Pajiba

When I was in elementary school I really liked 'The Ordinary Princess' and anything by Louis Sachar. There was also this huge-ass book called 'The Empress of Tumbledown' that Google actually cannot find.

Good Night Moon, and Go Dog Go (the dogs have a hat party in a tree!)

Each Peach Pear Plum, by Janet and Allan Allberg.

My entire family can still recite this one - an absolute classic :)

Good Night Moon. I wore out two copies of it as a kid.

Shel Silverstein - The Giving Tree, and A Light in The Attic, a collection of amazing absurd poems I memorized when I was 5. I also loved Richard Scarry's picture books. A little older and my fave was Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. I am still not sure what I think about them making it a movie...

The Giving Tree.

Rounding out the top three would be Where The Wild Things Are and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs... both of which I get to see this year!

Yes, luka! Shel Silverstein was the best. The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends for me. I can still recite some of those poems. Love them!!

Good Night Moon is an all-time favorite. For a long time my dad had to read that to me every night before I would go to sleep.

I also loved any of Roald Dahl's childrens books, especially James and the Giant Peach. Something about living in something as impractical as a peach and having adventures beyond anything I could imagine on my own just stuck with me. The Wizard of Oz is another all-time favorite.

Geez, now that I think about it, there are a lot of books I loved as a kid. One that I read from all the time was a compendium of fairy tales from all over the world. And we're not talking Mother Goose here. Some of the tales were Blue Beard, the Baba Yaga, and The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings. Look those up. As a kid, they blew my mind.

SLW, funny you mention the Lord of the Rings. My dad actually read those and The Hobbit to my brother and I as older children. Between those stories and the compendium of world fairy tales, it really explains a lot about how my brother and I turned out.

I loved Stellaluna, anything by Robert Munsch, Goodnight Moon, Where the Buffalo Begin, Madeleine, Corduroy etc. I think I read more as a child than I do now!

I was quite fond of Richard Scarry as a child. Though those weren't always actual stories. Great illustrations, though.

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. It's basically a big book of Greek mythology for "young readers." I must've checked this book out of the library as a kid hundreds of times. I would read other books, but I'd always find myself coming back to this one and reading the stories of the ancient gods over and over again. When I was 20, my parents gave me a copy as a Christmas present. If I ever have children, I plan on telling the stories to them.

I loved (among other things) E.B. White - Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, & Trumpet of the Swan. And fie on any and all movie adaptations thereof.

I loved Five Minutes Peace, about a mother elephant who just wanted a break from her kids. I also loved the Babar books (apparently I really like elephants as a child), and one of my favorite souvenirs is a copy of Babar in the original French that I got in Paris.

Oh! Other series that I read over and over were The Barenstain Bears and Clifford the Big Red Dog.

I also have very fond memories of reading Roald Dahl books as a kid. There was a particularly unfortunate incident where I tried sticking gum behind my ear and ended up with a haircut. I also remember loving the Boxcar Children series (the original, none of that spin-off crap).

Like many 2-year-olds, my kid is obsessed with Goodnight Moon & Eric Carle. She also loves Maisy books and anything by Sandra Boynton.

Jasper, I fucking loved The Ordinary Princess. I wanted to live in the woods just like her.

Anything in the Dr. Seuss genre, particularly The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax (that was some deep stuff for a kid's book) & One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Big Goof & Little Goof.

The Frog & Toad series.

There was a series for pre-schoolers, but I can't remember the name of it. The only books I remember are Our Friend the Sun, and Drip Drop. My five year old self pored over those books.

Almost forgot: The Babysitters Club (before it got stupid.)

Let's see...
Good Night Moon
The Giving Tree
Where The Wild Things Are
The Phantom Tollbooth
and
The Little House!

Charlie and the Chocolate factory (and anything by Roald Dahl)

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is by far my favorite book for children and adults alike.

I had this series of books that had the most amazing illustrations. Grandfather Twilight, When the Sun Rose, Dear Milli, and Dreams.
I also loved The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
Then I moved on to Nancy Drew, Ramona, and The Babysitters Club. Oh, and Sweet Valley High. But those are total girl books. Which would make them perfect for Dustin's son.

Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

I Love You Forever

Yes and yes. Also, as a little kid, I remember reading all the Bernstein Bears books I could get my hands on. And one of my favorite things I remember from being a little girl is my mother would read me a story every night at bedtime, and we worked our way through the "Little House on the Prairie" series. Aw, I miss bedtime stories.

Bread and Jam for Frances (Russell Hoban)
Anything by Sandra Boynton
Under Plum Lake (Lionel Davidson)
Yertle the Turtle (Suess)
Horton Hears a Who (Suess)
Anything by Beverly Cleary (esp. Mouse and the Motorcycle)
Danny Champion of the World (Roald Dahl)
The St. Clare series (Enid Blyton)
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Judy Blume)
Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch)

It's kind of hard to stop...

Shel Silverstien: Lafcadio the Cowardly Lion, WTSE, ALITA
Judy Bloom: Fudge, etc...
Beverly Cleary: Ramona, Henry Higgins ( I have a friend that has a house on Klickitat street here in Portland, just like Ramona! How cool is that?)
Walter Farley: The Black Stallion series
Frank Baum: All of the OZ books, and there were a lot of them.
I LOVED Jean M. Auel 'Clan of the Cave Bear'. I think I read it when I was 11,then read the rest ASAP.
James Herriot: The All Creatures Great and Small series.

My Mom started giving me her cast off paperback novels when I was 11-ish, so it has been downhill ever since.

OOOO, OOOO,
Roald Dahl! How could I forget him!
I should be punished.

Oh so VERY many. I read more as a kid than I could ever hope to read now.

-All Laura Ingalls Wilder
-All Anne of Green Gables
-The Babysitter's Club (Maryanne was my favorite, because I used to be shy)
-The Bobbsey Twins
-Camp Sunnyside Friends
-Sideways Stories from Wayside School
-Julie of the Wolves
-Judy Blume...especially Just as Long as We're Together
-R.L. Stine
-Beverly Cleary's Ramona series
-Lowis Lowry's The Giver
-The Stinky Cheese Man (early grade school)

Jesus, so many that I can't remember...I should have kept a book diary as a kid. Not that I do now. Ahem.

Did anybody else love the Betsy/Tacy books? Also, what book has a girl named Merry as the protagonist - she moves to the United States from England and says "sum" instead of "total", so all the kids call her "Merry Sum"?

"Little House" bored the shit out of me. Blasphemy, I know.

Ooh! and Asterix books. Tin Tin. And these books illustrated by Sempe about this kid named Nicholas. And "Heidi" was my favorite book in the world when I was around 10.

How has nobody mentioned Lang's Color Fairy Books yet? I had the red and blue ones passed down from my grandmother and newer versions of pink and brown. And I'd borrow the others from the library. They are absolutely impossible to find in stores, but the salespeople always know exactly what you're talking about, which is really frustrating. They are available online at least.
Also second the love for The Ordinary Princess and Patricia C. Wrede's Dragon series.

For any adult who is also a godparent the Max Lucado books are wonderful stories with a dash of godtopus in them. Apparently there is some rift with Mr Lucado and his (prior?) church that they aren't godtopussy enough, but they are wonderful stories that I only know about now.

As a child, I would read ANYTHING. My dad owned a beach house until I was 18 and every summer I would pick up what was left behind by our renters - including Children in the Attic at age 9. Thanks VC Andrews for years of therapy bills. At age 10, I found The World According to Garp, which my mom made me throw out after asking her what the F-word meant.

For more age-appropriate reading, I second (or third plus) add love to Shel Silverstein, Beatrix Potter, Maurice Sendak, and Roald Dahl.

I'm going to break down a little old school for the kidlets....

The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Runaway Ralph

Superfudge and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Flat Stanley

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

and The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, written by Ms. Julie Andrews her own self.

I don't know much about the new books for children, even when I buy them I walk in to the children's section and grab a Seuss or something quick so people don't think I'm just some pervert hanging out next to the pop up books waiting to show their kid my pop-up. I feel like I should slip on a trenchcoat and hold onto a lollypop when I'm in there, like I'm Skitz or something.

Besides, I hang near the Twilight table, that's where the action is at. I sit there with a current ID book and a flask of peach schnapps and wait for the excitement to happen.

I feel dirty for even writing that as a joke.

I love The Nightingale too, figgy - and anything Hans Christian Anderson.

I'm also a huge fan of the Pippi Longstocking series by Astrid Lindgren.

And a discovery I made not too long ago, searching for my daughter - the Moomin series by Tove Janssen.

my all time favorite is "alice in wonderland" and own almost 20 different versions of it. (i'm a big collector of illustrators!!)

also...
-richard scarry books (my sisters and i would spend hours looking for and counting the mice)
-winnie the pooh (the original books, not any disney adaptation)
-dr. seuss was a big component of my upbringing also. i have most all of them, but 'horton hears a who' and 'the lorax' are my faves.
-'where the wild things are' has always been close to my heart as it was one of my baby shower gifts...way back in 1965.
-i love 'the little golden books' with 'pantaloon' and 'puss in boots' being some of my favorites.
-'babar' was a huge influence on my life (i would cry and cry every time the hunter kills his mother).
-'harry the dirty dog' series is awesome.
-'the lonely doll' (by dare wright) series were both bizarre and endearing.
-another book that used to fascinate me in its bizarreness: 'the five chinese brothers' by bishop and wiese.
-the mercer mayer books 'a boy, a dog and a frog' are fantastic and i highly recommend for any young reader, as they are all pictures, no words.

most of my collection is composed of older books, but some new ones that are just fabulous are 'goldie locks has chicken pox' and 'little bo beep can't get to sleep' by dealey/wakiyama.

this was fun. thanks. i basically grew up in the library and have worked in bookstores my whole life and was always in charge of the childrens section. in college, while getting my teaching degree and credential, children's lit was always a major focus in my education.

i asked my 5 year old, which was her favorite book and she said "wow, that's a tough question--there's just too many."
good answer viv.

Whoa, there are a lot of books I've forgotten about. I also loved the D'Aulaires Book of Greek Mythology. It was sad, I was the only one who ever checked that book out of the school library. That was back in the day when the librarian penciled in the student's name and due date on the card in front of the book. My name was the only one on there. And it was on there eight times.

I also loved the Laura Ingall's Wilder books. Still own them all. Both my mother and I loved Anne of Green Gables.

I can't believe you like Harriet the Spy, SaBrina! Ole Golly was one of my favorite childhood characters.

The James Harriott books used to make me cry for the poor animals that he had to put down, but I firmly believe his books are the reason I am such an animal lover today. Hm, next time I bring home a stray animal I should tell my husband that it's really James Harriott's fault.

Say, did anyone else besides me like Anastasia Krupnick? The chapter where she styled her hair a la Kid N Play cracked my shit up!

Abiyoyo by pete Seeger

Did anyone else read "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick"? I read that one in elementary school and we did our own interpretations on the images and stories in the book. It's fascinating and mysterious, so it has to be a favorite of mine.
I always did like this one called Big David, Little David, about a boy who thinks another kid in his class is his father, because they bear an uncanny resemblance to each other. It's cute, really.

Omigod, I can't believe I forgot Sideways Stories. To this day I insult people by calling them mugworm griblicks and waiting for the day someone gets it. and I have truly, seriously considered getting a potato tattoo.

I don't have kids, but I definitely want to read them my favourite picture books as a child:

Robert the Rose Horse (Joan Heilbroner)
Don and Donna Go to Bat (Al Perkins)
Tubby and the Lantern (Al Perkins)
The Fire Cat (Esther Averill)

and especially Harold and the Purple Crayon (Crockett Johnson)

Julie Andrews wrote The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles? I read that in lower school and looooooved it. So imaginative. Way to go, J-Dazzle.

OK, last ones. The Secret Garden and The Chronic(WHAT)cles of Narnia. And Bridge to Terabithia. Something I learned just now was that the name Terabithia was subconsciously stolen from Narnia. And that it was banned partly because it promotes secular humanism. Now that's the real threat that our government has been denying. Secular humanism is ruining our country's youth!

Amelia Bedelia! I still own those too. I loved those books.

Encyclopedia Brown series. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Nancy Drew can kiss his ass.

Madelene L'Engel : A Wrinkle in Time etc... Still have the whole series.

OK, True confession: I was Obsessed with Peirs Anthony. All of it. Particularly the Xanth books, but also the Apprentice Adept and ultimately the Incarnations of Immortality.
I await mockery.

Anything by Roald Dahl and Robert Munsch. I also loved "The Divine Saga" by Bette Midler. It was written in verse and had fantastic colourful illustrations (although some of them were rather terrifying to my six-year old self). Oh, and I second the Amelia Bedelia love.

wooky: I have read that and I had forgotten about it until this moment. I think there may have been a made-for-tv movie about it too...

I love this comment diversion! I just finished a children's lit class last Thursday. In terms of more recent children's lit, I love David Shannon's books ("No, David!", "David Goes to School", "Alice the Fairy", and "Good Boy, Fergus") He is just so clever and his illustrations are fun and bright. Kids love his books too. When I taught pre-school, they wanted to read David Goes to School (about an unruly little boy who gets in trouble all day, based on a book Shannon wrote as a child) everyday.

My personal favorite children's books from my own childhood, though, are: "The BFG", "The Napping House", "King Bidgoods in the Bathtub", "Cricket in Times Square", "Ginger Pye" and "Catherine, called Birdy." (I know books are not supposed to be in quotation marks, but HTML tags are not included in my skill set)

Now, just to prep for my future job, I take about twenty or so kids books home every week from the library. It is amazing how much truly wonderful, entertaining, beautiful literature there is out there for children.

Ooooh, the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books. I really liked those, they were absurd and funny.
I still cringe if I pour too much cream into my oatmeal, thanks to a pig she sends over to some kid's house to teach him manners.

I'm gonna take the politically incorrect rout and go with:

The Story About Ping, the yellow Chinese duck, and Little Black Sambo.

Now that's some good ghee.

I adore loads of these!

No love yet for Enid Blyton? The Naughtiest Girl in the School books were great.

In the end I will always love Roald Dahl for his work. I think Fantastic Mr Fox was the first book I ever read that didn’t have a picture on every page.

Also the Jungle Book.

I submit "Harriet the Spy".

OMG, Mulva! I freakin' LOOOOOOOVE Bunnicula! Best books ever!!! They are seriously hilarious.

I, oddly enough, spent much of my pre-adolescent years reading Jacqueline Susann books, like "Valley of the Dolls" and "Once is Not Enough" which involved lots of drugs and orgies in the 70's.

Love You Forever - Robert Munsch
Tales of The 4th Grade Nothing - Judy Bloom
Baby Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Sweet Valley Twins - Francine Pascal (I wanted to be in The Unicorn Club)
Goosebumps - R.L. Stine

And I'm not sure if I read this when I was 9 or a little older (maybe 10 or 11) but I loved The Giver and Number The Stars by Lois Lowry

oh wow, someone mentioned tear-water tea!
i love owl! he taught me how to cry on que. i got away with so much shit...

I can still probably quote the entire story of Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree. My grandma would read it to me all year long.

I also loved the classics. I must've read Black Beauty 30 times. And Little Women. I think I might re-read it right now. I wonder what my mom did with all those books.

After reading everyone's comments I'm so excited to go out and buy books for my future nephew. It's been 18 years since we've had a baby in our family so I'm out of the loop as to what kids are reading. I can't wait to buy his first copy of The Velveteen Rabbit.

i have the velveteen rabbit on audiobook read by meryl streep.

"there was a woman called nana who Ruled the nursery..."

The Giving Tree and Thumbelina

Richard Scarry for picture books, Gus Was a Friendly Ghost when I was old enough to follow a story line, and anything I could get my hands one once I could read, although I always loved it when our teacher read Shel Silverstein. I suppose some of my early favorites were Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Amelia Bedelia, and Encyclopedia Brown. After that I really did pick up anything and everything in the library.

I can't believe I forgot the American Girl series. Shame on me. Samantha was my favorite, with Addy as a close second. In all seriousness, it's amazing the stuff I learned from reading those books.

Unfortunately, once Mattel bought the franchise, it lost all the meaning for me, churning out a new "now" doll every year. Sigh. Knew it couldn't last forever.

The old ones are always good bets. I remember really liking Make Way For Ducklings, Stuart Little, any of the Boxcar Children books (the original is by far the best, though.

RikkiTikkiTemboNoSaRemboChariBariRuchiPipPeriPembo
The Paper Bag Princess
Ahhh...the classics...

I'm so glad I'm not the only one that cut his teeth on adult fiction. I read The Bourne Identity at 10, the same year I started on Tolkein. I blame my mother for reading me The Talisman as a bedtime story, before I cut out the middleman.

favorite childhood books... where do I start??
Some of my fondest (wait, the only fond) memories of my dad are of him reading us The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, All Creatures Great and Small, and many other books probably not geared towards a 4 year old.
Otherwise, I loved loved loved The Paperbag Princess, Angela's Airplane, anything else Robert Munsch, Scuffy the Tugboat, and Ordinary Amos and the Amazing Fish. Luckily, my 2 year old has inherited the love for these books as well, so I'm going to get to read them for years to come without looking like complete loser :)

Harold and the Purple Crayon - so awesome.

Who Put that Hair in my toothbrush? - by Jerry Spinelli - one of the first books that made me LAUGH out loud in the middle of the night while I was reading.

I loved the Encyclopedia Brown series, Shel Silverstein's Where The Sidewalk Ends and Light In The Attic, and Ed Emberley's art books (which are responsible for my chronic doodling on any and every piece of paper within arm's reach).

Frog & Toad was my favorite as a kid, and my daughter loves them now. I never get tired of reading that series to her.

I also like Robert McCloskey, particularly Make Way For Ducklings and Blueberries For Sal. I'm not all that fond of Lentil though.

We recently picked up The Giving Tree. It makes the Mr. well up when he reads it. I think it's nice too.

I love the Beatrix Potter books, and my daughter will soon be old enough for me to start reading them to her. Yay!

I was a voracious reader as a child, and my school librarian loved picking out books for me to devour on a nightly basis. I most vividly remember going through a "sad" phase where I only wanted to read books like "Where the Red Fern Grows," "Charlotte's Web," and all those angsty Judy Blume books. As a younger child, I loved Amelia Bedelia, Beverly Cleary, "How to Eat Fried Worms," and an really weird story, "The Five Chinese Brothers." As an adolescent, I went back to Judy Blume, only to discover the dirtiest children's book ever written, "Then Again Maybe I Won't." Needless to say, my 5th grade teacher was a little put out when I asked what a "wet dream" was.

As an adult, I always give "Goodnight Moon" as a gift, but I have to admit that I find it hard to read myself without evoking memories of Playing By Heart.

the very hungry caterpillar, of course.
ramona quimby (still think of her everytime i use a crockpot)
babysitters club, goosebumps, anne of green gables

but robert munsch is king

I was a real young kid myself not to long ago. But I do have to say, there's a big difference between the years 2 through 9. On the early end of those years, it was probably "Moo, Baa, La La La," which I can still quote easily: "Three singing pigs say La La La." And also, "The Grouchy Ladybug," which I learned by heart so well at age 2, to the untrained eye, it looked like I was reading.

On the later end of those years, I'd have to say "Captain Underpants." I know, it sounds repulsive, but the books were actually hilarious, and looking over years later, many factors more intelligent than you would think.

On a completely unrelated matter, I would like to give a shout out to Tracer, Maxpurr9, A. Marie, and The Pink Hulk for mentioning "The Five Chinese Brothers," which I completely forgot about until just now.

On a related matter, which of your parents did you prefer reading to you. With me, the whole family loved it when mom read, so much so that despite beginning the Harry Potter series at age 9, at age 15, when the last book came out, despite reading it myself on the side, we all insisted she read it aloud, and not one of us missed a second of it.

Hell, she even has the voices down perfectly, and pronounced Hermione right without any prior knowledge. She even did unique voices for the characters, and hell yes she does it better than the movie voices.

I'm glad I love my parents.

My Dad actually tape recorded (this was the 70's) himself reading fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and singing the alphabet, so my brother and I would be able to to hear him read to us while he was at work during the day. I remember sitting in his lap when I was 4 while he read fairy tales into the tape recorder.

I try to remember that when he does something assholish. He was a very good daddy.

Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is my absolute favourite.

After that, everything by Roald Dahl or Astrid Lindgren.

A Story A Story, by Gail E. Haley

Oh dear. I'm one of those people who can't decide and then writes a really boring chapter on the subject. The thing is, I got thinking about picture books that I read with my twin sister and our parents, and then about the joy of reading on my own when I got a bit older, and so I had to do a list of ten for each.

Picture Books:
1. The Tiger Who Came To Tea, by Judith Kerr
2. Dogger, by Shirley Hughes
3. Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
4. Alfie Gets Home First, by Shirley Hughes
5. Little Black Sambo, by Helen Bannerman (I'm ashamed to say)
6. Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter
7. The Little Fire Engine, by Graham Greene
8. Captain Pugwash and the Fancy Dress Party, by John Ryan
9. Mog and the Baby, by Judith Kerr
10. Jeremy Fisher, by Beatrix Potter

Books:

1. Tom's Midnight Garden, by Philippa Pearce
2. Matilda, by Roald Dahl
3. Goodnight Mister Tom, by Michelle Magorian
4. The Iron Man, by Ted Hughes
5. Danny the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl
6. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by CS Lewis
7. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken
8. Stig of the Dump, by Clive King
9. The House at Pooh Corner, by A. A. Milne
10. Carrie's War, by Nina Bawden

Special mentions for The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr, and the Machine Gunners by Robert Westall. I was big into WW2.

I sort of want to mention slightly older novels now, when I would have been about ten or eleven. Gah, leave it.

This is so great! I think I'm going to steal Austin's idea and buy some of these books for my nephews. I'm tired of buying them the latest and most trendy (read: impossible to fucking find) toys). Next time I'm visiting them, I'm going to take inventory of their books and start giving them books off this list for every holiday. They have a toy store's worth of toys. It's time for some damn literature.

"My dad owned a beach house until I was 18 and every summer I would pick up what was left behind by our renters - including Children in the Attic at age 9. Thanks VC Andrews for years of therapy bills. At age 10, I found The World According to Garp, which my mom made me throw out after asking her what the F-word meant."

Oh, my God - are we the same person? I got all of my adult reads from the house we rented at the beach, including V.C. Andrews! My mother caught me with "The Exorcist" and took it away, knowing full well that would lead to a summer of my crawling into bed with her and my father.

Does anybody remember that fabulous children's story where the nice teacher who the kids act up with is "out sick" for a week and her replacement is some mean teacher? The kids are so grateful to get the nice teacher back that they behave and it turns out (spoiler) that the "mean" teacher was the nice one in disguise. I loved that book.

I forgot about Addie Mills (House Without a Christmas Tree) and Trixie Belden.

I enjoyed John Bellairs later in childhood, but remember REALLY enjoying any Dr. Seuss. I know. Boring.

I love reading Biscuit's First Sleepover to my daughter because I bought a really plush dog hand puppet that reads to her and tickles her like crazy whenever Biscuit barks. She also likes the Disney series of books about their movies, especially Toy Story and Lion King. Buzz always gets her when he falls down the stairs. "He's bwoken! Oh no!"

But my daughter's toddler-crack is the recent movie version of Horton Hears a Who (Carrey and Carrell).

"Do you want to watch a show?"

"Haw-tin!"

Every. Damn. Time.

I love Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and I too cry every time. I also make sure to give it as a gift at every baby shower I go to. That is required reading.

Also, Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss. The kids love it because the get to yell "And an elephant's faithfull 100%" everytime!

Poinsettia and Her Family. It's a book about a saucy little piglet named Poinsettia who loves her large, unruly family, but sometimes wishes they'd just piss off already and leave her to lounge around in peace. When her family decides to leave their cramped house for a larger abode, Poinsettia stays behind so she can enjoy - in solitary quiet - all of those things she can't when her brothers and sisters are around (like lounging on the sun warmed rock in her front yard or floating in the tub for two hours.) It's all fun and games until she realizes that home just isn't home without a large, occasionally annoying family, and she bursts into tears. Her family discovers that she's missing and returns to their house - you know, where the heart is - and decide to live out their lives there, overbearing siblings and all.

It's so, so charming. I can't for the life of me remember the author's name, but I was recently shocked to discover that Poinsettia and Her Family is running at about $130 on Amazon for a used copy (which mine certainly is - piglet doodles in the margins and everything.)

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

Where the Wild Things Are. I had my dad read me this book every night, so I am especially nervous and excited about the upcoming Spike Jones treatment. I loved this book so much I had every fraternity pledge memorize a page and recite it to me upon demand (that was the extent of the hazing at my house). Nobody complained.

Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.. Now that I am a dad, I think this is my favorite children's book to read to my kids. It just rolls off the tongue. I think anyone can feel like Morgan Freeman when they read this.

Man, you've all basically said everything I've ever loved.

That being said, I loved Romona Quimby so much that I still have the VHS tapes of the tv show. And I've watched them. At least three times. Each.

I don't remember what the book was called, but it was about the Big Bad Wolf on trial for eating the 3 little pigs. He was just asking for some sugar or something, and they were very mean to him and he had a cold and he sneazed so badly that they died, so he thought that would be such a waste, and ate them. Innocent enough.

Beegeek: THANK YOU. That story is so clever and funny. Totally operates on an adult/child level. Love it.

Old: Are You My Mother?

New: Charlie and Lola series by Lauren Child

Nnother new picture book (no words) is Flotsam by David Wiesner. It's about an antique, underwater camera that is washed up on shore and found by a child. That camera has taken pictures of many wonders under the sea. It's a truly beautifully illustrated book, and it won the Caldecott Medal for a reason.

Peter and Caroline, A Child's Guide to Sex.

Hey, when you're 7 and your mom brings home porn for you, you read it, over and over and over again.

well my favorite kids book was the sequel to cat in the hat called the cat in the hat comes back.
also liked the grinch story. and if you look at the cat and the grinch you notice similarities between them.they are almost exact opposites.

i forgot another favorite and it doesn't look like it's been mentioned yet.....
else holmelund and maurice sendak's 'little bear' books.
also, just because...
'a fish out of water' and 'i wish that i had duck feet'

The Witches, without a shadow of a doubt :)

I come out of lurking to mention my favorites.

Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood, which I can thank my first grade teacher for.

The Nate the Great Books

Babysitter's Club, I think I owned every one of those books thanks to one of those Scholastic Book Clubs

Megan's Island by Willow Davis Roberts. In elementary school I borrowed this book from the library at least once a month.

As to illustrations, I love "Swimmy".

I was a huge reader when I was little, so it's really difficult to remember which books I read, but I know there were a lot of Newbery Award winners in there:

Black Beauty
Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer
Old Witch and the Polka-Dot Ribbon
Hatchet (this book fucked me up, big time)
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Witches of Worm
Hittie: Her First Hundred Years
Baby-Sitter's Club, Sweet Valley Twins/High
Boxcar Children

Once I got to fourth grade, I moved on to mostly books by:
Stephen King (particularly the Stand)
Robert McCammon (Swan Song)
John Jakes (North & South, Love & War).

Pickle Chiffon Pie

I don't know how I could've forgotten this, but my hands-down, all-time favorite book as a child, leading to a life-long love of cozy mysteries:

"The Westing Game"

I think I might read it again...

Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
or
Pigeon Finds A HotDog
or
Knuffle Bunny

All by Mo Willems. You'll love them, I promise.

But most importantly, get the following 2 books.

Not a Box!

and

Thank You Bear.

ALL of Thornton W. Burgess' books and there were plenty... 170 by the time he died. I particularly liked The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse and Reddy Fox.

lordhelment, I LOVE Gordon Korman's books about MacDonald Hall! I read them at my grandparents' when I was young and made sure I got them when they were giving away all their stuff when they moved to a smaller place. And I'm not going to lie: I totally re read them a couple weeks ago.

I also love Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague. I've wanted to visit the VA coast every summer since I was 12 to see the pony swim described in the book. I've read all of Henry's horse books and still often return to them when I need something beautiful in my life.

It was certainly not intentional! I blame the heat... it's so bloody hot I'm actually lucky I could spell my own name!

The Narnia Chronicles, the Anne of Green Gables series and as a stand-alone book, Harriet the Spy.

Most of these have already been mentioned, but
The Ordinary Princess-I wore out a couple of copies
The Frog and Toad series
Harold and the Purple Crayon-just gave this to my new nephew
The Phantom Tollbooth-actually even love the movie-"don't say there's nothing to do in the dolldrums, it's just not true"
Blueberries for Sal-I have a piggybank with Sal on one side and little bear on the other
Snowy day
The Pokey little puppy-"has he found a snake? has he found a frog? Do you think he will? Has he seen a lizard or a caterpillar climbing up the hill?
Misty of Chincoteague and King of the Hill
Weaving the dream
the Grandfather Twilight, Sun Rose books
Alexander and the no good very bad day (no brothers but 2 sisters)
A Wrinkle in time
The last Unicorn
There's a boy in the girl's bathroom