a plea for books!

[daniwithtea]

okay, so my dad and his wife need nothing for the baby, they say. but when i said "books", my dad lept and said "yes! books! buy books for the baby! books!" i never took my father for such a book hound, but hey - this kid's going to be getting books from me for the rest of her life; I might as well start now. so i ask you, dear readers (and a certain librarian who i'm sure will have some faboo suggestions): what are some good books I can start off my baby sister's collection with? keep in mind that the maternal grandparents are uber-catholics, so i should probably stay away from the "books for kids with gay family members" reading list, at least for now.

Here's what I have so far:
So What's It Like To Be A Cat? by Karla Kuskin - a very cute book I saw at the store tonight.
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type and Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin - I adore Click, Clack, Moo (even have my own copy), and now there's a sequel! whee!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle - doesn't every kid have a copy of this book?
Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss - again, doesn't every kid have this? If not, they should.
Just Go To Bed by Mercer Mayer - a very cute book that I used to own but I believe went the way of my former nephew's book collection

Some of these books I'll end up getting her for the holidays, like Robert Sabuda's The Night Before Christmas Pop-Up, which yes, I realize is a completely inappropriate gift for a baby, but she's my baby sister, damnit, and I'll give her what I want to.

And while I recognize that I have many years to fill her bookshelves, I'd like to get her library started off right. We're leaving in the morning to go into hiding until Sunday, but I plan to order these when I get back so they get here in time for the shower in two weeks. So please fill me in! Also, if anyone knows of a good source for kids' books online (other than the mega-sites), please let me know.

Comments

[lavablu.livejournal.com]

After three little girls and now books for lilman I have found hard books that take a beating and soft spongy ones are good for babies initially, actually up to about a year and a half. Mostly because as soon as they can they are gonna start trying to snatch it out of your hands, chew on it, beat you with it and tear it apart. The subject matter is really more for the adult reading and pop-ups are a big nono until about 2 if ya dont want to be frustrated by seeing books ripped apart. Things that have shiny stuff, ones with different textures and bright colors are always good. Number and letter books also animal books are good to start at about 1ish because the repetition of them helps the kid learn.

[okayokayigive.livejournal.com]

yeah, i know. (i was an early childhood ed major - i got this shit in spades). i'm being the overindulgent older sister. they've got all the practical stuff - i really want to go for the good stuff. i still have my firest stuffed animals and my first books - i might not have known it existed for the first several years of my life, but it was given to me by very special people, and the books especially started me on a life-long road of eating books faster than i can buy them or get them from the library. and if the stuff gets ripped to shreds? not a big deal. i'm a firm believer that kids should get dirty and destroy things. it's part of growing up.

[lavablu.livejournal.com]

It took me awhile to not get this lil crazy streak when my oldest niece, as a baby, would shred her books. When I was little we didn't really have money to buy them so we got them from the library but my mother would stress to treat the books with the utmost delicacy because she couldn't replace them, its an anal thing thats carried over, I dont even leave books open laying on things so it doesnt break the binding. My whole family are big readers and I still get books for all three of my nieces each christmas. This last year my middle niece said, Aunt Shelly when are you gonna get us fun stuff, but a week later she sat in my lap reading it to me so I didnt feel so bad.
I adored "Where the Wild Things Are" by sendak. I recently got to enjoy The Living tree with my youngest niece after my sweeties reminded me of its existance. I always loves Suess, fav being "Green eggs and ham". Harold and the Purple Crayon was a big fav. The Rainbow Fish, although I kinda disagree with the moral of sharing so everyone can be the same, but the artwork is beautiful. Goodnight Moon is fun to read to my nieces at bedtime. A really good copy of grims fairy tales is always fun, especially if the artwork is really good, the Met used to sell a version I got for my nieces. I got my nieces Please Baby Please by of all people Spike Lee but they really enjoy the book. They also really like Happy to be Nappy which talks about all the different kinds of hair little girls have and shows a good appreciation for human differences.
Thats all I can think of off the bat that doesn't include dora the explorer, hehe.

[quiet-ness.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, thinking in practical terms -- board books. Babies can spit, chew, or whatever on them, and they hold up fine.

As far as what to buy -- I didn't do much work with early childhood (i.e., books for babies) materials. I'll be able to suggest a lot more when she's old enough for story books and chapter books. :)

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Where's Spot by Eric Hill are two of my favorites for the very young. Anything by Eric Carle, Rosemary Wells, and Mem Fox are also going to be great.

The ALA has a booklist for early childhood on its Born to Read site.

I don't have any suggestions for where to purchase other than the major sources.

Hope this helps!

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

I second Goodnight Moon, and also suggest Pat the Bunny.

And get her a stuffed animal. I got an elephant for my niece when she was born, and it became her favorite thing. She still has it, and it's threadbare, it's been loved on so much. Her parents even bought 2 more of them to give the original a break :-)

[arcadian72.livejournal.com]

Blueberries for Sal by Robert Mitchum (I think???) is an awesome book. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. And ANY of the Sandra Boynton books, which all come in handy dandy board books...like But Not the Hippopotamus, Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs, Barnyard Dance, and the pinnacle (which doesn't come with a board book, but DOES have a CD) Philadelphia Chickens. Theya re my families favorite books, besides the usual Goodnight Moon, Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish Two Fish (my favorite), And Where the Wild Things Are.

Good luck...nieces rock! ;)

[falcngrl.livejournal.com]

Anything (and everything) by Robert Munsch.

and "I love you this much" - I think is the title - about Nutbrown Hare...

My niece's favourite books are the ones I made her out of felt, with all sorts of neat things inside to do/see.

Tanya

[leatherfish.livejournal.com]

I love all of the books by Sandra Boynton (especially Barnyard Dance) and Jory loves to have people read them to him.

Both of us also love all the books by Todd Parr and The Thingy things books by Chris Raschka

Shapesville is good because it promotes being happy no matter what your shape is.

And for the double size-acceptance/pro-gay whammy (keep it at your house :-) ) try to find an old copy of Belinda's Bouquet. I was so happy when I found one for Jory.

[cluebyfourgirl.livejournal.com]

I second Tanya's recomendation of anything Robert Munsch (sp?) but my hands down favourite is "The Paperbag Princess".

This verges on a complete non sequetor but here is a link to a pic of the uber wisk.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/bitterlawngnome/204921.html

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

Frederick or anything else by Leo Lionni
Pat the Bunny
The Runaway Bunny (based, bizarrely, on an old celtic wizards-duel story)
Big Mamma Makes the World by Phyllis Root
Anything illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

Oh, have you seen King & King and King & King & Family?

[okayokayigive.livejournal.com]

thanks, hon! how was war?