What did you read to your kids?

[CuppaJoe]

I was the youngest so the books dad read were often over my head. My favorite was, “‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe....” There were also fairy tales, Huck Finn and The Wizard of Oz.

Recently when a friend had her second child, I gave her a book called, “Wiggle” and she instantly memorized it.

 

[mews]

all mimsy were the borogroves, and the momraths outgrabe...

I learned to read via the three little pigs. I walked around with it and said 'read me' to any available adult or older sibling. I had it memorized, and I knew some words and letters, and one day I was really reading it.

ta,
mew

 

[CuppaJoe]

...

I learned to read via the three little pigs...

ta,
mew

I loved that one, probably found it on TV, knew three versions of it, at least; and critiqued which one I liked the best.

 

[mews]

We didn't have TV until I was in 7th or 8th grade - I HAD to learn to read for entertainment

ta,
mew

(I'm not that old, really - my parents were the original 'late adopters')

 

[W2R]

I read hundreds of books to my daughter, since I always read to her every night at bedtime without fail when she was little. She was an early reader, but even after she learned to read for herself I still read to her if she wanted me to. Or, she would read to me if she felt like it. But we had that time together before bedtime. Lots of love.

What books? I read all of the books that I could remember from my childhood including the same Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy book that my mother had read to me when I was little. I read newer books that she loved as well such as The Unicorn and the Lake, which had beautiful illustrations that we both enjoyed. She loved anything that I would read to her, but especially loved books about unicorns and horses and little girls. Obviously Misty of Chincoteague was a big hit. She loved Dr. Seuss, too (what kid doesn't love Green Eggs and Ham?) I followed her interests and tried to buy books that were age appropriate but interesting to a kid who likes learning new words (more of a challenge than it may seem). We went to the library a lot.

 

[mickeyd]

I recall "Good Nite Moon" and "Velveteen Rabbit" because I read both about a thousand times to each kid. There were many books though too numerous to recall.

 

[W2R]

I recall "Good Nite Moon" and "Velveteen Rabbit" because I read both about a thousand times to each kid. There were many books though too numerous to recall.

Yes, she had her own copy of each of those and I read them to her many times, too! They are universally popular, I think. Also, when she was very small she loved "Pat the Bunny" which I also loved when I was very small.

 

[mickeyd]

When I was a young child we must not of had too many books in the house because I remember being read a book called "Babar" many, many times. It always made me sad because Barar's mother died in the book. But, they kept reading it to me anyway. Probably the reason that I turned out to be the twisted individual that I am today.

 

[freebird5825]

I don't remember being read to at bedtime. Mom was usually too tired from w*rking the late shift at restaurants, but I do remember being checked on and tucked in every night.
I was youngest of 5, so I grabbed onto every book that my siblings had outgrown. I was reading on my own before kindergarten. Lots of library trips kept the supply steady.
The ones I remember...a few Suess books, Heidi, Grimm's Fairy Tales, every one of Walter Farley's Black Stallion & Fury collection, Life magazine, NY Daily News, Alfred Hitchcock paperbacks, Reader's Digest monthly magazine and hardcover condensed books, the abridged home version of Compton's Encyclopedia, Taylor Caldwell, Bullfinch's Mythology, etc etc.

 

[Leonidas]

Can't remember all of them, or which were necessarily their favorites, but I remember some of the ones that I enjoyed reading to them most of all.

Hank the Cowdog series: Hank the Cowdog's Official Site

Or this one that we read on Christmas Eve.

And the Three Little Pigs, as told from the Wolf's point of view:

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The oldest, named Sam, loved a fold-out book called Sam's Sandwich. Sam makes a sandwich for his sister that includes snails, worms, etc. Read that to him until it fell apart.

We must have done something right, they both love to read. both test in the 99th percentile on every test involving reading comprehension, and a few thousand brotherly [-]fistfights[/-] heated discussions have broken out over one [-]sneaking off with[/-] borrowing a book from the other without permission.

 

[samclem]

Favorites of our daughter:
-- The Sailor Dog (By Margaret Wise Brown. A Golden Book. "Born at sea in the teeth of a gale, the sailor was a dog." . . . ). Good for approx 4-8 year olds
-- Walter the Wolf (about Walter, was was the perfect wolf cub and his mom was very proud of him. Then, he meets Wyatt the Fox who convinces him to put his sharp fangs to work in a "bite for profit" scheme. All turns out well in the end). Good for approx 6-9 year olds.
-- I am a Mouse (a Golden Book, IIRC, for the very youngest kids)
-- All the Frog and Toad books. She like to have us read them, and when she was older she enjoyed reading them herself.

When I was little, my mom read me "Sprockets, A Little Boy Robot" which I loved.

The Jan Brett books are beautifully illustrated classic tales. We enjoyed reading them to our daughter, I don't know if kids like them as much as parents like them.

 

[brewer12345]

I can recite "Mimi's Toes" from memory (blind-folded after 3 weeks of sleep deprivation and blind drunk).

Other favorites include "The Magic Workd Inside the Abandoned Refrigerator" and "Strangers Have The Best Candy."


(Don't mind me; just back from a knock-down, drag out session at Costco with my 3YO...)

 

[Moemg]

My children loved the Richard Scarry books especially "What do people do all day at work ".

 

[ziggy29]

My children loved the Richard Scarey books especially "What do people do all day at work ".

Burn out and wish they were FIRE'd, of course...

 

[CuppaJoe]

from memory (blind-folded after 3 weeks of sleep deprivation and blind drunk).

...

I don't have kids but that sounds like a pretty good recipe for coping.

My children loved the Richard Scarry books especially "What do people do all day at work ".

Don't you mean Scary?

Reading to kids seems like a good way to keep current, now if I could figure out what Flikr and Twitter are, nm, I'm sure they've gone on to something newer.

 

[ziggy29]

Don't you mean Scary?

Scarry is correct -- unless, of course, reading his books kept you awake at night worrying about zombies going after your brains.

 

[Martha]

I remember a few books I read to my nieces when they were little that I really enjoyed. One of my favorites was the Good Dog Carl series. Only pictures, no words, but you could easily make up the story. One of my nieces insisted on having Good Dog Carl read every night she stayed over.

The Last Elegant Bear was another I liked. It was so snotty.

I still can recite some of the books and poems my father read to me. "There was an old house in Paris, all covered with vines, lived 12 little girls in two straight lines. . . "

Jonathan Joe had a mouth like an O and a wheel barrow full of surprises. If you asked for a bat, or something like that, he's got it, whatever the size is. . . ."

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Books

This brings back so many memories. As a librarian, I was always surrounding my son with books. I recall him toddling over at 2 or 3 carrying a book, climbing on my lap and commanding, "Read!". I also took him to the public library after school programs, and he became a voracious reader. I remember the day his first grade teacher told me with amazement that he scored on the 12th grade level in reading comprehension on standardized tests(uh, no comment). His early favorites were "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel", "The Little Engine that Could", Aesop's Fables, The Billy Goats Gruff, Make Way for Ducklings, and on. Now, at age 26, when I visit him his place is piled with books(has no TV). And he has at least 6 bookcases. His pleasure reading is quite diverse but his favorite genre is science fiction. He has begun a collection of first edition volumes of sci fi(signed if he can find them). Books make great baby gifts!

 

[CuppaJoe]

Scarry is correct -- unless, of course, reading his books kept you awake at night worrying about zombies going after your brains.

Anyone who publishes the truth about what people do all day scares the socks off me. That could scar a kid for life and nm, we've already found this forum.

 

[ziggy29]

Anyone who publishes the truth about what people do all day scares the socks off me. That could scar a kid for life and nm, we've already found this forum.

Ah, well, yeah -- THAT is scary. Might also explain why so many of us are so eager to get our careers rolling in our 20s and are already planning an out by, say, age 35. Reality is nothing like the book! No one in Scarry's books are filling out TPS reports.

 

[Alan]

We read loads of books to our kids including such staples as Thomas the Tank Engine, Winnie the Pooh, Beatrix Potter etc.

But the ones we enjoyed immensely was a new set of books called Puddle Lane. There were five sets of books (different cover colour for each set), the first set (Stage 1) being the easiest to read and the last set (Stage 5) being the hardest. Since they were intended for children who are learning to read, the books with lower reading stages would present the text in two versions: the left page contained the full version, to be read aloud by the parent, while the right page contained a simplified version for the child.

As the child grew older the stories grew more complex and exciting and were suitable from ages 2 through 6 - although we adults thoroughly enjoyed the plots in the later books.

 

[ziggy29]

Nobody's reading Walter the Farting Dog?

 

[Alan]

Nobody's reading Walter the Farting Dog?

I absolutely would have read that to my kids if it was around at the time

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Nobody's reading Walter the Farting Dog?

I am going to buy this for me!

 

[Alan]

Nobody's reading Walter the Farting Dog?

Reminds me of the time we were having a party at our house and guests were arriving. Our 8 year old son looked at the food on the table with glee until I told him that it wasn't for him and that we had pizza for him and his sister who were expected to play upstairs out of the way. His reply was "Rats, fate farts in my face once again". Fortunately our guests thought this was very funny and didn't ask what sort of books we read to our kids....