In August the boys and I started brainstorming costume ideas for Halloween, after much contemplation it was decided that Max would be "Max" from Where the Wild Things Are and Drew would be the Cat in the Hat. My children love books and although I did steer some of the decision making they were both thrilled to be two of their favorite characters. Since I pretend to be crafty sometimes I thought it would be fun to make their costumes. While at the craft store having yards of fabric cut the clerk assumed what it was I was making and inquired about what they were going to be. Drew spoke right up and told her the Cat in the Hat, and I told her Max would be "Max" from Where the Wild Things Are. She gave me a funny look and said "Where the Wild Things Are, I've never heard of that one." Since I know that this woman has two children about a decade younger than me I considered this odd but thought nothing of it.
A couple of days later, costumes completed, we headed out to our first big Halloween event, a haunted hotel on-post. The boys had a blast and while waiting in a terribly long and slow moving line they were entertained by a group of middle school girls singing and talking behind us. They were very sweet to the boys and at one point asked what Max was, after telling them one burst out "Oh, I loved that movie!" and another "oh yeah, I've seen that movie too!" This interest in Max prompted Drew to plunge himself into the conversation and let the girls know that he was the Cat in the Hat. He received a lot of "awes" and "that's so cute" followed by an "I haven't seen that movie yet." At this point I was extremely grateful to these girls for entertaining my children for the last 45 minutes of waiting in this line. However, I couldn't and still cannot believe they started talking about the movies rather than something like "I loved that book as a kid!" or anything else.
These two experiences have really made me think a lot about the amount of books and the types of books I read to my kids. As a result of teaching elementary school for three years before I started having kids I had a large selection of children's books before the boys were even born. To add to that Andrew and I both love to read and enjoy buying books for our kids, so we do have a ridiculously large collection. That being said I have decided to make a list of my favorites. You won't find any mainstream character books on this list as I really dislike buying Dora, and Thomas books much to Drew's dismay. We do have some on our bookshelf but I really don't prefer them and don't see much literary gain from reading them. These books are my favorites for both nostalgic reasons and from an educational standpoint.
10. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
9. The Remarkable Farkle McBride by John Lithgow
8. Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats
7. Once Upon a Potty by Alona Frankel
6. We're Going on a bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
5. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
4. Go, Dog. Go! By P.D Eastman
3. The Biggest Sandwich Ever by Rita Golden Gelman and Mort Gerberg
2. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
1. The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
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