Children's Books

  I've always been a reader.  I'm the kind that does cover-to-cover, well...I did before I had a baby.  Those days are gone but I now get to share my love of reading with my son, and I cannot tell you how happy it makes me (and him!).  Below are five books we read over and over again because they're fun and lovely enough to do just that.  Sort of like how I re-read Gillian Flynn's books every year...sort of.

Margaret Wise Brown is perhaps best known for, "Goodnight Moon," which happens to be my husband's favorite childhood book. I'll be honest and tell you I read no Margaret Wise Brown as a child and that's a shame because her books are lovely AND I read a headline about her that said, "Goodnight Moon author was a bisexual rebel who didn't like kids."  So, she seemed pretty much amazing.  I'm starting with this book because while I collected books for my son before he was born (even the ladies of The Attic sent books to him, which is just the sweetest) this book was the first I saw him have any interest in.  It had been a particularly long day one afternoon very early on when he was still an infant, and I couldn't settle him down.  I ran the list of things that I knew to do for him, and everything had been tended to so I didn't know what to do.  But maybe subconsciously I picked out a book because I've always found solace in books.  Apparently my son does too.  I grabbed this book off the shelf and laid next to him on the floor as we opened the cover.  He calmed immediately, and of course, so did I.  This book started it all for me.  I can recite it from memory, and maybe it's my Midwest heart that loves the great green field and the farm animals, but I think you will too.  Well, maybe not if you don't have a child in your life to read it to...

Note: Look how used my copy is.  It's clearly been used as a coaster and the lower right cover is showing some wear.  It's less than a year old, I can't imagine the patina a year from now.

Some of our closest friends gifted this to our son for his first Christmas, and yet again, I'm so terribly sorry to state I had not read it before then.  Which is truly and honestly such a shame, mainly because I thought I had read it so I never picked it up when I saw it.  When I was little (and not-so-little) I carried around a stuffed bunny named, "Bunny," which is a very appropriate name for a bunny, if you ask me.  I still have him to this day, and he is so loved up that he's not even recognizable as a bunny.  I tell you this so you know that I have never been more biased to love a book in my entire life.  I cry every single time I read this book but it's a good cry, you know?  Anyway, it's a sweet and touching book to the toys who meant so much to each and every one of us when we were little.  I can only hope my son will feel the same way about his little teddy bear one day.

Did we all grow up loving this book?  I remember reading this repeatedly at the children's library in my hometown.  My husband also remembered this book fondly so we included in our son's Easter basket, which was full of Spring themed board books (hey, did I tell you we love books?).  This is fun, charming, and little kids (and adults!) are enchanted by the metamorphosis of this sweet little caterpillar.  Also, it's ingenious as Eric Carle was inspired by a hole punch.  BOOKS ARE SO GOOD.

I truly could have just made an entire list of favorite Seuss books, and maybe some time I will.  I have so many favorites that's it's completely unfair I'm picking one.  I waffled several times, and ended up picking this one to share because of the message.  Overall, the message is to use your mind creatively, and to appreciate how wonderful the world  is, which are two things I want to pass on to every single child (and adult!) ever.  "Oh, the THINKS you can think up if only you try!  If you try, you can think up a GUFF going by!"  The guff is one of my all-time favorite Seuss drawings/characters.

Press Here was published in 2011, and it's so ingenious that I'm mad it took this long for a truly interactive book.  It's so simple, and such pure fun that my husband and I have more fun reading it than our son.  To be fair, he's too small to read the directions and interact with it so we have him sit in our lap and help him.  He giggles along with us, and I cannot believe that one day he will be able to do it all on his own.  I don't want to give a full review of it because I had no idea what to expect when I first opened it so I hope the surprise is part of the enjoyment for you too.

I have one million book recommendations, both for children and adults, so if you're ever in a book slump please feel free to reach out to me.  Or, reach out to any of the other Attic lovelies, all of whom are terribly terribly well-read.  So well-read that it's a little intimidating but don't be intimidated, that's just how our faces look.

Happy Reading!

xx, Lee