That’s so cool! What are some other children’s books you’d recommend? We have always loved Walk Rabbit Walk, The Monster at the End of this Book, Charlotte Jane Battles Bedtime, and all things Dr. Seuss.

So we went through all my daughter’s books today to see which ones we could donate and which ones we would keep (to make room for more books of course) and in doing so, also made a list of my favorites and her favorites from our collection. So here they are:

My Favorites
Jelly in my Belly – Every turtle loves to eat jellyfish, but not our protagonist. He wants to be different, tries a ton of other foods, and then tries jellyfish and loves them after all.
Over at the Ocean – The rhyme and meter are really fun. We try to expose our child to a lot of poetry so she gets a sense of harmony, rhythm, and other concepts that will play into math and philosophy later in life.
There’s a Cow in the Road – Same thing, really fun rhymes.
The Little Mouse, the Red Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear – It’s fun, breaks the fourth wall at the end, and the illustrations are fantastic.
Miss Spider’s Wedding – Kinda scary for the littlest youngsters, but the pictures are intricate and splashy.
The Little Engine that Could – Specifically the version by Watty Piper. The pictures are great and have so much emotion in the expressions and postures.
Rain Forest Food Chains – Scholastic – Helps kids understand how the web of life is connected, and the concepts of knock-on effects and butterfly effects. As with nearly all animal books these days it’s a bit alarmist, so your kids might need some extra conversation around global warming and related concepts cuz they make it seem pretty sad and scary.
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman – We got this from the hospital on the day our daughter was born, and the beauty of it’s message still makes me cry a bit years later.
Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Super fun book for later elementary ages. Lots of silly/gross stuff that kids that age like. Imaginative short stories that are good for bedtime. For our unschooled child it was hard to connect with some of the book as it takes place entirely in a school.

Her Favorites (age 5)
Silly Sally – Fun rhyme book. had it since age 1.
Clifford’s Let’s Spell – Short book, has three letter dice attached to the front that kids can roll to spell words on their own. Small window of usefulness in education, but crucial during those few weeks/months or so when they are learning three-letter words and very early phonics.
Richard Scarry’s Best Counting Book – Our daughter was fascinated with the early math concepts and the way they are presented in this book. It took her from barely knowing numbers up to twelve to reciting 1-200 to herself for fun in the back of the car.
Kiss Kiss – fun rhyme book, shows animal’s mother-baby love relationships and how different animals are the same, gets them hearing interesting adjectives and word sounds from a baby age.
First 100 Words by Priddy Books- She loved this book so much she used to cry when it was over. Just pictures of things and the words for them but very clear and colorful.
The Human Body by Scholastic First Discovery – Has see-through overlay pages showing the layers of the body like skeleton, organs, muscles, skin. The models are children of a similar age and are wearing undies so no questions about no-no parts. We used it as reference material until we got her a more scholarly anatomy book and it helped a ton.
There’s a Monster in Your Book – Very fun book similar to A Monster at the End of this Book
5-Minute Animal Rescue Stories – Oh, I was the one needing rescue after months of this book night after night.
Yo Gabba Gabba Spring Showers Bring Flowers – Was the catalyst of a lot of water cycle talks and actually helped her learning a lot for a book intended for fun reading.
101 Animal Babies – Cute little fact tidbits about how various young are raised. Also the catalyst of a lot of learning.
I Spy: An Egg in a Nest – More advanced and tricky look-and-find type book.
Clifford Goes to Hollywood – Great illustrations and fun adventures, one of the very earliest Clifford books. Ours is from the 60’s I believe.