Recs Needed!
Jan. 9th, 2006 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lls_mutantHey, oh ever helpful f-list!
I'm looking for two types of recs, both books.
One: Books for kiddies. I'm looking for the best kids' books. It's inspired by this thread on the MRFH forum, which has already yielded some real treats. We're trying to build up our kiddie library, but kids' books are freaking expensive so we're starting now so we can build gradually.
What I'm really looking for are a.) books your kids enjoyed or you remember enjoying as a kid, and b.) books that a parent can read over and over again without going too nuts. So far, our library includes:
Make Way for Ducklings
Where the Wild Things Are
When Pigasso Met Mootisse (add this one to your library- it's a riot!)
Duck for President
Goodnight Moon
and a few board books (including a Penn State one). I plan on adding The Wolves in the Walls (on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
poolman's recommendation), Romeow and Drooliet, and the Dr. Suess collection, but I'd like to know what else you guys have really enjoyed.
Two: recs for me! I'm starting back on Weight Watchers, and what I did last time was rewarded myself every 5 pounds. It can't be a food or food-related reward (except for light cookbooks) and it can't be clothing until I hit my goal, but books are perfect. Especially since they are not terribly expensive and can be ordered from Amazon. So any good recs? I like sci-fi and fantasy, preferably where there's a lot of focus on interpersonal relations. Right now I'm reading A Game of Thrones and LOVING it. Plus, if anyone does have a good light cookbook recommendation that's not Cooking Light or Weight Watchers, I'm all ears to that, too. (Although I have a pretty good stash there.)
Thanks in advance!
I'm looking for two types of recs, both books.
One: Books for kiddies. I'm looking for the best kids' books. It's inspired by this thread on the MRFH forum, which has already yielded some real treats. We're trying to build up our kiddie library, but kids' books are freaking expensive so we're starting now so we can build gradually.
What I'm really looking for are a.) books your kids enjoyed or you remember enjoying as a kid, and b.) books that a parent can read over and over again without going too nuts. So far, our library includes:
Make Way for Ducklings
Where the Wild Things Are
When Pigasso Met Mootisse (add this one to your library- it's a riot!)
Duck for President
Goodnight Moon
and a few board books (including a Penn State one). I plan on adding The Wolves in the Walls (on
poolman's recommendation), Romeow and Drooliet, and the Dr. Suess collection, but I'd like to know what else you guys have really enjoyed. Two: recs for me! I'm starting back on Weight Watchers, and what I did last time was rewarded myself every 5 pounds. It can't be a food or food-related reward (except for light cookbooks) and it can't be clothing until I hit my goal, but books are perfect. Especially since they are not terribly expensive and can be ordered from Amazon. So any good recs? I like sci-fi and fantasy, preferably where there's a lot of focus on interpersonal relations. Right now I'm reading A Game of Thrones and LOVING it. Plus, if anyone does have a good light cookbook recommendation that's not Cooking Light or Weight Watchers, I'm all ears to that, too. (Although I have a pretty good stash there.)
Thanks in advance!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2006-01-09 03:41 pm (UTC)Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle. I used to recite this as I rocked my kids to sleep.
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss. It's just silly fun. You get to make ridiculous noises, all for the sake of literacy. It's awesome.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. & Joan Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert. Try not to tap your feet when you read this one.
Freight Train by Donald Crews. Not a lot of words in this one, but the illustrations are eye-catching, and there's a certain comforting rhythm that goes along with reading it -- kind of like riding a train.
Alphabatics by Suse MacDonald. The best alphabet book I've ever found (and I've been through a lot of them, as a teacher and a parent.) The illustrations are imaginitive and fun. My current copy has so much tape holding it together, that's how loved it is in my house.
Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins. Again, not a lot of words, but the pictures speak for themselves.
Obviously, a few of these books are more appropriate for a couple/few years down the line, but they were the first ones that came to mind. Good luck with your search! So much good stuff out there.
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Date: 2006-01-09 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 04:08 pm (UTC)Robert Munsch: Love You Forever. Just try and read it without crying. I don't know anybody who's managed yet. All the Robert Munsch books will be great when Toby's a little older. Paper Bag Princess is my favourite.
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Date: 2006-01-09 04:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 04:54 pm (UTC)My niece and nephew both like Maurice Sendak - You have Where the Wild Things Are already, but the other they adore is Chicken Soup With Rice. And Ezra Jack Keats has several books which are wonderful - like The Snowy Day. Swimmy by Robert... Limmel or Limnel or something like that is another favorite. And I second Robert Munsch. There are so many children's books - it can be overwhelming - but I tend to prefer a lot of the old classics.
For you, I recommended them to Ignipes and she loved them: Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Epic Sci fi, but so much more, based on John Keats unfinished poem. The first book is almost like a sci fi Canterbury Tales where you get to know the characters and their history and reasons for being there, and the second is the "okay, you know who they are and why they're there - here's what happens and how it plays out" book. (There are also 2 sequels - Endymion and Rise of Endymion, which I also love, but H and FoH are better overall) Simmons is an amazing storyteller and so creative, and his characters are fantastic. He doesn't waste words, (nor bother much with adjectives like another author we know) but the settings are so alive and vivid. They're my favorite sci fi genre books so I may be a little biased, but they're definitely worth reading!
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Date: 2006-01-09 04:56 pm (UTC)Don't forget Hippos Go Berserk! With a title like that, how can you go wrong?
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Date: 2006-01-09 05:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 05:29 pm (UTC)^_^xx
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Date: 2006-01-09 05:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 05:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 05:50 pm (UTC)We also have very large (and I bet not even valuable) collections of the toy engines...
^_^
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Date: 2006-01-09 06:12 pm (UTC)Where's My Cow? by Terry Pratchett
Mirrormas by Neil Gaiman (I was looking at this at the bookstore the other day and thinking I wanted to get it for my children. And then I thought maybe I was going insane because as of yet I don't want to have any. :p )
The Lorax by Dr. Suess. This was always my favorite Suess book.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin and the others in the series.
The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo. I don't know about it, because it's a standard fairy tale and you can get him whole books of those if you wish, but the drawings aer wonderful and I used to check it out every other week.
If you need any more recs let me know, my friend has just graduated with her Early Childhood Education degree and she knows all about childrens books. And we tend to go on scouting missions from time to time.
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Date: 2006-01-09 06:15 pm (UTC)Gah! What they expect you to pay for those engines, and even the stupid wooden track. *shudders* We bought a few of the engines, the favorites, and made up the rest with the cheaper stuff. I'm just relieved it's all interchangable.
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Date: 2006-01-09 06:29 pm (UTC)^_^xx
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Date: 2006-01-09 06:54 pm (UTC)Beth has said wonderful things about Carey's Kushiel books; they're on the list for me. I was a huge fan of Cryptonomicon, and generally am quite fond of Neal Stephenson's writing. Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle was another recent hit with me.
Good luck!
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Date: 2006-01-09 06:55 pm (UTC)As for books for you, I'd recommend:
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Date: 2006-01-09 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 06:56 pm (UTC)Oh, that horrible. I think I'd have cried. At my house, we've lost a few to the dog. Sigh.
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Date: 2006-01-09 07:00 pm (UTC)At least a dog is deserving! :D I hope...
^_^xx
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Date: 2006-01-09 07:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 08:12 pm (UTC)re: Love you Forever: My husband was in an airport book shop with my sister in law, and saw that book. He said to her "betcha can't read it without crying". Sure enough, she was bawling at the end and kept saying "you bastard!" to my hubs. ;D
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Date: 2006-01-09 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 11:35 pm (UTC)Mama Mama/Papa Papa - simple rhyming book about animal babies and their parents.
Guji Guji - crocodile raised by ducks. About 2-3yrs/up.
Rainbow All Around Me - I have yet to figure out why this darn book is so popular with BOTH girls, but whenever they get it out of the library, I spend the entire week reading it a zillion times.
Almost anything by Simms Tabak.
Duck in the Truck (also Fix-It Duck, same author). Duck gets himself into trouble. Rhyming book. Ages 2-3/up.
For you:
Have you read any of the Robin Hobbs books?
Farseer Trilogy starts with Assassin's Apprentice
Liveship Trilogy starts with Ship of Magic
Tawny Man Trilogy starts with Fool's Errand.
It's loosely helpful to read them in that order, although the only REALLY important thing is to read Farseer before Tawny Man.
The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Pat Wrede and
Cookbook: Fix it and Forget it - Lightly. Slow-cooker recipes; I only just purchased this recently, but it looks good. If you don't have a slow-cooker, I recommend you get one. Very handy if you have a small one. Assemble the meal in the morning, dinner cooks itself.
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Date: 2006-01-10 03:08 am (UTC)My youngest is now 10 so I really can't remember too many of the others we read when they were small, although I would recommend any well illustrated collections of nursery rhymes and fairy tales.
I'm reading the latest Game of Thrones book, A Feast for Crows right and it just keeps getting better. I recommend David Edding's Belgariad Trilogy and Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy.
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Date: 2006-01-10 04:44 am (UTC)I'd recommend:
1) 'If You Give A Mouse A Cookie' by Laura Joffe Numeroff as well as the follow ups 'If You Give A Pig A Pancake' & 'If You Give A Moose A Muffin'.
2) 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle
3) 'Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type' by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
4) any book by Sandra Boynton
Since you have a boy, he'd love the 'Walter the Farting Dog' series. It's very very funny!
My favorite of all time is 'Green Eggs and Ham'.
If you want to save a lot of money, do what I did and join the Children's Book of the Month Club (http://www.cbomc.com/). I've saved hundreds of dollars with them.
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Date: 2006-01-10 05:52 am (UTC)I second pretty much everyone else's recommendations. And not just "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", but also "The Very Busy Spider", "The Very Quiet Cricket", and "The Very Lonely Firely".
In addition to "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" there is "Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?"
There's also a sequel to "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." It's "Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday". Not quite as good but still charming.
In addition to the Barenstein Bears books being good for certain situations (doctor visits, etc.) the Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer are also good for the same things. They are definitely ones to read before buying though so you know they say what you want them to say.
Several books by P.D. Eastman were favorites of mine when I was little:
"Big Dog, Little Dog"
"Go Dog Go"
"Are You My Mother?"
"Sam and the Firefly"
Some "Little Golden Books":
"Let's Go All Around the Neighborhood" by Patty Thomas
"Katie the Kitten" by Kathryn Jackson
"The Pokey Little Puppy" by Janette Sebring Lowrey
Other recommendations:
The classic Corduroy books -- "Corduroy" and "A Pocket for Corduroy" by Don Freeman
"Blueberries for Sal" by Robert McCloskey
"We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Dan Rosen
The "Pinkerton" books by Steve Kellogg (though "Pinkerton, Behave!" had a robber with a gun at the end so some people might not want to read that to small children)
All of Chris Van Allsburg's books (the art is beautiful and the stories are entrancing)
"Caretakers of Wonder" by Cooper Edens
"Good as New" by Barbara Douglass
"Millicent Maybe" by Ellen Weiss
"Bored, Nothing to Do" by Peter Spier
"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" by Judi Barrett
A few of these books are out of print but can sometimes be found on Ebay or through Amazon's used book sellers for good prices.
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Date: 2006-01-10 09:44 pm (UTC)And I know they're all a few years down the line, but hey- I remember I had two levels of books. Books that my mom read me knowing I'd read them, and books that were way too advanced, that I sort of "relaxed" to. Plus, it will take a while to build our library! :) Thanks!
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Date: 2006-01-10 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-10 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-10 09:48 pm (UTC)Thanks for both types of recs!
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Date: 2006-01-10 09:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-10 09:51 pm (UTC)I'll have to check out Hyperion and the assorted books that go with it. I've heard good things about them before and never quite made it there!
Thanks!
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Date: 2006-01-10 09:54 pm (UTC)But if they're as bad as you say, he can read them :)
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Date: 2006-01-10 09:56 pm (UTC)I've heard the If You Give A... books recommended several times as well. Thanks for the recs!
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Date: 2006-01-10 09:57 pm (UTC)The Lorax was definitely going to be on our list, especially as both hubby and I work on environmental issues. :) Thans for the recs- some of those I remember hearing about, but had totally forgotten!
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Date: 2006-01-10 09:59 pm (UTC)And I LOVE the Dragonrider series. :) Pern was actually my first fandom!!! :)
Thanks!
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Date: 2006-01-10 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-10 10:03 pm (UTC)And I have both a slow cooker and Fix it and Forget It... and you're so right. SO easy, especially since Toby naps right around the right time!
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Date: 2006-01-10 10:05 pm (UTC)What number in the series is A Feast For Crows, btw? I have Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings.
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Date: 2006-01-10 10:07 pm (UTC)And thanks so much for the recs! It's really great hearing wha's worked for other people.
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Date: 2006-01-10 10:10 pm (UTC)Feel free to stop by any time :)
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Date: 2006-01-10 10:20 pm (UTC)Winnie the Pooh, Roald Dahl maybe? And I still quite like around the World Fairy Tales (http://www.biblio.com/books/27389899.html). The ISBN is on that page and they're retold by Vratislav Stovicek and translated by Vera Gissing. Where the Wild Things by Maurice Sendak is always fun. Goodnight Moon as well.
Hope that gives you some ideas. :)
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Date: 2006-01-11 01:47 am (UTC)For slightly older kids, the Toot & Puddles books are wonderfully clever and sweet.
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Date: 2006-01-11 08:35 am (UTC)^_^
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Date: 2006-01-11 01:13 pm (UTC)got enough recs yet?!?
Date: 2006-01-13 05:13 am (UTC)For when he's a bit older, Katie and the Big Snow by the same person who did Mike Mulligan, even if you don't live in the frozen North. Harry the Dirty Dog and the sequels. Maurice Sendak has a cute book about manners called 'What do you say Dear?' that's great. And a big second rec for Chicken Soup with Rice (I saw that on the list somewhere, right?)!
For you, how about the Thursday Next series of fantasy/mysteries? Lots of puns, wordplay and people jumping into and out of books. Jasper Fforde wrote them (that's not a typo--apparently he's Welsh and they have a consonant quota over there)and there are four to date so far. The first one is The Eyre Affair, then Lost in a Good Book, the Well of Lost Plots and Something Rotten. Great fun and mega-genre crossing.
Good luck with your efforts and treasure the time you get to spend reading to baby boy.
Books!
Date: 2006-04-02 06:43 am (UTC)I don't know if it's too commercialized or whatever, but my friends' kid likes Dora [the Explorer], and it's multicultural, which is cool.
"one kitten is not too many" was a favorite [might be out of print?]. Also "Moses the Kitten" by James Herriot.
And, have to wait for past-the-grabbing-stage, but there is an awesome picture and text book, 'primates', with every photographed primate included. [I bought it in college when I took 'behavior and ecology of primates']
For yourself, and maybe even the youngling: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. This is one of my all-time favorite books. The pediatrician's office gave it to me when I was ten, cuz they knew I was a bookworm and beyond the rest of the stuff in the toy trunk [after each appointment, you could pick out some little toy].
I absolutely adore this book. Stars a very cool young lady, who has always been a tomboy in a world that doesn't take so kindly to that--and then she goes to a place where there is the serious riding of horseback and learning swordfighting and earthy magic. Love, love, love it! Also the prequel, 'the hero and crown', set in the same magic world, several generations before. McKinley is also known for her retellings of fairy tales, such as 'beauty and the beast' and 'robin hood'.
I have a TON of Robert Heinlein to rec, and there is definitely interpersonal interaction, but I don't know if you've already read some of it.
I guess start with Stranger in a Strange Land or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, or Friday if you want to have super kick-ass chick in the starring role.
Some folks think RAH is sexist or racist, but...eh. I don't see it, overall. As far as I can tell, he was very open and accepting--several books deal with a future in which people have gotten past their jealousy and parentage issues, and non-monogamy is the norm; especially large families with multiple parents. I don't personally live that way, but I think it is a fascinating look at a potential future.
Enjoy!