Never too young to read books to kids...

harold and the purple crayon... Johnny Crow's garden.

Click clack moo cows that type. My oldest daughter made me read that book so many times between 2-4 years old. I have it memorized. 😄

I am quite fond of the Gosling book series by Olivier Dunrea. The illustrations are adorable, and the stories are sweet and simple. My fav, and most of my kids favorite is BooBoo. My youngest son is particularly fond of those books. He is 6. He is enjoying sharing them with our 2 year old.

The 2 year old daughter adores the Llama Llama books. They have a goood rhythm.

I cannot recall what picture books my oldest son loved the most that I also enjoyed. But! When he was 2 years old, we went to St Thomas for my sister in laws wedding. And to prepare and keep him and his sister entertained on the flights I bought them new books. And one of his books was called “I Stink!” It was a picture book about a garbage truck. And it had a little story about what it did all day, and then there were the ABCs of garbage. That kid LOVED that book! And it was one of the only things that would keep him in his seat and quiet on those flights. So we read it over and over again. By the time we landed, we had it memorized, and so did about 6 other people sitting by us. And I know that because they were reciting it when we were reading it to him. (Everyone was happy he was not screaming. Nobody minded the book on repeat). I freaking hated that book. Because I was newly pregnant and in the throes of morning sickness (I have bad morning sickness with my pregnancies), that books trash descriptions sent me right over the edge. I managed to keep it together on the planes, but in the airports I would run for the bathrooms. When we got home from that trip that books got conveniently lost. 😂😂. Even now just talking about that book makes me queasy. The kids think this story is hilarious though, and they like to remind me about “the book that made me barf”. 😂

All the Hairy Maclairy from Donaldson’s Dairy books
I have most of them memorized!

Small Pig by Arnold Lobel.

One of my faves is called Ginger... it’s about a cat who gets a new kitten friend. I can still recite almost the whole thing, and is where one of our favourite cat-related phrases came from: “cats love cardboard boxes, however small they are”.

Kids books are one of my obsessions. I am so thankful that part of my job is reading to kids several times a day! I have way too many to list, but some of my favorite older books that aren’t well known are Minerva Louise and
Minerva Louise Goes to School and anything by Lorna Balian -especially the Aminal and Humbug Witch.
I also love Arthur’s Honey Bear, but mostly because it is just so ridiculous and fun to read. It is about a chimpanzee named Arthur (same author as Francis the Badger books) who is having a garage sale and is reluctant to sell his Honey Bear. His little sister ends up buying it and dresses it up like a girl, much to Arthur’s horror. He yells ,”He is a boy, he doesn’t like that!” And Arthur’s sister snaps back, “I am his mother now!” I just love reading that part in a very dramatic voice. It cracks me up so much, clearly it is a good thing I work with small children as I am so very easily amused.

I have a vast library at school, obviously, but I also have a full book shelf of picture books at home. When I go to any bookstore or thrift store I check out the kids books first.

I currently have this one in my vehicle.  My youngest is 23.  He pulled it out and read it to me as we were driving to the north part of town recently.  He just sighed as he read it and said, "Silly author, cows can't type."  

I have about 300 children's books.  I cannot pick a favorite.  I did whittle down from 5,000 when I retired though.