Our Kid's Library

I haven't written at all I see since we found out we were pregnant in December! Since then, I've been busy growing a human. How weird is that?!

I'm in my 19th week of pregnancy now (that's about halfway through) and I've just started to feel little wee kicks. So naturally I am beginning to believe for once and for all that I am going to be a mother. It's been very cool and exciting in a dreamy, theoritical kind of way, thinking about motherhood - until now. Now that I'm being literally kicked into reality, I've started to think about the plethora of "accoutrements" that a baby needs.

Blankets and other sundry nursery items aside, I have pleasantly come to the conclusion that collecting books for our kid's library is my favourite hobby the past two days. In order to keep myself on track I've put together a list of an "ideal kid's library."

In this list are some cherished personal favourites (like "The Paper Bag Princess" and "Winnie the Pooh"), some titles I've been waiting to read (like "Where the Sidewalk Ends"), and some titles I've never heard before (like "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.")

But I have this nagging feeling that I am missing some obvious selections.

What books were your beloved? Which do you plan to read to your children? Which of these titles do you recommend and which titles am I missing? I'm dying to know.

Here's my list. The starred titles are books I've already collected. Sigh. I've got a long ways of collecting to go!

Our Kid’s Ideal Library

For The First Years

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
Aesop’s Fables by Russel Ash
Alexander & the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Berenstein Bear series by Stan & Jan Berenstain
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
Curious George series by H. A. Rey
Eloise by Kay Thompson
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
*Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
*Guess How Much I Love You? by Sam McBratney
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
*Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Mr. Men and Little Miss books by Roger Hargreaves
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
*Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever by Richard Scarry
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
*The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
*Where’s Spot? By Eric Hill
Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Winnie the Pooh series by A Milne


For A Bit Older

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Grimm’s Fairy Tales by the brother’s Grimm
Hans Christian Andersen Tales
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew mysteries
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Twits by Roald Dahl