If you had a lot of money to spend at the bookstore...

[Jenn98]

I have about $120+ in gift cards to our local independent book store. Their selection isn't huge, but they do have a decent kids area and are more than happy to order anything a customer wants. So, what would you get if you had a bunch of money to spend? DD is 12 months old and really likes books. Her favs right now are The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carl and Bear Snores On, author's name has slipped my mind. What would you get for your DC? Anyone want to help me spend my money? :)

[kimbe]

I would keep going with Eric Carle. DD likes every book that we have by him. We also love Sandra Boynton. Right now, we are working on getting DD more Dr. Seusse books. She really likes the rhythm of the books! We also like the books by Kevin Henkes --- the Lilly series in particular. They are just adorable! HTH!!!!

[jgriffin]

Oh, lucky you! E likes the Dr Seuss books we have, but only the board book versions (he doesn't have the patience for the unabridged ones yet). His favorite is Goodnight Gorilla.

Books we have (or that are on my wishlist for him), that we haven't gotten to yet, include:

Millions of Cats (Wanda Gag)
Pugdog (Andrea U'ren)
Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak)

Jen

[Momof3Labs]

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series - pig a pancake, moose a muffin, they are all very cute!!

[C99]

I Kissed the Baby, Mary Murphy
Pat the Bunny, Dorothy Kunhardt
Jazz Baby, Carole Little Weatherton
Chugga Chugga Choo Choo, Kevin Lewis
Freight Train, Donald Crews


Max & Ruby books by Rosemary Wells

[jennifer_r]

These are our favorites at that age:
I Know a Rhino by Charles Fuge
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You by Dr. Seuss
The Shape of Me and other Stuff by Dr. Seuss
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Sandra Boynton books
Chugga Chugga Boom Boom by Kevin (?) Lewis
Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert (she is the illustrator for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, love her work)
I am a Bunny by Richard Scarry (my DH loved this book so much, this was the last book he read to DD before putting her in her crib - she loved it too)
Silly Sally by Audrey Wood

I think that's enough to keep you busy :) Have fun shopping.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_garnet_6m.gif[/img][/url]

[Beth568]

Wow, what a great thing! I'd be in heaven with lots of money to spend at a bookstore.

We love Eric Carle, the Ollie books by Olivier Dunrea, Bark, George! by Jules Feiffer, and Time for Bed by Mem Fox.

If you're using gift cards, it might be nice to use them to buy DD a collection with a theme - books by one author, for example. If I were buying a child a big gift, I'd love to be able to buy a full collection of Eric Carle books, for example.

Have fun! :)

[Jen841]

IMO you can never go wrong with Curious George! We have them all... ok, confession, we have just about anything CG we find.

Jude's all time favorite we are now introducing to Evan... So Big, and Elmo book. We have worn out a few copies already. Evan is doing what it says which is fun.

[WooChx]

I Know a Rhino by Charles Fuge
Sometimes I like to curl up in a ball by Charles Fuge
Found you little wombat by Charles Fuge
Swim, Little Wombat, Swim by Charles Fuge
I am a bunny by Ole Risom
Blankie by Leslie Patricelli
Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Kevin Lewis
Who's Hiding in the Sea? by Parragon Publishing
How Kind! by Mary Murphy
Big Bugs, Small Bugs by Alex Lluch

[thomma]

Lucky you!
You can't go wrong with Eric Carle. Ds loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear!

Some of our faves:
Color Farm and Color Zoo both by Lois Ehlert
Peek a Moo - Marie Torres Cimarusti
Cookie's Week - Cindy Ward
Spot books-Eric Hill (dd's favorites!)
Blue Hat, Green Hat- Boynton (first book ds "read" to me)

Have fun-
Kim
t&e 5/03

[BaileyBea]

I think you got some wonderful recommendations. I would set aside a portion of the $ towards picture books too. It's a great time to start collecting some picture book classics or wonderfully illustrated books.

Here's a list of those:

* Where the Wild Things Are
* Stellaluna
* Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type
* Harold and the Purple Crayon
* Tuesday
* The Three Pigs
* Eloise
* Loretta
* The Polar Express
* Jumanji
* Just a Dream
* East of the Sun and West of the Moon
* Sleeping Bunny

I don't know all the authors but the bookstore can help you.

Have fun shopping!

[duvie]

Some favorites: Corduroy, Froggy books (Jonathon London?), Kiss Goodnight by Amy Hest, Virginia Lee Burton books (Mike Mulligan, The Little House, Katy and the Big Snow), authors: Ezra Jack Keats, Kevin Henkes, Rosemary Wells, Richard Scarry books (DS LOVES this 2 foot high board book called My Biggest Word Book Ever).

I just discovered Nadine Bernard Westcott books- The Lady with the Alligator Purse, Skip to My Lou, Miss Mary Mack, Peanut Butter and Jelly- the illustrations crack me up!

I would definitely think about getting paper back and hard cover rather than all board books, since I think that board books are time limited.

[jbowman]

I love "Hug" by Jez Alborough, "Hands Can" by Cheryl Willis Hudson and John-Francis Bourke, and "Babies on the Go" by Linda Ashman and Jane Dyer. She may be a little young, but the Olivia books are great IMO.

[kcimato]

I would spend it on some non fiction books and there are some excellent ones out there.

Steve Jenkins has great ones on animals. Those that come to mind are
Actual Size
Move
I See a Kooabura
What do you Do with a Tail Like This?

Patricia Pingry has a series of board books about famous americans
George Washington Abe Lincoln Ben Franklin and also usually has one on the major holidays America's Birthday The Star Spangled Banner, Easter, St Pat's Day, Valentines Day and so on. They are great for little ones.

I love children's art books especially those from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Museum Shapes
Museum 123
Another good one is The Children's Art Book

Julie Merberg has board books out on artists, called A Picnic with Monet, Dancing with Degas and Sharing Renoir.

Jerry Pallotta does some great alphabet books
Bird Alphabet Book
Flower Alphabet Book Ocean Alphabet Book The Icky Bug Alphabet Book. He has about 20 of these in all.
My new favorite is called Traveling Babies by Kathryn O Galbraith.It has an actual photograph of an animal moving with it's mom then the page next to it has a baby with their mom or dad moving much the same way. For instance it has a kangaroo jumping with the baby in the pocket the next page shows a dad with a baby in the jolly jumper.

She can grow in to all of these books and they can be read on all different levels. They also make great reference books.

Don't forget poetry books and nursery rhyme books.

[The Review Mommy]

That's great that your local independent book store will do special orders! :) Time to do some reasearching...;)

My MIL is a Elemetary teacher and probebly has every great book known to man in her classroom lol! :) We borrow from her then buy the ones we like. They are mostly the classics (you know the ones that have been around for 50 yrs) and a lot of Caldecott winners. Here is the List of Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938-Present
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/caldecottmedal/caldecottwinners/caldecottmedal.htm

Here are some of my favorites:
*Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny, Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
*The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle
*Guess How Much I Love You by Sam Mcbratney
*Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
*Where Is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz
http://www.karenkatz.com/work19.htm

*Where the Wild Things Are, Alligators All Around, Chicken Soup with Rice, One Was Johnny, Little Bear Collections, and Pierre by Maurice Sendak
http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/books?type=author&Ntt=maurice+sendak&N=0&id=3541240363183&find=maurice+sendak&ad=OVBKSAUTH&No=0&Ntk=author

*Olivia by Ian Falconer
***Eloise by Kay Thompson
*Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
***Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird

***#### and Jane by William S. Gray
***Flicka Ricka Dicka or the Snipp Snapp Snurr books by Maj Lindman
***Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, Lentil, Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
***The Year At Maple Hill Farm, and Our Animal Friends At Maple Hill Farm by Alice Provensen
***The Little House, Maybelle the Cable Car, Katy and the Big Snow, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Choo Choo by Virginia Lee Burton
*The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous
*The Rooster Crows : A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles by Maud Petersham
*Chanticleer and the Fox by Geoffrey Chaucer
*Seasons by Gerda Muller
***Jeanne-Marie books by Francoise Seignobosc
***The Springs Of Joy, A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays, 1 Is One by Tasha Tudor

*Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
*Harry the Dirty Dog, Harry by the Sea, No Roses for Harry! by Gene Zion
*The Carrot Seed, The Happy Egg, I CAN FLY by Ruth Krauss
***Bread and Jam for Frances, Bedtime for Frances, A Baby Sister for Frances by Russell Hoban

*The Napping House, Quick As a Cricket by Audrey Wood
*It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
*Corduroy by Don Freeman
*Stone Soup, Once a Mouse... by Marcia Brown
*Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business by Esphyr Slobodkina
*The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord
*Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
*Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
*The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
*May I Bring A Friend? by Beatrice de Regniers
*The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
*Jamberry by Bruce Degen

*If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Pig a Party, If You Take a Mouse to School, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Joffe Numeroff

*Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
*The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
*Elmer by David McKee
*Baby Food, One Lonely Sea Horse, Food For Thought, Dog Food, Play With Your Food, How Are You Peeling? by Joost Elffers and Saxton Freymann
*Oh, the Places You'll Go!, Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Daisy-Head Mayzie, Hop on Pop, Wacky Wednesday, Horton Hears a Who! The Lorax, The Sneetches, You're Only Old Once! by Dr. Seuss
*DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS!, THE PIGEON FINDS A HOT DOG!, DON'T LET THE PIGEON STAY UP LATE!, THE PIGEON LOVES THINGS THAT GO!, THE PIGEON HAS FEELINGS TOO!, LEONARDO, THE TERRIBLE MONSTER!, KNUFFLE BUNNY: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems
http://www.mowillems.com/books.php

*Noah's Ark by Jerry Pinkney
*If Jesus Came to My House by Joan G.
*Thomas Prayer For A Child Board Book by Rachel Field

*Love You Forever, The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch
*Good Night, Gorilla, and Officer Buckle & Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
*How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms? by Jane Yolen
*We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury
*Eating the Alphabet, Waiting for Wings, Feathers for Lunch, Growing Vegetable Soup, Planting a Rainbow Lois Ehlert
*Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley

DK Publishing has some *AWSOME* books! Big Book of Transportation, Big Book of Trains, Big Book of Airplanes, Big Book of Animals, Big Book of Dinosaurs and more on pretty much everything-bugs, flowers etc...
http://us.dk.com/static/cs/us/11/childrens/intro.html

***3 stars=absolute favs! ;)
Rebekah

[smokey26]

Wow! Those are some lists!

Here are our most loved books so far (some of them have been mentioned a few times):

I Am a Bunny - Risom/Scarry - she LOVES this! GREAT illustrations.
The Good Night Book - Boynton - short and fun bedtime book
Blue Hat Green Hat - Boynton - silly
Blankie - Patricelli - funny, adorable
Time for Bed - Fox/Dyer - rhythmic, sweet, great bedtime transition
Peek a Boo - Ferri - she LOVES this flap book - always bring on planes
DK Touch and Feel Wild Animals - especially loved when around age 1
Daddy Kisses - Gutman/Hallensleben - special daddy book
Doggies - Boynton - I'm not always in the mood for all the barking but this cracks her up every time

and Big Red Barn, Goodnight Moon, Pat the Bunny - of course, but you probably already have these

Julie-Anne

[jgriffin]

Rebekah -- thanks for the great lists and link to the Caldecott page!

btw...is that "Richard and Jane" by William S. Gray? Guess the language filter doesn't like some classic kids books. :D

"***#### and Jane by William S. Gray"

[The Review Mommy]

(jgriffin) Here you are:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/104-4484548-0097564?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=read+with+####+and+jane&Go.x=8&Go.y=8

They are selling some of my favs on Magic Cabin:

http://www.magiccabin.com/productCollections.asp?section_id=4&cur_index=2&join_key=288&gc=8701&sc=1004&cm_type=&cm_val=&cm_pos=&cm_pgc=&ps=&clnm=books%20departments&cnm=

http://www.magiccabin.com/productCollections.asp?section_id=4&join_key=288&sc=1004&body_sc=1004&gc=8701&clnm=Books%20Departments

Enjoy! :)
Rebekah

[kcimato]

I would get a copy of Jim Trelease's Read Alound Handbook.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143037390/sr=1-1/qid=1154268576/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-0734400-1436927?ie=UTF8&s=books

It's a very good reference book on books that are good read alouds. Everything he suggests is tried and true. I go to this book often( I'm a teacher). He has book suggestions for all ages.

[JenniferMC1971]

Wow, you are so lucky! Everyone has had great suggestions, too. I bought Picture This by Alison Jay for a friend's DD's 1st b-day, and I liked it so much I bought another for my DD. It's just a picture and a word on each page, but then you can find each previous word somewhere in the next picture, too. So it's good for little ones and those a bit older too. It's beautifully illustrated.

-Jennifer, mom to Brigid, born 9/14/05

[TracyBee]

I love to purchase books for my DD!

Some of her very favorites are

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck
Zin Zin Zin a Violin by Loyd Moss
Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Do Donkeys Dance by Melanie Walsh (this one absolutely cracks her up)

Hope that helps! I could go on and on about great books! If you need more, let me know.

[sdbc]

Also by Lois Ehlert: Waiting for Wings and Planting a Rainbow--two of our absolute favorites!

Also, for later, Olivia books and Madeline books.

Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04

[sdbc]

Holy moly! I'm printing this list and bringing it to the library! Thanks!
Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04