<p>I couldn't resist checking CC again, so here comes yemaya as a two (is that right? when did your kids like this song?) year old...</p>
<p>Bay-bee Bee-loooooo-gah in te deep boo sea,
Schwim so wie-Ld and yah schwim so fee.
Heaven a-bow-v, and the sea bee-low,
And a wit-L why-tah whale on te go. </p>
<p>YAY! Again, again Ant-y Schybbie! <em>Little Yemaya claps hands, jumps, and falls over</em></p>
<p><em>back to regular Yemaya</em> Did any of you read a book about Little Duckie going through the seasons? My dad sometimes still quotes it.</p>
<p>I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always
as long as I'm living
My baby you'll be</p>
<p>That would be the Runaway Bunny. What a great book. After about a thousand times, the concept of unconditional love should start creeping in to the child and be reinforced in the parent.</p>
<p>Family fav's not mentioned? Albuquerque is a Turkey for songs, and Baby Blue Cat and the Whole Batch of Cookies for books.</p>
<p>I just bought the Very Hungry Caterpillar for my daughters best friends toddler sister.
More, more, more said the baby was another great one
She also liked Are you my mother?
I loved Arnold Lobel- I would put Owl at Home into a time capsule
She liked darker books too- She often wanted Dear Mili and listened to The Giver every night for weeks ( this was the youngest)
The oldest had lots of Frog and Toad and Golden books
The color Kittens was always one of my favorites
One trend which I am not sure why, is that while I was able to find lots of multiracial materials for my daughters when they were young, dolls, books etc, now that I am looking for things for her friends sister, I am having a much more difficult time, having to go to 2 or more stores sometimes & these are the same stores where I shopped for the girls.</p>
<p>My youngest especially wanted me to make up stories- I am not a great storyteller and even worse at writing my own. I did have a series called Alice and the Zebra however ( she went by Alice for a time- not sure why) I borrowed a lot from Pippi Longstocking :)</p>
<p>"I'll Love You Forever", yeah, I could never get through that without getting all weepy. </p>
<p>One of our family faves was "Gregory, The Terrible Eater", about a goat who wanted to eat what we would think of as good food, rather than what goats would think of as good food, and how his parents fretted, and how they eventually came to a compromise. It was probably a major hit in our house because, well, guess what S #1's name is...</p>
<p>Heh. I bought him a copy on eBay to take to college with him. That and "Singable Songs for the Very Young" ought to make quite a going-away gift, heh.</p>
<p>Gregory the terrible eater reminds me of Leo the late bloomer
boy there are a lot of great kids books
I just had Dr seuss and some golden books about girls helping their moms with housework.</p>
<p>And my goodness me, I actually read to my kids from "Father Gander's Nursery Rhymes" when they were little. I'm sure the whole thing was completely lost on them, but the illustrations were great and some of the rhymes were catchy. (Hey, it was printed in 1985, whadya want?)</p>
<p>"Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick.
Jill be nimble, jump it too; if Jack can do it, so can you."</p>
<p>and my personal favorite:</p>
<p>"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.</p>
<p>So she gave them some broth and some good whole wheat bread,
and kissed them all sweetly and put them to bed.</p>
<p>There's only one thing that I don't understand:
If she didn't want so many, why didn't she plan?"</p>
<p>Well, my heart was in the right place, anyway. :)</p>
<p>I like the really old fairy tales, like when Cinderallas step sisters actually cut off their toes to fit in the shoes, or when Sleeping Beauty wakes up and the prince had married someone else, but what the heck, he marries her too!!!</p>
<p>Speaking of Cinderella, has anyone seen "Cinderella Man" with Russell Crowe? Definitely the feel good movie of the summer, kind of a real life "Rocky". Box office has been less than stellar and reviews mixed, but I highly recommend it.</p>
<p>My sister in law gave us "Love You Forever" for D's 3rd or 4th birthday. That night my H was reading it to D as I strightened up the room. His voice became more and more strained, then finally he burst into tears as he read and I had to go finish the book for him. What a beautiful book. We even made up a tune to the song. All 3 kids loved that book.</p>
<p>"Make way for the Ducklings" was another huge favorite from my childhood and theirs. My H is now in the process of reading the "Little House" series to my 7 year old S, at bedtime. They are both enjoying it immensely. </p>
<p>You don't think of it as a series for boys, but DS & DH love the pluckiness of the kids and the struggle of that family to survive in the harsh prairie conditions. I think DS is more appreciative of our family rules as the Ingalls kids were definitely from the "be seen and not heard" era. I read that series at least 10 times as a girl so it is fun to have the common reference points with my H & S.</p>
<p>14 year old DS has just power-read "Catcher in the Rye" and adored it. "Mom, it kills me."</p>
<p>Have a good time at camp, Yemaya. Though I am distressed at AriesAthena gaining even momentary authority over me...she would enjoy it far too much.</p>
<p>"Baby Beluga" is the song from "that era" that I remember most, still hum it when I see a picture of a whale or some other cue comes along.</p>
<p>However, I will be the resident crank and say that I think that "I'll Love You Forever" is one of the most manipulative, stifling, and ultimately icky children's books I ever read, with "Runaway Bunny" not far behind.</p>
<p>Now, "Goodnight, Moon" is entirely different matter and I still get razzed about how I kept changing plot points and dialogue in "Fritz and the Beautiful Ponies."</p>
<p>TheDad, I didn't say I didn't also think "Love You Forever" was manipulative -- it absolutely is. But it still choked me up every time I read it. I guess I'm just a natural-born sap.</p>
<p>I thought I love you forever was a little over the top- a grown woman sneaking in the house of her grown son was a little weird and creepy
but it wasn't among my most detested books
those would have to be the Berenstain bears
like the one where the father and son go out for a stroll and when they come back there is a new baby?</p>
<p>OMG, that was so horrible!! I remember wondering why some author would think it was a good model to show kids, not telling a soon-to-be older sibling that there was a baby on the way, and then rearranging his room while he was out for a walk. How awful. I'll try to forget about that one now. (Of course, the inept father-bear conceptualization in the Berenstain books was always annoying overall.)</p>
<p>Hey, how about the big Richard Scarry books, the big hardcover ones with the complicated illustrations of cartoon animals busy doing things? (The big ones are the ones I remember, not the little Golden Book ones.) Those were fantastic for our (former) little guys! My younger S had a knack of instantly finding Gold Bug on whatever page we were on. (And you could never beat him in Concentration, either... visual acuity I guess.)</p>
<p>Daughter loved books and I took grat pride in keeping her filled with books. Some of my favorites are</p>
<p>Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends</p>
<p>Shel Silverstrin The giving Tree</p>
<p>John Steptoe Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters</p>
<p>Maurice Sendak Where the Wild Things Are</p>
<p>Angela Johnson When I am Old With You</p>
<p>Alice Walker To Hell With Dying</p>
<p>Faith Ringold Tar Beach</p>
<p>Leontyne Price Aida ( Leon and Diane Dillion have probably Illustrated some of the most beautiful books that I have seen. They look like art D has a slew of books illustrated by them)</p>
<p>The People Could Fly Virginia Hamilton (I remember purchasing it as a box set with a tape of the stories narrated by James Earl Jones & Virginia Hamilton</p>
<p>Dr. Suess Green Eggs and Ham </p>
<p>Purchased them all as hardbacks, it's funny because some days I fo in home room just to look at all of the books, tapes, American Girl dolls and Beanie Babies. (she has shelving that goes around the top perimeter of her room. Those were some good days</p>
<p>Plus those Berenstain books were so darn boring. I love to read my kids to sleep but I will NOT read to put myself to sleep.</p>
<p>Have you ever noticed how some parents (in my house DH) have the gift of reading in the perfect soporific monotone to hypnotize children into immediate ZZZZZZzz?</p>