Book talk again! what is your 20 month old reading??

[papal]

Leela likes simple plot books now and she can sit through Green Eggs and Ham and Sue Snu.. that is her maximum attention span.
I think she still prefers books that are in rhymes because she likes finishing the sentences.
Sandra Boynton is not cutting it anymore.. she knows them by heart and says NO NO NO if I try to con her into reading a short book because how many times can you read CAT IN THE HAT COMES BACK before wanting to rip your hair out??

What book suggestions do you have for us.. i prefer non-creepy illustrations so NO DR. SEUSS. I mean, what animals are those supposed to be? So confusing!

So, tell me the top 3 books your toddler loves, I need new books!!!

[alkagift]

Ok, this isn't rhyming, but Maisy books are currently the fave in my house. Very simple and don't make me insane (honestly the rhyming kind of makes me crazy after the third time--Hop on Pop is the absolute worst for me, I had to hide it) and they have miniature plots--for example, Maisy goes shopping involves: Maisy visits a friend, he has no food, they go to the grocery, get stuff, pay for it, go home, and yaaaay, have lunch! I honestly don't get it but DS likes them.


Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, who is TWO!

[LucyG]

My DD started to really love If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie at about that age. All are by Laura Joffe Numeroff, and are cute and not too bad to read 876 times consecutively! We also like From Head to Toe by Eric Carle. It features animals making motions, and asks the child to make the same motions (arch back like a cat, thump chest like a gorilla, etc.). Very fun! Another favorite of DD's is Excuse Me! It's Karen Katz's lift-the-flap manners book. HTH!


http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif[/img][/url]
2 years and counting!

[AvasMama]

Well, Ava LOVES Dr. Seuss, but I agree that it is annoying that you can't tell what the animals are. Ava points at them and asks, "Meow?", "Doggie?"

I vote for the Olivia books. They are Ava's new favorite. And pigs are right up your alley! If you want ones that rhyme, we also really like the Madeline books.

Robyn & Ava

[kensjen]

Some of Jonah's current faves:

How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen

-cute rhymes, and fun photos of dinosaurs. There are lots of other things in the
background..toys, pets, etc. that he likes to point out.

If you Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff

-doesn't rhyme, but flows well. The illustrations are really cute, and Jonah loves
pancakes (LOL) so this cracks him up.

The Best Word Book Ever by Richard Scarry

-not a story, but just pages of different scenes with words. Jonah has picked up a lot
of words from this book. The illustrations are great, lots of cute animals. I was a
Richard Scarry fan as a child, I remember this book well.

These are our nightly reads at the moment. I am always on the lookout for new books too, so I will be keeping an eye on this thread.


Oh, BTW Rashmi...we just got a new baby book. Hello Baby, by Lizzy Rockwell. We've only read it a couple of times, but it held his interest. He is really into babies right now. (I guess that is good!) It has great illustrations and a nice story. It is probably a bit above our kids' age level, but I still like it. It goes through pregnancy, bringing the baby home, shows mama BF, etc. Just thought I'd mention it!

[papal]

Sadly the Olivia books are not loved anymore. We have a couple but Leela says "NO EEA (olivia)" when i bring them out.
Ok, off to Borders to check out all these great suggestions!!

[papal]

Thank Allison! The Maisy books sound like something Leela would like.. and me too!

[papal]

Thanks Lucy!! So your dd does not tear out the flaps in the Karen Katz books? Do i have a destructor on my hands? hmmm..
Definitely getting ome Laura Numeroff books! Thanks for the suggestions!

[papal]

Thanks Jen!! I have compiled a list of books.. now I know WHAT to look for.. i went into Barnes and Noble when i was in NYC and my eyes glazed over with the selection. Of course Leela wanted the ELMOOOOOOOO books but we came away with Hippos Go Berserk.. my favourite Boynton book so far!

[murpheyblue]

DD loves books and we have a small truckload. Her current faves are:

-Some Dogs Do - Jez Alborough

-Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type - Doreen Cronin

-The Stray Dog - Mark Simont

-If You Give a Pig a Pancake/If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

[octmom]

Sean has loved _Miss Spider's Tea Party_ for a good while now. I think the illustrations are beautiful. We have the really large board book version and the colors are vibrant.

I picked up _I Know A Rhino_ at TJMaxx recently and I think I like it more than Sean, but he does like it.

We can never get away from _Goodnight Moon_, of course. And we have a boxed set (from Sam's Club) of four abridged Curious George stories in board book format that he likes a lot right now. His favorite of those is _Curious George and the Bunny_.

Hippos Go Berserk is great, but I think Sean has grown a bit weary of the Boynton books at the moment too.

Jerilyn
DS, Sean 10/03

"Baby makes days shorter, nights longer, home happier, and love stronger."

[alkagift]

Oh, and another thing--if you buy them, they're cheap! Check Overstock.com and kidsurplus.com--they're under $4, even full price.

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, who is TWO!

[LucyG]

Well, she went through a not-so-gentle stage with the flap books, but seems to be over it now. I can actually leave her alone with them, though not so much with Pat the Christmas Bunny . . .


http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif[/img][/url]
2 years and counting!

[zuzu]

Sarah is really into Curious George books right now. We got two sets at Costco before she was born - one with four board books and another with 10 or so longer story books that she really likes. The set was a great bargain, as I recall.

Sarah is also enjoying some British classic story books I had as a child, though I forgot how creepy some of the illustrations (and endings!) were. Not sure how much that helps you though.

We have a bunch of the "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" -type books and Sarah enjoys those too.

I'll browse through her bookcase tonight and add more later.

Melissa, mom to Sarah (5/03)

[momtoemma]

My DD loves the Bear Snores On book. I believe it is by Karma Wilson. There are a few other books in the series that are also so cute. I really enjoy reading them. No flaps here, just color illustrations of forest animals (like bears, rabbits, birds, etc...)She also loves Head to Toe by Eric Carle.

[AvasMama]

Love Hippos Go Beserk! Ava does too. I have memorized it so I can "read" it to her to keep her occupied while I am in the shower :)
Robyn & Ava

[ett]

Here are some books that Patrick currently likes:
- Go, Dog, Do and Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
- Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go
- Curious George books
- Clifford books

[cilantromapuche]

Congrats on your new baby!
Abe (who will be 2 July 2nd) loves:

Yo! Yes! which did not impress me when it was given to us. But he LOVES it and it has a great lesson. He has it memorized by now and starts reciting it.

Richard Scarry. Abe loves Huckle. THe DVD's are good too.

Art books. We have the Metropolitan ABC and 123 book and other Art books and he LOVES looking at the art and pointing out the topics (which amazes me)

Christine

[kensjen]

I Know a Rhino is awesome. That is another of Jonah's faves, and I love it, too. He says "reeno"...not sure why, but it makes me laugh. I think it is so funny that he now notices rhinos and hippos in all of our other books. Definitely recommend that book! :)

[babymama]

He loves the book "Mama, Do You Love Me?" by Barbara Joose.

He asked me to read that 5 times this morning. Last night he heard it at least about 7 times. He calls the book "Mama".

I don;t know if they have it in board book format, but Santiago isn't quite ready for paper page books. the version we have is paper page, so I feel like I have to help him turn the pages and make sure he doesn't rip them out.

Just to share - Santiago has definitely outgrown some of the books he previously LOVED. When I open them now, he starts waving bye-bye and he shakes his head "no". So cute.

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03 and
One on the way, due 01/03/06

[ett]

>Art books. We have the Metropolitan ABC and 123 book and
>other Art books and he LOVES looking at the art and pointing
>out the topics (which amazes me)

We also have Museum ABC from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. DS loves to look at the pictures. It's a great book to expose art to babies and toddlers.

[TraciG]

Sydney loves her book with flaps BUT I had to tape a few of the flaps back A FEW TIMES !!!!!!! Sydney likes Clifford a lot lately also.

[TraciG]

this was a good thread, good suggestions !!!

[TraciG]

this was a good thread, good suggestions !!!

[TraciG]

computer screw up

[RwnMayfair]

Taran's only 19 months, but if he's in the mood to be read to, he loves the Laura Numeroff ones (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Take a Mouse to School, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, etc), one my mother got him called "Tails" by Matthew Van Fleet, "Ten Little Ladybugs" (it's a rhyming counting backwards book), "The New Baby" by Mercer Mayer...I guess that's more than three, huh?

Well, anyway, good luck with book shopping! That's one of my favorite things to do. :)

-Melissa

Taran, November 20, 2003

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif - Eighteen months!
http://lilypie.com/baby2/031120/0/5/0/-5/.png
http://lilypie.com/days/050821/4/0/0/-5/.png

[MelissaTC]

Matthew loves "Goodnight Gorilla" by Peggy Rathmann. It is a cute story about the animals at the zoo following the zookeeper home and the gorilla getting into his bed. Matthew loves any book with armadillos! It doesn't have a lot of words, so we can talk and point out our own details from the pictures. He reads the book to me now!She has also written another book, "The Day the Babies Crawled Away". Looks promising.

Sandra Boyton books are still big around here. He loves "But Not the Hippopatamus" (yet another book with an armadillo!). I admit that one is fun too. He also loves "Snuggle Puppy". He will finish the sentences and since we have it on CD, he will sing it too. I call him my little Snuggle Puppy.

[macassi]

Abbie loves the Good Night, Good Knight book that was recommended here by someone else. I actually bought it for Brendan, but she has me read it over and over.

I absolutely adore The Napping House. I think it's by Audrey Wood.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom was a favorite of CJ's from about 2 to 6. I'm not kidding. After he outgrew the story, it was the first book he "read" then he'd spend hours practicing his writing by copying the book onto paper.

I guess that's three.

[muszy]

We checked "Hippos" out of the library. Nathan LOVES it. Right after the nine hippos show up to work, he gets this HUGE look of anticipation and then a big grin. Sadly, the book is due back Monday. Looks like a trip to Barnes and Noble for me....

[mommyj_2]

My absolute favorite book for DS, which is his favorite too, is Down by the Cool of the Pool. The guy who wrote it has an MA in English Lit from Cambridge, and what he does with language is just wonderful. The illustrations are great, too. DS dances along to the moves the animals make in the story. This has been his favorite book for several months now.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0439309158/102-1363288-7212126?v=glance
Overstock.com had it a while ago, but I'm not sure if they still have it.

[macassi]

Thought of another one all 3 kids have loved -- Chugga Chugga Choo Choo. It's a great book. I just read it to Abbie and remembered how much everyone had loved it when I saw how worn out it had become!

[papal]

It is available on kidsurplus too! leela loves pointing out the BEASTIE.. lol.

[cvharris]

Ben is really loving 'No David' by David Shannon. I think Caroline (C99) recommended it once here and we bought it through a scholastic preschool order. 'No' is Ben's favorite word lately hence his love for this book!

Carolee
Mama to Ben (6/03)
Baby #2 due 12/22/05

[jamsmu]

Lately, Carson loves "Ten Little Fish," "Go Dog Go" (which is in the Dr. Seuss series, but not written or illustrated by him), and "Tootle and Katy Caboose" which is part of the Little Golden Book series. He also really enjoys Biscuit books, Cliffords and books relating to Disney movies. Of course, everyday he finds another, but these are his tops today. :)

[Puddy73]

I feel your pain - DD's current favorite is Hop on Pop. I've tried hiding it, but she cries and starts reciting lines of it. For some weird reason, her favorite page is "Sad Dad Bad Had" She makes an exagerated sad face and fake cries when she says it.

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle 9/03 & a little pumpkin due 10/05

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

[pritchettzoo]

Rashmi, we ordered this set last year and got some interesting books out of it: http://www.weeklyreader.com/qvc.asp I wouldn't have bought all of them, but for $20 you really can't lose. I might order again...

Anyway, some of Gracie's current favorites:
Bear Wants More
A Kiss for Little Bear
Go Dog Go
anything involving counting
*my mind is blank...*

A book I keep meaning to get is The Day the Babies Crawled Away. It's supposed to be really cute.

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03)
and a BOY! (coming July '05)

[Phoebe]

>another book, "The Day the Babies Crawled Away". Looks
>promising.

It is *so* good. We gave it to the kids at Christmas and it's been very popular. It's a paper page book, not board.... I didn't see it in board form. Just really cute text and illustrations. In fact, I've mentioned it so many times on the boards, I was afraid people were sick of me talking about it.

Mary
DD 4/01
DS 6/03

[samiam]

Another Goodnight Gorilla Fan here. Ds (22 months) also loves the following right now:

Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy Shaw
Jamberry - Bruce Degen
The Berenstain Bears, Inside, Outside, Upside Down - Stan & Jan Berenstain
Oopsie Ouchie - Adair Lara

All of the above are great rhyming books.

Big Little - Leslie Patricelli

[Tracey]

DD is 26 months, but here are her current three faves:

1. It's Not Easy Being a Bunny

2. The Napping House

3. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie