Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Amy Colleen's avatar

I'm placing holds at the library right now! We also enjoyed Hot Dog and Chirri and Chirra, but haven't read the others.

My recs:

-Trouble with Trolls, Berlioz the Bear, Gingerbread Baby and Hedgie's Surprise, all by Jan Brett (the illustrations are gorgeous and detailed, and the stories are so fun! Brett is a PROLIFIC creator but I personally think her books from like pre-2005 are the best).

-The Big Green Pocketbook by Candace Ransom (adorable day in the life story about a little girl and her mom running errands, with a bit of suspense and a happy ending)

-Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco (love those illustrations and the cozy no-nonsense Babushka)

-King Baby by Kate Beaton (so funny but not zany just for the sake of it)

-Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews (captures the poignancy of getting to be a big kid along with the wonder and angst of new responsibilities!)

-Rattletrap Car by Phyllis Root (love the cadence of this one and the warm round bright illustrations)

Literally anything by Shirley Hughes, her books have such fun slices of life in toddler and preschooler worlds, and the homes she draws are so messy and relatable! We adore the Alfie books most of all.

My cautionary tales:

I'm so tired of counting books that don't actually have a STORY with them. Stop it. Also the newer Berenstain Bears are so sanctimonious and flat. I never get them from the library if I can help it but my kids love the characters. The originals are mostly great! We love the OG rhyming ones like The Bike Lesson and the older stories like Too Much Vacation and Too Much Birthday but the Mike Berenstain ones feel like ursine Christian Nationalism. Ugh.

Expand full comment
Laura's avatar

Oh, what experts we become on this subject. My favorite board book is I'm the Biggest Thing in This Ocean, about a boastful squid swimming up and comparing himself to the size of various sea creatures (he gets his comeuppance in a hilarious way). I'm a big fan of all of Sherri Duskey Rinker and Virginia Lee Burtons books, since they feature heavy equipment (my son's favorite) and decent plot and rhymes (helps with the 400th reading). Lastly, my favorite genre of story is just "magical realism for real stuff kids go through," like a book where a child gets their pet octopus ready for school. My son isn't much for chatting about abstract subjects, so books that just, like, show him what going to the dentist is like, are quite helpful for adding to his vision of what life is like.

Expand full comment
35 more comments...

No posts