What?? No Walter the Farting Dog??

I Am a Bunny my name is nicholas i living in a hollow tree. I am 23 years old and my father used to read me that story it is the one i can read by heart and my dad knows it very well many years later. I just thought that it was so old no one would have it in there collection to read to there children. You have just made my day Thanx Ben.

Okay I'm guessing this is going to turn into a list of all the books everyone thinks you SHOULD be reading Trixie, so I'm going to jump right in and suggest my two all time favourites- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Where the Wild Things Are. And being an Aussie I'm also going to have to suggest Possum Magic. But I am very impressed with the current collection!

We're Going on a Bear Hunt is absolutely essential reading.

Ben, What a great picture!!!!!! I love it!

I am the only one to notice that Trixie is reading about Biohazards? Is that an actual children's book?

Baby Faces is Jackson's favorite book to read on his own right now.

Come on Erika everyone is reading their kids BIOHAZARD these days.

Oh yeah... there's Goodnight Moon, the first book I could read out loud. Glad to see that's there. Beware the bowl of mush.

Is that a Curious George cloth book? If so, where'd you find it? We are big George fans at our house...

2 books we could not do without: Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb and Big Red Barn.

Since we're all recommending books here, I thought I'd throw these two in...The Rainbow Goblins by Ul De Rico (absolutely gorgeous and lush illustration) and another book by Margaret Wise Brown, The Runaway Bunny. My two favorites from childhood.

Why do the animals in The Going-To-Bed Book exercise AFTER their bath???

Oh No!! Wheels on the Bus! You need to drop that book in the diaper genie and twist! Please replace with the Adventures of Gaspard & Lisa.

Not exactly on the subject, but have you heard about the "Baby Einstein" DVD's? I've heard rave reviews from parents that they are very educational for babies & toddlers. I'm not a parent, but was wondering what parents think of them.

I also recommend books by Mem Fox like Sleepy Bears, Koala Lou and Tough Boris.

I strongly second The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Lori, I don't have kids yet, but think the baby Einstein videos are great. (All the kids I watch age 4 mo. to 3 love them). However, a study did come out recently about how ANY TV for children under the age of 2 has long term attention effects...but I still love the videos!

These are all great suggestions. (Especially The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Runaway Bunny which I remember from childhood) thanks!

I don't know where the Curious George cloth book was bought because it was a present. And there's no ISBN to use as a reference. Sorry :(

I added links to as many book titles as I could. If I didn't link to the right book in your comment, please let me know and I'll fix it.

Last, yes, that's a copy of Biohazard, the board book edition.

Update [11/29/04] I have decided to try out the Amazon Associates program. If you include a link (URL) to something in your comment, I'll fix the formating if necessary, but not change the link. If you don't include a link, I'm going to link to Amazon to try to make a few pennies to offset hosting costs.

I have a 3 1/2 yr old boy and an 11 month old boy, and my two favorites are: Daddy Is a Doodlebug (and the other 2 books by this author) and The Day the Babies Crawled Away has beautiful illustrations. Anything by Sandra Boynton of course!!
I have been reading your blogs for awhile now, and just love it! Keep up the great work!

Thanks for putting the monkey-head book next to the chronicle of Biopreparat. They are intimately related. Also, I'd like to point out that the last page of the monkey book lets you stick your fingers into some orange fuzzy bits that become the dancing legs of a penguin. Why is this feature not available in more books? I thought that was awesome.

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type and Hep Cat are some of our, okay my, favorites. If you read them a thousand times, they need to be good.

ones i like, they may be a little too much for trixie, are Neil Gaiman's The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and Wolves In The Walls. great stories and just as good artwork. alli doesnt understand them yet but i sure love them.

--on preview this comment thing doesnt like html ;)

Great pic. As this thread clearly shows, the best part of having a kid is the books. Are you trying to sucker in some of the non-parents here by showing this seductive shot? You know, the pyramid scheme thing. Anyway, we have the big version of HUG and Sophie loves it. I didn't like it at first b/c of the lack of words, but it really lends itself to quite a dramatic presentation.

okay so aiden is stuck on one book...Ten Little Ladybugs. do you know how many times we have read it!?!

Eileen Christelow's Five Little Monkeys... books are so funny and my kids love them, especially Don't Wake Up Mama! and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.

What book is Trixie touching? Is it her special book or just the one she happened to touch while you were taking the picture?

I've been enjoying this site for quite a while. I got my first 2 grandchildren this year and I've enjoyed reading about Trixie and the stages that she has gone through and then anticipating those stages with my granddaughters.

I love this particular post, there's just nothing better than holding a little one and reading their favorite books to them. Although there are some books that require so many readings that you just have to misplace them once in a while.

Great picture. I see that someone already mentioned Click Clack Moo. I'll second that recommendation, and also add Close Your Eyes, about a little tiger who doesn't want to go to sleep.

Trixie is touching a big Disney Classic Storybook in this shot, but it's not her favorite right now. That distinction goes to Knuffle Bunny and Big Little.

My favorites are I am a Bunny and Good Night Gorilla They both have amazing illustrations.

My wife and I have been using Baby Einstein books and videos since our 14 month old was about four months old. His fav's are: Water Water Everywhere (a bathtub safe book) and Windows to Color.

Five Minutes Peace is a must. Mom and Dad will love it even if Trixie doesn't!

ben- have you looked for the pink balloon in every picture? I love that detail ---- every single picture has the balloon somewhere.

I am referring to the Good Night Gorilla book in the above post!

Also, the family pictures that include Gorilla? Very cute.

My husband is sad for the little mouse that lugs that big ole banana everywhere for his Gorilla. Gorilla doesn't even say Good Night to the poor little guy after eating the banana....

Great pic! If you like Good Night Gorilla (one of our favorites too!), check out 10 Minutes Till Bedtime by the same author. You'll find illustrative references to Good Night Gorilla within the book.

Other illustrative "gotchas" and references... In Good Night Gorilla the keys are the same colors as the cages, and each animal has a plush version of itself in its own cage. In The Runaway Bunny, look for a painting hanging on the wall from Goodnight Moon.

I loved this picture, been lurking for quite a while, my kids are right in the middle of growing up, but I wanted to recommend any books by Robert Munsch, Love You Forever especially.

Good Night Gorilla is awesome.

I recommend any books by Eric Carle, and the book Where the Wild Things Are.

Three cheers for the Curious George selections! My 16 month old son's room is entirely CG and he loves it :) He's fast asleep with his terry cloth Curious George tucked under his arm right now. Can't beat Curious George for an offbeat look at things -- a smoking, drinking monkey captured in a jungle but living in a city for a children's book -- they'd never allow that these days!

When Trixie gets old enough to read things to mom and dad, I highly suggest Animalia and other books by Graeme Base. I just bought them for a (27 year old) friend of mine. The artwork is gorgeous, and the best part is all the little details snuck inside the pictures; they'll keep an active mind hunting through those pages for hours.

I love this thread! Reminds me of NPR's annual summer reading list but for kids (and parents) so even better! I agree with all the Good Night Gorilla kudos and love the balloon and mouse with banana on each page details. Graham finds the book incredibly funny - and says "uh oh" each time the page with the eyeballs comes up. I also agree with Ann that the best books are ones you don't mind reading a gazillion times, for that distinction I nominate: Bark, George by the New Yorker cartoonist, Jules Feiffer.

Ben,

If you would like to have a toy store that carries only books and classic toys (board games, stuffed animals, jigsaw puzzles and the like). Ali Cat in the Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro is the place to go. They have all sorts of toys for the littlest child to the young teenager.

Excellent selections...a few more...
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (a great book for kids to say "no" too), Moo Baa La La La (another great book to "talk back to") and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Love the books...

Apologies if this is too off-topic, but a friend of mine is running a holiday fundraiser with many of the illustrators mentioned here (150 total) in order to raise funds for cancer research. Each artist decorated an individual snow flake, and they're being auctioned on EBay. You can see all of the snowflakes at Robert's Snow for Cancer's Cure.

Would have posted sooner, but I was visitting Trixie's great-grandmother and missed this TPOD till now :)

Happy holidays to all!

I read Truck Book by Lawrence Di Fiori to my son, Thomas, at least a thousand times, maybe more!

If Trixie likes Big Little, may I suggest Yummy Yucky by the same author. I actually laughed aloud upon reading it the first time.
"Burgers are YUMMY, Boogers are YUCKY. Blueberries are YUMMY, Blue crayons are YUCKY." etc.
Picture a six-foot-tall, eight-months-pregnant librarian hooting with laughter.

those Sandra Boynton books are the best....

The Little Engine that Could was always a favorite of mine...

"Goodnight Gorilla" is awesome. We read it to our 3-year old all the time. Well, "read" is a bit of a stretch since it has hardly any words.

First of all...this is where I first heard of *Knuffle Bunny*, which Maddie adores, so thanks, Ben. Secondly, in *Goodnight Gorilla," am I the only one who thinks that's a stuffed Ernie in the armadillo's pen? And, thirdly, I second a previous poster's recommendation of Robert Munsch. Maddie's current favorite is *The Paperbag Princess.* All little girls should have that book. (Actually, all little boys should, too!)

I'm CERTAIN it's a stuffed Ernie in Good Night Gorilla! That's such a great book, the pictures are so simple yet there's so much going on.

hi
am looking for a book about a little tiger who doesnt want to go to sleep so his moms says he can stay up all night and of he trundles into the jungle and meets all his friends getting ready for bed .. my sons love this book, and we left is onboard coming back fron holiday, and as i never get the title right, i canīt order it ... please help