'Connor (esp. Bonjour Butterfly and Fabulous Fashion Boutique)

Pinkalicious series by Victoria Kann

Eloise series by Kay Thompson

Olivia by Ian Falconer

Pete's a Pizza by William Steig

Anything by Maurice Sendak (esp. Where the Wild Things Are and Pierre)

Every Cowgirl Needs a Horse and ...Dancing Boots by Rebecca Janni

Richard Scarry's books

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.

Philadelphia Chickens by Sandra Boynton (and her board books too)