kids' books you've never heard others speak of that are GREAT!

[karstmama]

i love 'punk farm' and 'punk farm on tour'! they are hilarious

[maestramommy]

These books are new to me, and perhaps others have spoken of them before, I just didn't notice. They The first 4 were gifts from SIL. Thank God for SIL, or I wouldn't know any children's books!

Sheila Rae the Brave
Chysanthemum
Julius, Baby of the World

Yoko's Paper Cranes
Another Yoko book about her first day at school, and how other kids made fun of her lunch

[elbenn]

Ladybug Girl. This book is so sweet.

[anamika]

Zoe and her zebra (http://www.amazon.com/Zoe-Zebra-Barefoot-Board-Book/dp/1841483931)

It's a Barefoot book that actually has kids named Sita and Naseer in it. It gave me quite a thrill!

[Cam&Clay]

Anything by Laura Leuck. I did a project on her in library school and no one had heard of her. Our favorite, since DS1 was little, is My Monster Mama Loves Me So. It's adorable and hilarious. It's about how Monster Mamas do things for their kids just like regular moms. Example:

"When I'm sick, she's twice as nice.
She gives me lizard juice with ice."

"She gives me great big hairy hugs,
Bakes me cookies filled with bugs."

She also has Creature Teacher and My Beastly Brother.

[boolady]

These books are new to me, and perhaps others have spoken of them before, I just didn't notice. They The first 4 were gifts from SIL. Thank God for SIL, or I wouldn't know any children's books!

Sheila Rae the Brave
Chysanthemum
Julius, Baby of the World

I love these, and we're huge Kevin Henkes fans in general. The book we love that not many seem to have heard of is called The Circus Ship. It's got a great rhyme scheme, great illustrations, and is just a feel good story. It's not exactly pro circus (I'm not a circus fan), but DD doesn't even get that yet.

http://www.amazon.com/Circus-Ship-Chris-Van-Dusen/dp/076363090X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294610208&sr=8-1

[pakin]

Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
http://www.amazon.com/Totto-Chan-Little-Girl-at-Window/dp/4770020678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294610626&sr=8-1

Pakin

DS 4/2001
DD 6/2005

[goldenpig]

My Friends by Taro Gomi (the one that did Everybody Poops):
http://www.amazon.com/My-Friends-Taro-Gomi/dp/0811847861/ref=tmm_other_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1294613240&sr=1-8
One of my daughters' favorite books as a baby. Plus it's nice to have a book with an Asian girl like her.
We also have Spring is Here which is another great board book about the seasons:
http://www.amazon.com/Spring-Here-Taro-Gomi/dp/0811823318/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c

And Sebastien Braun's I Love My Daddy (great when she was on her daddy-hating phase):
http://www.amazon.com/Love-My-Daddy-Sebastien-Braun/dp/B000CDG8NS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294613441&sr=1-1
We also have I Love My Mommy:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-My-Mommy-Sebastien-Braun/dp/0060543108/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1294613487&sr=8-1

[PunkyBoo]

Chysanthemum
Another Yoko book about her first day at school, and how other kids made fun of her lunch

YES to both of these! That 2nd book is just called Yoko.

Another favorite here is Go Dog Go - I know it's pretty popular, but less so than other PD Eastman books. Can't tell yo uhow proud I was at 6am this morning when I was awakened by Boo (who is in speech therapy) yelling "UP! DOWN! UP! DOWN!"

Also "I Love You All The Time" by Hirschman & Cole. Such a sweet book.
And "Tumble Bumble" by Felicia Bond.

[Uno-Mom]

Yay - great thread!

Are any of you Terry Pratchet fans? Check out his kids' picture book, "Where's My Cow?" It's Sprog's favorite book of all time. Perhaps because she's been hearing us read the grownup Pratchets since en utero.

If you're not a Pratchet fan, though, skip it. It's mostly an inside joke for people who love his novels.

[blisstwins]

Pickle Chiffon Pie
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=pickle+chiffon+pie&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=3475566944616324871&ei=HEMqTd2JGIP98AbWlMWEAg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCsQ8wIwAg#

Brother Juniper
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=brother+juniper&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=8048857329694872424&ei=XEMqTba3IIH-8Ab-kI3xAQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CFYQ8wIwAg#

I have found the sweetest books through Chinaberry.com, though I really try to buy from them and not cheaper routes because of the editorial work they do. It's a great resource.

[mommylamb]

I haven't seen anyone mention this book on BBB, but I'm sure many know it-- The Talking Eggs. Love it!!

[daphne]

I LOVE Library Lion. Always makes me tear up.

[thomma]

Rhyming Dust Bunnies....my kids loved that book last year and my first grade class would beg to have it read to them. I had to buy a few more copies so they could read it to each other.

Mind Your Manners BB Wolf...another favorite in first grade.

I could go on and on...

[karstmama]

well, this thread is working - except for 'go dog go', i haven't heard of any of these! off to the library!

[kristenk]

I LOVE Library Lion. Always makes me tear up.

I love that book, too! It's such a sweet book. We ended up with two copies of it and gave one to DD's teacher last year.

I also like the Library Mouse books. Guess I have a thing for "library" books!

[traciann]

These books are new to me, and perhaps others have spoken of them before, I just didn't notice. They The first 4 were gifts from SIL. Thank God for SIL, or I wouldn't know any children's books!

Sheila Rae the Brave
Chysanthemum
Julius, Baby of the World

Yoko's Paper Cranes
Another Yoko book about her first day at school, and how other kids made fun of her lunch

If you like Kevin Henkes, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and Kitten's First Full Moon are really good as well.

[boolady]

I LOVE Library Lion. Always makes me tear up.


A thousand times yes! You also made me think of another huge favorite here...The Library. That will make you tear up even more, I promise.

http://www.amazon.com/Library-Sarah-Stewart/dp/0312384548/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1294621816&sr=8-2

Same husband and wife author/illustrators wrote The Money Tree, which has a great message and is beautifully written and illustrated.

http://www.amazon.com/Money-Tree-Collections-young-scholars/dp/0374452954/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294621877&sr=1-1

A recent favorite of ours is All the World. Beautiful, simple story with amazing illustrations. It's a Caldecott Honor book from last year...I was so rooting for it to win. It has depictions of families of all shapes and sizes and even has a very subtle breastfeeding image or two.

http://www.amazon.com/All-World-Liz-Garton-Scanlon/dp/1416985808/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294621926&sr=1-1

[erosenst]

Also "I Love You All The Time" by Hirschman & Cole. Such a sweet book. Someone I grew up with is the author :). Make sure to look for the heart on each page - took me a while til I knew to do that. Also - the same team wrote "Tangle Tower" which is also very cute.

Another less popular one is "You are My I Love You" - one of my favorites. In that one, make sure to look for the little animals on every page.

And while talking about 'hidden' things - I read Good Night Gorilla fora long time before someone pointed out that you can find the balloon, or at least the string, on every page...

[maestramommy]

Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
http://www.amazon.com/Totto-Chan-Little-Girl-at-Window/dp/4770020678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294610626&sr=8-1

Pakin

DS 4/2001
DD 6/2005


I have this book! It's awesome!

[maestramommy]

If you like Kevin Henkes, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and Kitten's First Full Moon are really good as well.

I'm starting to, thanks! The only book we had before was Owen's marshmallow Chick, which was sweet, but not profound like the ones above.

[LMPC]

My mom gave DD "A Sick Day for Amos McGee" -- it's so beautifully illustrated and such a nice story with a "do unto others" message (basically the guy works at the zoo and one day gets sick. The animals come to his house and play with him like he does with them at the zoo). Very sweet.

[dogmom]

"Pancakes, Pancakes" by Eric Carle, no one seems to now that one, I like it a lot.

I don't hear them talked about here, but they must be popular, all the Toot & Puddle books.

[ett]

A thousand times yes! You also made me think of another huge favorite here...The Library. That will make you tear up even more, I promise.

http://www.amazon.com/Library-Sarah-Stewart/dp/0312384548/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1294621816&sr=8-2

Same husband and wife author/illustrators wrote The Money Tree, which has a great message and is beautifully written and illustrated.

http://www.amazon.com/Money-Tree-Collections-young-scholars/dp/0374452954/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294621877&sr=1-1


They are also a favorite here. Their other books are wonderful too.

The Journey
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Sarah-Stewart/dp/0874999227/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294629433&sr=1-6

The Gardener
http://www.amazon.com/Gardener-Sarah-Stewart/dp/031236749X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

The Friend
http://www.amazon.com/Friend-Sarah-Stewart/dp/0374324638/ref=pd_sim_b_5

[anamika]

Yay - great thread!

Are any of you Terry Pratchet fans? Check out his kids' picture book, "Where's My Cow?" It's Sprog's favorite book of all time. Perhaps because she's been hearing us read the grownup Pratchets since en utero.

If you're not a Pratchet fan, though, skip it. It's mostly an inside joke for people who love his novels.


I :heartbeat: Terry Pratchett. In fact, whenever I'm reading a book and laugh out loud, DD will come over and ask me if I'm reading Pratchett. I never got the board book though!

[shishamo]

I have this book! It's awesome!

OMG, thank you for mentioning this, I remember reading this as a child. I *think* there were sequels, too.

I love Gomi Taro books, too!
Another Japanese picture book that are not so well known here:

http://www.amazon.com/Guri-Gura-CD-Rieko-Nakagawa/dp/0804837821/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294630840&sr=1-1


Guri and Gura are two field mice that goes to many adventures. I loved this as a child, and my kids love this book as well.

[Raidra]

i love 'punk farm' and 'punk farm on tour'! they are hilarious

We *love* Jarrett Krosoczka. Bubble Bath Pirates and Good Night Monkey Boy are our other favorites of his.

Some of our other favorites are Sailor Moo by Lisa Wheeler (her other books are wonderful, too.. great illustrations and so lyrical). Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs by Giles Andreae (his Dinosaurs After Dark is cute, too). Anything by Dan Yaccarino, but specifically Zoom Zoom Zoom, I'm Off to the Moon. Night Pirates by Peter Harris.

We really favor lyrical writing with bold, funny pictures.

[salsah]

"Pancakes, Pancakes" by Eric Carle, no one seems to now that one, I like it a lot.



we love "pancakes, pancakes."

[ett]

we love "pancakes, pancakes."

This is another great pancake book by Tomie dePaola.
Pancakes for Breakfast
http://www.amazon.com/Pancakes-Breakfast-Tomie-dePaola/dp/0152594558/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1294633377&sr=1-1

[ett]

We love all the books by Bill Peet. The Caboose Who Got Loose is his most well known but all the others are really great.

[citymama]

Some of the books listed are ones we've enjoyed as well - Pancakes, Pancakes; Chrysanthemum; Library Lion.

Fly Away Home by Don Freeman

Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French

Henry Builds a Cabin by DB Johnson

The Great Pie Robbery (and other Sam and Dudley mysteries) by Richard Scarry

[egoldber]

Some favs that I don't often see mentioned are...

My First Book of Sushi and others in that series by Amy Wilson Sanger

Any book by Tana Hoban. Her books are made up of photographs and my kids love them.

I also really like Jamberry by Bruce Degen.

Some of these are now out of print or hard to find, but we made it a point at one time to try and get all the Reading Rainbow books from the library.

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/ReadingRainbowBooklist.pdf

[Momof3Labs]

Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

[mamicka]

I'm printing this whole thread out & taking it to the library on our next trip - thanks all!

[wendibird22]

Do Onto Otters by Laurie Keller. A fun way to teach kids about manners and being nice to others. Simple enough for my 3yo to understand but a lot of funny humor and some side comments in the illustrations that I think she'll get when she's older so I like that it has longevity.

http://www.amazon.com/Do-Unto-Otters-About-Manners/dp/0312581408/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294667182&sr=8-1

[crl]

"Pancakes, Pancakes" by Eric Carle, no one seems to now that one, I like it a lot.

I don't hear them talked about here, but they must be popular, all the Toot & Puddle books.

My kid LOVED Pancakes, Pancakes.

We also loved Sun Bread. ETA link. http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Bread-Elisa-Kleven/dp/0142400734/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294671297&sr=8-1

Catherine

[crl]

Some favs that I don't often see mentioned are...

My First Book of Sushi and others in that series by Amy Wilson Sanger

Any book by Tana Hoban. Her books are made up of photographs and my kids love them.

I also really like Jamberry by Bruce Degen.

Some of these are now out of print or hard to find, but we made it a point at one time to try and get all the Reading Rainbow books from the library.

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/ReadingRainbowBooklist.pdf

Oh, we got My First Book of Sushi and Yum, Yum, Dim Sum from a friend. Alk of us love them, still. http://www.amazon.com/Yum-Dim-Sum-World-Snacks/dp/1582461082/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294671456&sr=1-1

Catherine

[trales]

Chysanthemum


We love this book. My librarian MIL gave it to me and it is amazing.

I am totally taking this list with me to the library.

[kijip]

Tango- not often mentioned here, a great book about a penguin family with two daddies, true story

Zen Shorts- one of Fs totally favorite books, about three siblings who befriend a very zen panda bear and each hear a zen lesson relative to their own life.

The Sound of Colors