There was a recent discussion of this on TeachYourBabyToRead. My own contribution was here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TeachYourBabyToRead/message/7630For those not subscribed, here's the text.
For those who have the strange idea of using *books* to teach their children
to read (just kidding!), here's my list of my boy's favorites, and two other
lists of interest. He's been exposed to hundreds of kids books, and while
he's pretty easy to please, he does have his favorites. He's read all of
these multiple times...some of them, well over a dozen times. Kid-tested,
papa-approved.
...
---------------------------
*Another Proud Papa's list of classic picture storybooks*
This is my list of "classic" picture books. This includes only
storybooks—no nonfiction. I have omitted books that my little boy likes,
but which I don't think are actually "classics" or especially popular. As
to their age level or difficulty, they are two steps more advanced than
infant/baby cloth books, one step more advanced than board books and very
simple books like the (great-for-one-year-olds) *Biscuit* series and *Freight
Train.* They typically have a clear plot, and vocabulary that is usually
well above *Dick and Jane.* But (with one exception) they are not "chapter
books," they are picture books.
*Top 10 (for our boy, between ages 1¾ to 2¾) in alphabetical order*
1. Bemelmans. *Mad about Madeline: The Complete Tales.* – It began with *
Madeline* and *Madeline's Rescue,* but the other stories are good too. The
illustrations are strange and childlike, but they work, and most
importantly, our little boy loved all these stories.
2. *The Big Blue Book of Beginner Books.* – A great selection, great
value. Every single story has been a hit with the kid. Some of them are
basically baby/young toddler books, like the wonderful *Are You My
Mother,* a great hit when our boy was one.
3. Brown, Margaret Wise. *Friendly Tales.* – A great anthology, a few
Wise classics.
4. *Little Golden Book Favorites.* – Four of the very best Little Golden
Books.
5. Lobel. *Frog and Toad* series. They're all the same and they're
great.
6. Minarek. *Little Bear* series. Another wonderful, consistent series,
excellent childlike sensibility.
7. Piper, Watty. *The Little Engine that Could.* – Was a top favorite for
many months.
8. Potter, Marian. *The Little Red Caboose.* – We have many little golden
books, this is one of our boy's favorites.
9. Rey. *The Complete Adventures of Curious George.* – Everything about
these stories is wonderful. Shame they didn't write more. There are new
stories that are in the style of the Reys, and in fact, they aren't bad.
But they aren't as good as the originals, which are all in this volume.
10. Zion. *Harry the Dirty Dog* series. – The whole series is great, very
consistent quality.
*Next 10 **(for our boy, between ages 1¾ to 2¾) in alphabetical order***
1. dePaola, Tomie. *Tomie's Little Mother Goose.* – Great, simple
edition.
2. Freeman, Don. *Corduroy.* – Wonderful little story about a teddy bear
and the girl who loves him.
3. Hirsch, E.D. *What Your Preschooler Needs to Know.* – This is a great
anthology. It's not a discussion for adults, it's a collection for kids.
4. Hoff. *Danny and the Dinosaur.* – The kid liked it, I found it a
little annoying. All of the Hoff books listed below are very
similar. Haven't
seen Hoff's others but I'm sure they're similar.
5. Lobel. *Mouse Soup.*
6. Keats, Ezra Jack. *The Snowy Day.* – An instant hit with our
boy. Requested
many times.
7. Potter, Beatrix. *The Tale of Peter Rabbit.* – At least. We have *The
Complete Tales* and are working our way through. *Peter Rabbit* is still
maybe the best, but the other stories are very good, too. The anthology
has stories even simpler than *Peter Rabbit* and some that are beyond our
boy's range at present.
8. Slobodkina, Esphyr. *Caps for **Sale**.* – Another instant hit with
our kid. He *loves* the monkeys when they say "tsz, tsz, tsz…"
9. *Walt Disney's Classic Storybook.* – Yeah, it's Disney, but…these *are
*classics now, and the kid *does* like 'em, so what can you do? Great
value.
10. *Wind in the Willows,* four simplified books put out by Sterling,
"easy reader classics." You might turn up your nose at the simplified
adaptation, but my boy loved it. I'm curious about others in the "easy
reader classics" series (*do* avoid the *Rikki-Tikki-Tavi* in the series,
it's not the Kipling story at all; get the Chuck Jones version).
*Other top classic picture storybooks, in alphabetical order*
Anglund, Joan Walsh.* Love Is a Special Way of Feeling*. – The original of
the sappy greeting cards is kind of a cute children's book. Appeals to our
little boy.
Awdry. *Thomas the Tank Engine.* – Get some version of the original. Our
train lover loves this.
Averill, Esther. *The Fire Cat.* – Excellent moral and sensibility, very
appealing to our little fire truck-loving boy.
Berenstain. *Berenstain Bears* series. – Hard to pick one. They aren't the
best kid's books, but they're consistently entertaining, useable, and
wholesome, excellent for this age/ability level.
Brown, Margaret Wise. *The Color Kittens.* – We absolutely love Margaret
Wise Brown. Wonderful use of language, excellent insight into childhood
innocence and ways of thinking. Never found one of hers we didn't like. It's
in *Friendly Tales.*
Brown, Margaret Wise. *Goodnight Moon.* – Her most famous. Kind of weird.
We like many others better, but we like this one too.
Brown, Margaret Wise. *The Runaway Bunny.*
Burton, Virginia L. *Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.* – Instantly
appealing for our power equipment loving kid.
Burton, Virginia L. *The Little House.* – Great for kids and adults
alike—appeals on both levels very well.
Cooney, Barbara. *Miss Rumphius.* – This is one we just picked up at the
bookstore without knowing it is something of a classic. Lovely story.
Crampton. *Scuffy the Tugboat.* – One of our boy's absolute favorites. Read
this in *Little Golden Book Favorites.*
Daugherty, James. *Andy and the Lion.*
Engelbreit, Mary. *Nursery Tales.* – These versions may not be classics but
the stories are. We really liked this volume.
Flack, Marjorie. *Angus and the Ducks.** – Old-fashioned but charming.*
Flack, Marjorie. *Angus Lost. *– Ditto.
Flack, Marjorie. *The Story about **Ping**.* – Strangely appealing
story. Complaints
about "corporal punishment" seem misplaced (the last duck on the boat gets a
little swat on the rear end, big deal).
Handford, Martin. *Where's Waldo?** – Our boy thinks it's fun.*
Hoff. *Oliver.*
Hoff. *Sammy the Seal.*
Johnson. *Harold and the Purple Crayon.* – Minimalist, but fun!
Kipling, Rudyard. *Chuck Jones' Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.* – Not sure if all or only
some of this is actually Kipling, but it's a great rendition. The cartoon
is on YouTube, too.
Leaf, Munro. *The Story of Ferdinand.* – Another funny book. Check out the
video version on YouTube.
Lobel. *Owl at Home.* – This and the next have the same sensibility as *Frog
and Toad,* very kid-friendly stuff.
Lobel. *Mouse Tales.*
London. *Let's Go Froggie.* – For slightly younger kids, maybe. Initially
very appealing but the formula & characters seemed threadbare after the
first two.
London. *Froggy Gets Dressed.*
Lowrey. *The Poky Little Puppy.* – The repetition will get on your nerves
but will fascinate a toddler or younger preschooler. Was possibly our boy's
all-time favorite. Read this in *Little Golden Book Favorites.*
McClintock. *A Fly Went By.* – Great story of its kind. In the *Big Blue
Book of Beginner Books.*
McCloskey, Robert. *Make Way for Ducklings.* – Charming, instantly likeable
story about a family of ducks in Boston, Mass.
Milne. *Winnie-the-Pooh. *This is a chapter book, and it doesn't have
enough pictures, but its sensibility appeals to older toddlers and
preschoolers, so we were able to get through most of this in pieces (haven't
quite finished as of this writing).
Mosel, Arlene. *Tikki Tikki Tembo.* – The kid liked the language.
Prelutsky, Jack. *Read Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young.* – We haven't made
it all the way through this one yet but on just one reading, we can tell
this is going to be great. The kid wanted us to read page after page of
these. Who would have thought kid rhymes you have never heard before would
be so entertaining to both the kid and you?
*The Real Mother Goose.* – Maybe for purists but it's a good edition.
Sendak. *Where the Wild Things Are.* – A top favorite for many, we've read
it quite a few times but it isn't a great household favorite of ours.
Dr. Seuss. *Dr. Seuss's ABC.* – We like a lot of his simpler stuff. The
earlier stuff, written for slightly older kids, isn't as compelling, but
these selections are actually a little simpler than the other books here. Yes,
Seuss uses a lot of nonsense and that can be a little nonsense, but unlike
some other nonsense purveyors, he has a great sense of play and
lightheartedness that appeals strongly to kids.
Dr. Seuss. *Hop on Pop.*
Dr. Seuss. *The Cat in the Hat.*
Dr. Seuss. *Green Eggs and Ham.*
Dr. Seuss. *Fox in Socks.*
Dr. Seuss. *The Foot Book.*
Dr. Seuss. *Marvin K. Mooney…*
Dr. Seuss. *One Fish Two Fish…*
Stone. *Because a Little Bug Went Ka-CHOO!* – in *Big Blue Book…*
Ward, Lynd. *The Biggest Bear*. – This is new to us still but the kid seems
to like it a lot. Acceptable only if you're comfortable with the idea of
shootin' critters, and little boys who want bearskins, but then befriend
bear cubs…
Williams, Margery. *The Velveteen Rabbit.* – A little advanced for this
level, but accessible enough. A basic classic.
*Frequently-listed books to investigate further*
About this list: these are on many lists of classics, but we don't have them
yet, or we do and the jury is still out.
Brunhoff, Jean de. *The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant.* – Mother shot?
Babar learns the ways of his oppressors? But maybe OK. (Might want to get
an anthology of the whole series.)
Cooney, Barbara. *Chanticleer and the Fox. *– Is it "boring" or too advance
d?* *
dePaola, Tomie. *Strega Nona*.
dePaola, Tomie. *Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs.*
Flack, Marjorie. *Ask Mr. Bear.* – May be too young for the kid now.
Flack, Marjorie. *Angus and the Cat.** – No doubt similar to the two we
have.*
Gag, Wanda. *Millions of Cats. – *The cats fight each other at the end? Maybe
OK though.
Goble, Paul. *The Girl who Loved Wild Horses.* – Eh…might be boring, the art
may be confusing.
Gramatky, Hardie. *Little Toot*.
Hughes, Shirley. *Alfie *books. – We just received one collection, the jury
is still out.
Hughes, Shirley. *Dogger.*
Hodges, Margaret (retelling). *Gulliver in Lilliput.* – Looks a little
advanced, but maybe not.
Keats, Ezra. *John Henry.*
Leaf, Munro. *Manners Can Be Fun* (and other Leaf "fun" books). – May be
advanced in theme; but looks good.
Lear, Edward. *A Book of Nonsense*.
Lobel, Arnold. *Fables.* – Looks promising, but might be too advanced for
the kid, and the writing/fables might not actually be that great, so check
it out.
Marshall, James. *George and Martha*. (There's a collection of all the
stories.) – Very well-reviewed, but the artwork doesn't look attractive and
big fat hippos…?
McClosky, Robert. *Blueberries for Sal.*
Numeroff, Laura and Felicia Bond. *If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.* Buy the
treasury?
Pulley, Kelly. *The Beginner's Bible.* – Other selections seem too
"devotional"; could this work as more of a pure storybook? The Genesis 1
story seems to work that way.
Rosen, Michael. *We're Going on a Bear Hunt.*
Scarry, Richard. *Richard Scarry's Please and Thank You Book.* (Check
whether this is in the "best storybook ever.")
Swift, Hildegarde H. *The Little Red Lighthouse and the **Great** **Gray** *
*Bridge**.* – We just got this, and the jury is still out. Kid liked it
first time through.
Van Allsburg, Chris. *Jumanji.* – Themes & concepts might be beyond the
kid.
Van Allsburg, Chris. *The **Garden** of **Abdul Gasazi*.
Waber, Bernard. *Ira Sleeps Over. *
Williams, Vera. *"More, More, More," Said the Baby.* – Possibly overrated,
and possibly too babyish for the kid.
Wood, Don and Audrey. *The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The
Big Hungry Bear.*
Thurber, James. *Many Moons.*
*On some lists, but not on ours*
Note on this list: here is a list of books that seem to be "classics" or
quite popular, but which we aren't reading. I haven't seen many of these
and am basing my rejection strictly on Amazon previews and reviews.
Your mileage may vary…no, your mileage inevitably *does *vary. This is just
my opinion. I'm open to hearing defenses of cherished books that are
cruelly cast aside below, though.
Allard, Harry. *Miss Nelson Is Missing!* – A cynical modern story about a
dysfunctional institution: school. Not the right message to be sending to
kids about school or learning.
Brown, Marcia. *Once a Mouse.* – Looks simple and with "arty" cred, but
looks overrated.
Degen, Bruce. *Jamberry.* – Too babyish for the kid, too many nonsense
words, no story.
*Dick and Jane* series. – What, are you kidding? They might be classic, but
they turned off generations of kids to reading. My reaction to the *Bob
Books* is exactly the same. You get *good* books to teach a child to read.
The ones that are simplified in a way so as to be boring are evil.
Falconer, Ian. *Olivia.* – As one reviewer said, this is what Eloise would
be if she were a pig. More adult-oriented, yet encourages misbehaving and
immaturity.
Guarino, Deborah. *Is Your Mama a Llama?* – We have it. *I *kind of like
it, the kid doesn't seem to.
Henkes, Kevin. *Julius the Baby of the World.* – A story about a mean older
brother. Nah.
Hoban, Russell. *Bedtime for **Frances**.* – Popular, but focuses on a
problem we'd rather not have the kid dwelling on.
Kellogg, Steven. *Paul Bunyan.* – Not accurate to the original folk tale;
illustrator has an annoying style.
Kellogg, Steven. *Pecos** Bill. *– See above.
Kraus, Robert. *Leo the Late Bloomer*.* *– Could be good, but not a
classic…and the kid isn't a late bloomer.
Krauss, Ruth. *The Carrot Seed.* – Looks charming and I'm sure the kid would
like it, but I can't justify $7 for so few words and pages. Maybe would
have been better when he was younger.
Leonni, Leo. *Frederick**.* – Terrible moral: it's OK to sit around and
write poetry, when your compadres are getting the food you need to avoid
starving.
Mayer, Mercer. *There's a Nightmare in My Closet. *– The kid has no fear of
monsters that we know of, despite being exposed to some scary creatures here
and there. No need read an "antedote" book to a problem that for him does
not yet exist.
Sendak, Maurice. *Pierre**: A Cautionary Tale.* – Yet another modern story
of a naughty boy made to look appealing, with perfunctory moralizing at the
end; the effect is to glamorize rebellion.
Sendak, Maurice. *In the Night Kitchen.* – Seems to be a bizarre,
pretentious story, "like an LSD trip" says one reviewer. Not our style.
Silverstein, Shel. *Where the Sidewalk Ends.* – This *is *a big-time
classic. We have it. Often funny, but this brand of nonsense and humor
hasn't gelled with us yet. We'll keep trying…
Silverstein, Shel. *The Giving Tree.* – A poisonous moral, apparently.
Steig, William. *Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.* – Read it at the
bookstore. Seemed depressing, just as one reviewer makes it out to
be. "Sylvester's
redemption comes only by chance…" Appears overrated.
Thompson, Kay. *Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown Ups.* – The heroine is a
spoiled brat, and is written to appeal to cynical adults. This is not what
"empowerment" looks like.
Tazewell, Charles. *The Littlest Angel. – *Appears to be really depressing,
with the theme of a dead 4-year-old, and to give nobody's ideas about the
Christian notion of heaven.
Van Allsburg, Chris. *The Polar Express.* – Is the ending really the
picture we want to give to kids about Santa Claus? And the message, of
being a "true believer," seems wrong. Faithfulness, charity, yes;
irrational belief, no.
Viorst, Judith. *Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad
Day.* – How depressing. Our kid doesn't seem to have bad days, yet, thank
goodness, just bad moments. Kid lit as therapy? We don't need it.
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