05 December 2010

Books for the Mancub (sort of)

It occurred to me several months ago that we would be buying a few Christmas gifts for a baby this year - our very own baby. As I thought about what to get the mancub, the practical side of me couldn't let go of the fact that this mancub will be less than a month old at Christmas and will primarily be interested in nursing, napping and being changed, not in Christmas presents. But the nurturing side of me wanted to make sure that we would have a story to tell the mancub about his first Christmas. Or at least in the future when he asked what he got for his first Christmas I would not have to reply, "Socks. Plus lots of attention from family members." I finally settled on buying him some books. Eric agreed.

Only, as we started shopping online for books, we quickly realized these books were only sort of for him. Eric immediately wanted to find good deals on any and all Bill Peet books. We ended up with:


I remembered a couple of books from my early childhood that I just adored, and I had to order them:


Plus, I've been wanting copies of Shel Silverstein's volumes of poems for ages. I did not order Where the Sidewalk Ends, but I did get these two:


It became even more evident to us when some of these books arrived and we sat on the floor poring over them that these books were for the mancub in name only. Eric and I are really looking forward to reading these books with him as he grows up, and we sure hope they become as much of a beloved memory of his childhood as they were in ours.

What favorite childhood books would you buy for yourself?

10 comments:

Michelle said...

I went to the library a few weeks before our own Mancub was born and checked out several Bill Peet books and read them to him (you're never too young for Bill Peet, right?) In addition to your two, I would add The Wingdingdilly, Cowardly Clyde, and the Wump World. I also love The Giving Tree, and Are You My Mother?

Leighana said...

I just found this awesome fairy tale book full of stories the other day in our house! It is amazing.
I definately want my kids growing up on the old fashioned books too.
My kids will also grow up on tons of winnie the pooh. After watching Winnie the Pooh now that im older, i've realized that almost every sentence is an actual life lesson.

Packrat said...

Looks like you picked great books.

My favorites were stories that my grandmother, grandfather, and mom told. Some were from memory and some were made up.

But, you were asking about books: Little Golden Book stories (Dumbo, The Little Engine that Could come to mind), nursery rhymes, Mother Goose, fairy tales, books with traditional children's songs and prayers, A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. I passed my love of these to my children.

Of course, Dr. Seuss. How could I have forgotten??? His, P. D. Eastman, and other similar authors' books came out about the time I was learning to read, so I read them over and over and over to my little brothers and younger cousins. Later, I read them to my children, grandchildren, and school kids.

(Some Semame Street books are okay, but they weren't my favorite to read.)

My son's always picked Richard Scarry books, and my daughter loved the Berenstain Bears.

After years of working in the reading program at school, I noticed that it is usually only the adults who appreciate beautiful detailed illustrations. Children seem to prefer simple or silly illustrations.

Jessica Leigh said...

For babies I love the Sandra Boynton books -- Barnyard Dance and Moo, Baa, La La La were (are) my favorite to read aloud. I also really like to do We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Michael Rosen) with kids... I did get all these for that nephew of mine :)

And one of the joys of being an elementary teacher is that I have an excuse to buy children books... and I do... I have close to 200 I believe :|... but my favorite growing up was always The Biggest Bear (Lynd Ward) and some of the stories from various compilations we have (The Hatbox Cake... Cheese, Peas and Chocolate Pudding... Five Chinese Brothers... Little Black Sambo... and Nursery Rhymes! I loved our Nursery Rhyme book!) :)

Janssen said...

I don't think we'll get Ella anything for Christmas. Because I do not want to lug it to Utah and back. Bleck.

I love Arnold Lobel's books.

P1 Steven said...

I remember our Sesame Street books & a pirate book I LOVED. Sammy loves to read & started at an early age. (I changed my profile pic for this post!) BTW I loved A is for Alice too!

John said...

As a kid my favorite book was Freight Train by Donald Crews, mainly because the author came to our elementary and read us the book. I had a signed copy at one point. Mom picked up a new copy a few years ago and my 2 younger children really love it.
When our first was born, we were given 'Jesse Bear What Will You Wear'-Nancy White Carlstrom. It is a great bed time book.

Sean said...

In my case, the question should read, "Which books HAVE you bought for yourself?" because I have bought probably close to thirty since our she-cub arrived two years ago. Favorites are:

-"The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My" by Tove Jansson
-"The Weaving of a Dream" by Marilee Heyer
-"A Fly Went By" by Mike McClintock and Fritz Siebel
-"The Five Chinese Brothers" by Claire Huchet Bishop and Kurt Wiese
-"The Big Orange Splot" by Daniel Pinkwater
-"Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz
-"A Fish Out of Water" by Helen Palmer and P. D. Eastman
-"Make Way For Ducklings" by Robert McCloskey
-"Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum" by Norman Stiles, Daniel Wilcox, and Joe Mathieu

I'll stop now, although I could go on. Plenty of Bill Peet, Dr. Seuss, and Mr. Silverstein as well.

As a newborn, I read my daughter all sorts of chapter books in English and Italian (Roald Dahl, Pinocchio, Harry Potter) until she became mobile and interested, at which point I transitioned to picture books.

Annie said...

My kids LOVE 'there is a monster at the end of this book' and the second one 'another monster at the end of this book' they’re too cute. There are some Dr Seuss books which are made as board books.. good for chewing ;)

The Everitts said...

That is so funny. My FAVORITE book growing up was The Monster at the End of this Book. I loved that book and still do. Funny thing is, I have never met anyone who has heard of it besides my siblings.