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I’m a mom. Have been for nearly six years now. If you’re not a mother, let me share with you one of the great secrets of motherhood: you spend a lot of time feeling like a failure. It happens 
nearly every day. By mistake, you send them to school with no lunch. Or you yell at them for making a mess while you’re busy getting dinner. Or you send them to school in tank top twenty minutes before the cold front sweeps though. In any given day, there are plenty of opportunities to muck things up or just generally fall short of your own ideal.
Luckily, every day also has the potential for great parenting moments, as well. It seems many of 
my perfect parenting moments happen during reading time. Somehow, it’s the one time every day that never gets muddled by anger, by dash expectations, or by miscommunication. It is, in short, perfect. Me–at my best–sharing something I love with my kids–the people I love best. We all lay down in bed together, often with my hubby sitting at the foot of the bed, his laptop open, but still listening, and I read aloud. Occasionally even the cat joins us. Often it’s picture books, sometimes longer novels. And now that my daughter is older, we usually start with her reading a book to me.
The first chapter book I read to her was a favorite from my own childhood: The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper, about three mice who live in Macy’s over the Christmas holiday. 
That was followed quickly by Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM, another favorite of mine. And then, oddly enough, The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Worried that our reading was becoming very rodent themed, we branched out to the Little House books and eventually the first couple of Harry Potter books. Between novels, we inevitably read more picture books, returning to our favorites as well as exploring new ones.
My sister shares a love of picture books and she’s gifted us with some of her favorites. Whenever a friend has a baby, books are my favorite shower gift. I find the best picture books are always the ones someone has recommended.
What books have you loved, either as a parent or a child?
Filed in: Jaunty Post
Apr 8th
2011
10:46 am
catslady Said:
Oh I could start a library with all the children’s books that I bought for my two daughters. Obviously books are my passion and what a great excuse for buying more lol. Every year I still read The Littlest Angel at Christmas time (makes me sob every year too). I remember when we read the Narnia series together. First I started and eventually they read too and then they wanted to read it all by themselves lol.
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Apr 8th
2011
11:07 am
Margo Maguire Said:
One of my kids’ favorites was George and his Elephant and Castle (http://tinyurl.com/3gl9ln5). But what they loved most was hearing what they called “brain stories” that my husband made up and told them. There were recurring characters (two brothers and a sister, of course) and their adventures were silly and fun. And no matter what kind of trouble the two brothers caused for the sister… she always triumphed in the end. (Poor Julia – she was always outnumbered!)
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Apr 8th
2011
12:59 pm
Tiffany D. Said:
I am always buying new books for my kids. My son is too young to read on his own, so I read to him. Even though my whole family and my husband’s family are book lovers, my daughter has no interest in it. I am always bringing new books home to her hoping to find that one book that makes her realize what she is missing out on. My favorite book as a child and still my favorite childrens book is The BFG by Roald Dahl. My favorite teacher read this to me in second grade then again in third. I have loved it ever since and have read it to my children. It is such a fun book
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Apr 8th
2011
1:22 pm
Kristan Higgins Said:
Dr. Seuss. Still my favorite author!
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Apr 8th
2011
4:18 pm
Nancy Robards Thompson Said:
I loved reading with my daughter when she was little. Some of our favorites: “Love You Forever,” “Guess How Much I Love You,” “Goodnight Moon,” and Maurice Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen.” Good times.
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Apr 8th
2011
5:02 pm
Marian the Librarian Said:
Okay, this topic is something I am familiar about. I am a Children’s Librarian, and I just love my job! Too many great books to actually mention, but if you love “rodent” themed stories, please try the Humphrey series by Betty Birney. The first is entitled, The World According to Humphrey. I can’t keep these titles on my shelves. Enjoy! Marian
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Apr 9th
2011
1:31 am
infinitieh Said:
I always give a copy of the picture book “Good Dog Carl” at baby showers. A good Rottweiler who is in cahoots with the baby is just so fun; my favorite is the day care one.
The “My Father’s Dragon” trilogy is excellent, too.
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Apr 9th
2011
10:42 pm
LilMissMolly Said:
The Velveteen Rabbit makes me cry every time I read it. I remember balling my eyes out back in the 2nd or 3rd grade the first time I read it and when I bought if for my daughters (who are now teen-agers), I once again cried when I read it to them. They of course, think I’m a basket case.
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Apr 10th
2011
10:26 am
Emily McKay Said:
I’ve loved reading all these recommendations! I can’t wait to read some of them to my kids!!!
We have read My Father’s Dragon, and we all loved it. What a delightful trickster story!
Nancy, I once recommended Love You Forever to a friend who told me she thought it was creepy that the mom snuck into her grown son’s house. Lol! I still love it, even if it is creepy.
Catslady, I have tried and tried to start the Naria books with my daughter. She’s terrified of the White Witch. Maybe I need to start with A Horse and His Boy or something, though everything in me rebels at starting with a book other than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When I walk through B&N and see the books organized in the chronological order, I glare at them.
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Apr 10th
2011
12:22 pm
Kathryn in Montreal Said:
Growing up I loved the Little House on the Prairie series and Anne of Green Gables (I still re-read those books). Dr. Seuss was a huge fun favourite to read out loud to my kids, and we had stories every night before bed. I loved Jan Brett’s The Mitten… the illustrations were fabulous. I guess some of the best reading out loud moments were to my youngest daughter who is dyslexic. She loves to read, and struggled so hard to get through books. Harry Potter was very difficult and daunting for her… the language, the big words, she had such a hard time but was dying to read them like her older brother and sisters did. So I read them to her. All except the last (because she was 16). And the fun thing was, whenever the two of us started reading Harry Potter, the older siblings would come around and it was really neat to be reading out loud and listened to by an 11 year old and her 13, 15 and 17 year old siblings.
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