If you are a mom, you have one. You may even have more than one.
It’s that one (or two) books that your child begs you to read over and over. The corners are worn. Some of the images might be fading. I think we even have a few with teeth marks or some crayon scribbles on them. It does not matter. They are the chosen ones.
Our family has a serious love of books. It started when I was very young. I can remember being gifted books from my grandparents for nearly every holiday and birthday. I can remember trips to the library every week with my grandmother.
I know how important reading is to language development so before my first daughter was born I knew I would be reading to her a lot.
Instead of cards for the baby shower, my family planned, guests were asked to bring a children’s book with a small note inside. The stack of books I received was absolutely amazing.
From classics like Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle to ones I have never seen before. My daughter had a sizeable book collection before she ever spent any time in her room.
We had many books but she always would latch on to one or two at a time. I’m positive I have many of them memorized from reciting them so many times.
Parents are doing all the book holding, page-turning, and reading for the first several years. Let’s be honest, these books shouldn’t just be for the kids to enjoy.
Recently I was rearranging the furniture in my younger daughter’s room and asked her to go through the books on two of her shelves.
She actually does not enjoy reading at all herself but a book is still part of her bedtime routine. She placed every single board book into a separate pile.
Over the years, especially now that “board books are for babies” I have cycled through the books we own to keep the collections fresh. We have donated books to child care centers and traded among friends to pair down the overflowing shelves.
But there are just some books I can’t part with.
I have favorites and they don’t always match theirs. I also have a few that leave me scratching my head when I finish.
That stack of board books was full of so many great reads. So many memories with my little girls. I just can’t look at a shelf without them.
My Favorites
Anything and everything by Sandra Boynton.
I am positive we own a dozen of these. Actually, we have multiple copies at different places of a few of them. I love them all!
They are board books with bright, colorful pages. Animals and monsters of all different shapes, sizes, and colors fill each page. Most of the stories rhyme which I find I am always partial to. Some have a song melody with them if you really want to get into it.
The Going To Bed Book became a serious component of the bedtime routine when my oldest was very young. We had to say it every single night once we turned out the lights and before we kissed her goodnight. Even now, I can recite the entire thing without looking at one page.
With our youngest doing more sight words and early stages of reading now, many of these she can do on her own despite the cardboard pages. She also has them memorized by this point so not sure how much that actually helps her reading.
There has always been a significant amount of shelf space devoted to our collection. I just can’t change that yet.
Matthew Van Fleet Collection.
If you have never opened one of his books, you need to find one. These books are interactive with flaps to lift, different textures to feel, and tabs to pull. TAILS is one of our absolute favorites that showcase the tails of all different types of animals in really creative ways.
We loved these books so much that all of the pulls, dials, and furry bits took a serious beating over the years. As much as I didn’t want to donate these, I found I really couldn’t because they didn’t function anymore.
Caps for Sale.
My love for this one goes back to my own childhood. I remember reading this when I was young. I remember my mom and grandma doing the voice for the man with the caps and shaking fists at the book.
It’s a short read but one that I don’t mind. My girls loved to do the voices and before they could really understand they always got the fist-shaking and pointing parts down. My parents definitely gravitated towards this one when it was their turn to read to one of the girls.
We have both a small board book version of this and a hardcover paper version. This one has stood the test of time and I hope they will pass this one on to their kids eventually.
Obviously not every children’s book is an award-winning classic like Where the Wild Things Are or The Very Hungry Caterpillar. With as many books as we have in our house, we are bound to have a few duds in the mix.
Even if the girls were babies and couldn’t really understand the words yet, there few classics that I just haven’t been able to get behind as a reader.
When these land on my lap I just have to say no and find something new.
Love You Forever.
I have one word for this one: creepy. Really. I have tried and tried to enjoy reading this one but its never going to happen.
Do you really want your mom driving across town to sneak into your house and stare at you while you sleep? I can’t even handle the thought of my kid coming down the stairs to hover over me while I sleep tonight.
It’s also a super sad story. Tough to use voices or different inflection in the story when it’s a major downer. I have zero interest in that being the last thing they hear before bedtime.
Goodnight Moon.
My girls really do like this one but it’s not high on my list. I can see the soothing repetition of words and patterns. To me, it’s a bit much. There are only so many times I want to say the word goodnight.
I also do not love the illustrations since they are all the same colors page after page. I may be wrong but I think there are other books in this series but I never bothered to check.
Much of the Dr. Seuss Collection.
I have to be specific here because I do actually love the stories but I do not love reading them. It never fails that when I am at my most exhausted, my child would bring me the longest one she could find. These books do not end. They go on and on and on.
When they were young and couldn’t read I definitely turned about ten pages at a time. Show me a parent who hasn’t done this.
Then they caught on to me and I had to stop and ready every word. Even the tongue twisters of Fox In Socks.
I feel like these are must-have stories but I much prefer someone else to read them out loud.
Regardless of my feelings on particular books, I will always want to be in a home with overflowing shelves. I want my girls to enjoy reading as a means of quiet relaxation.
One of my favorite things about books, specifically children’s books, is that they often stand the test of time. I love that my parents saved some of my collection from my childhood. It’s special when we open a book and see my name written inside.
The memories that come along with some of these physical books have meanings for me. Even if the girls don’t care about them now and want the “baby books” out, I will box them up for safekeeping.
Yes, even the ones I don’t like because they will need to experience these for themselves to fully understand why I didn’t want to read them every single day.
What are some of your family’s favorite books that you want to hold on to? Share your favorites and not-so-favorites in the comments below.
For more on the books mentioned:
