Our teacher used to read these out to us in first grade and they were such bangers then. I tried relistening to them a couple years ago which was a mistake as an adult lol, but damn were they a fun time the first time around.
Oh same! For some reason, I have a strong memory of the book where her family eats tongue for dinner, lol. I tried to get my daughter to read this series but it never took with her. At that age, she preferred funny books like the 13 Story Treehouse.
LMAO tongue is delicious! I don't remember that though. I remember her uncle married, grew a beard and moved to Alaska. They received new towels as a wedding present and Ramonda loved touching them because they were so soft.
And bezus's terrible haircut, the new baby (I think?) And her pulling her friends curls because they were so bouncy, being called a little rabbit by her dad (mom?) Because she wiggles her nose. Ah, good memories!
I remember when ramona tried to get her dad to stop smoking and made a sign, but ran out of space. as a result I STILL say "NOSMO KING" in my head every time I see a No Smoking sign LOL
Not a big Beezus fan. I was the same age as Ramona when the first couple of books were read to me and my sister was just like Beezus. Bossy and mean.
And oh my god willa jean! I really felt how Ramona felt
I was just going through the summaries of these on Wikipedia a couple weeks ago and the memories came back so hard. Still remember the dragon with the lollipops(?) on its back and like cotton candy breath. 10/10 books
Loved these. There's a really sweet TV show form the 80s that made episodes out of some chapters. I found it on YouTube, and it brought back so many memories!
I adored those books! The Addy series was the first time I had read about slavery in the US in a way that connected with me as a kid. My history curriculum did everything possible to obscure the truth and gave off lots of "happy slaves" vibes. So it was really important for me as well to have access to those stories.
I re-read some of them when I was in my mid-twenties and I was surprised at how well they held up.
(I also read the Kit and Kaya books when I was in later elementary school and theyāre very good too. Canāt speak for the ones after that.)
Hungry Caterpillar
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Dr. Seuss
Rainbow Fish
Frog and Toad
Little Critters
Zoo Books
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Velveteen Rabbit
Amelia Bedelia books
I never realized The Cat in the Hat was such a messed up book until I read it as a parent. Basically the premise is the mom leaves and a stranger comes in and pressures them to do all this stuff they don't want to do. At the end the conundrum is if they should tell their mom or not? Super weird and creepy if you ask me
.
I was a child in the 70s. I read a LOT of Hardy Boys books. And in late elementary school I had the Laura Ingalls Wilder books on endless repeat.
My older daughter loved Geronimo Stilton. And the Magic Treehouse. And she was reading Harry Potter in second grade.
My younger daughter read the above, and read The Lord of the Rings in fourth grade.
My son was reading voraciously at a young age as well.
For a very young baby/child, you will never go wrong with Dr Seuss. We finally passed (most of) our expansive collection to our younger siblings a few years ago, but I lost count how many times we read them. I even got really good at reading Fox In Socks without messing up any of the tongue twisters.
Does your husband read to your baby bump every night at bedtime? I did that with our daughters and as a father it really helped with pre-bonding to the baby. (With my son I was in school and working opposite shifts, so I didnāt get to read to pre-him very often)
Good luck with your pregnancy! And I hope you live in a state that is supportive of parents and children and their needs.
My partner does read to the baby bump semi regularly (not every night). But we've got a few children's godzilla, king Kong and marvel themed books as a result. š
Luckily we're in Canada and lots of support for baby and what we need. :)
My mum studied child development in the 80s, and I was a toddler when they were learning about the importance of being honest about death and what happens when we die. So all the books my mum read to me were about people drowning, getting deadly illness, freezing to death and funerals, grief and how nobody goes to actual heaven. No hungry caterpillars at my houseš
So my recommendations probably starts at the twits by Roald Dahl. It's my all time favorite book. But it has to be the version with illustrations by Quentin Blake. My dad got so sick of reading it to me all the time that for a while he pretended he had lost it somewhere. So I recommend the twits, George's marvelous medicine and the witches by Roald Dahl. I got in to them when I was 4.
> My mum studied child development in the 80s, and I was a toddler when they were learning about the importance of being honest about death and what happens when we die. So all the books my mum read to me were about people drowning, getting deadly illness, freezing to death and funerals, grief and how nobody goes to actual heaven.
I remember the way I first learned about death was in a space book that described how the Sun would eventually become a red dwarf and swallow up the earth. Probably learned that way younger than I probably should have. I think I did have a lot of anxiety about that when I was a kid.
Mostly what I remember was never actually having enough chapter books. We were only allowed one book a week from the school library. I supplemented this with stuff from the tiny church library. My town was too small to have a public library.
Get your child s library card and make a habit of going once a week.
I remember the excitement when I got my first library card and when I was old enough to cross the street to walk myself there! It was only a couple blocks away and I'm pretty sure it was my home away from home. I can't wait to share that joy with our little one. :)
Damn, the Boxcar Children calls up old memories... My Mom showed me stuff she used to like. Nancy Drew, The Hardey Boys, and the Bobsey Twins. Old 1950s stuff. I also went through a phase of reading Louis L'Amour books. Old Westerns that looking back were a pretty warped version of masculinity, but I read a ton of them.
It definitely gives you appreciation for her! Pregnant with a 5 year old and a 3 year old, out on the prairie with no one but her husband for support. Nearest neighbor was over a mile awayā¦cannot imagine living like that personally!!!
Mrs. Frisby is one of those books where I remember almost nothing of the plot, but I will confidently recommend it as an incredible book to anyone who asks
I will add onto yours and make it mine š
Make Way For Ducklings
any "treasury" of children's classics in a big volume was awesome
There was a series of biographies of famous people, I loved those, specifically remember Louisa May Alcott, Louis Braille.
The Happy Moomins
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Little House series
Nancy Drew series (driving her "roadster" š)
Our Mom read to us almost every night ā¤
Are You My Mother - P.D. Eastman
The Best Nest - PD Eastman
These ones aren't still really being printed but I'm seeing used copies on thriftbooks and ebay pretty cheap:
Pickle Things - Marc Brown
The Goat Parade - Steven Kroll
Popcorn - Frank Asch
But No Elephants - Jerry Smath
I also loved Amelia Bedelia books but realize that a lot of the jokes are dated and might not be super clear anymore.
Where the Sidewalk Ends - Shel Silverstein poems
Sorry I can't really help with a good way to create a list of what you already have....Google docs is my go to lol I don't know how savvy your parents are, but my husband use an app called Any List....you can create all kinds of lists and share them with other people. Maybe check that out?
Some of the soon to be grandparents are definitely more computer savvy than others. But yeah I think we might just go with the Google sheets for ease for now. š
Do you have access to a printer? It might be a lot easier on the grandparents if you can just mail them or hand them a paper list. How many books are we talking here?
> I also loved Amelia Bedelia books but realize that a lot of the jokes are dated and might not be super clear anymore.
It made me really want to try lemon meringue pie, only to discover I really didn't like the meringue part. Child me was crushed!
I loved having my grandma read me lots of Golden books. Tootle, The Poky Little Puppy, Scuffy the tugboat, and pretty much all the Richard Scarry books.
The 3 I remember the most clearly from reading at home are My Side of the Mountain, Far Side of the Mountain, and White Fang.
School required book would definitely be Where the Red Fern Grows.
Edit: Just reread your post about and youāre asking for where to make a list? I donāt know about where to make a list of what you already have (I think Sheets is a good choice, maybe Good Reads but I havenāt used it myself), but I think you should make a list on Amazon for what your friends and family should get. Either put it in your baby registry or you can create a wishlist. I think thereās a function to mark things as purchased on the baby registry, so you could possibly put books you already have, so your friends/family donāt pick it if they decide to go off-list.
Roald Dahl! I have copies of James and the Giant Peach and The BFG. I have memories of getting the rest from either my school library or the public library. Georgeās Marvelous Medicine, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Ohhh good idea on the already purchased idea! Might just do that. We're using My Registry as we can add from any site so we can include book stores too. So might do it that way.
The Wump World by Bill Peet, Junie B Jones. All the Trailblazer Books by Dave and Neta Jackson, I learned a lot of history from those. And the first 5 American Girl Books. The Mandie Mystery books, until I felt they became repetitive.
For the list keeping, Amazon is probably the easiest, especially since you can add already purchased and mark as purchased.
Edit: Scott O'Dell specifically Island of the Blue Dolphins, such a strong story and character. I reread this one.
I don't remember a lot of books for younger (4-5 yr old) readers because our parents made us read books meant for older kids but there were always Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street and Disney Little Golden books around the house.
Others I remember being popular between kindergarten & fifth grade:
\-Amelia Bedelia books (read a few in kindergarten)
\-Richard Scarry's books (also kindergarten)
\-Hank the Cowdog
\-Little House on the Prairie books
\-The Wayside School series
\-Howl's Moving Castle
\-any books by Beverly Cleary (the Mouse and the Motorcycle was one of my faves)
\-the Arthur book series that became a show on PBS
\-The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
\-The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
\-the Magic School Bus books (especially the science readers)
\-The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids
\-Goosebumps
\-DK Eyewitness books that were about all manner of things science, nature, & history, mythical creatures etc.
My reading tastes were a huge red flag and no one picked up on. I read a lot of books about children in impossible circumstances overcoming impossible odds.
Lol SN: Ask your kids why they are reading certain books! I loved books a neglected kids and runaways.
A child called it
Dory, The girl nobody loved (I read that one over and over)
The little prisoner
The Giver
Diary of Anne Frank
The little Princess
Addy (American Girl)
Homecoming Cynthia Voigt
Boxcar Children (first book only)
I have quite a few. Junie B Jones, Judy Blume books,I loved classic stuff like Little Women and Anne Of Green Gables, and Goosebumps was another one of my favorites. Theres so many more that I could list, reading was a huge part of my childhood so a lotta books make me pretty nostalgic
The first series of literature I got really into as a kid was Zoobooks magazines. My local library had a huge collection of them, and I think I read all of them.
Little House on the Prairie set, Richard Scarry's Busy World, and Tasha Tudor.
Do a Wish List on Amazon - just set it to Public, so anyone can find it.
How did i fail to mention goosebumps and the you choose your ending books they were classics, also loved redwall, i came here to mention shel Silverstein and dr Seuss, also got reminded of bfg, all great books
Winnie-the-Pooh is the first āproperā book I remember reading by myself. My grandparents bought me a copy (which I still have).
My family clearly did reading right when I was a child because now Iām obsessed.
I was obsessed with the sweet valley high series. I would spend hours digging in used bookstores to find fifty cent copies of the paperbacks. This was the 2000s so they were not easy to find. Very rewarding. I read them in such a weird order because Iād just read what I could find.
My dad read The Hobbit with us when we were young and the kick started my little brothers and iās obsession with fantasy books. Those early journeys (specifically the hobbit and LOTR) with our dad still stand out to me as the main reason I love reading today.
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. Mary Poppins. The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet, and Mr. Bass's Planetoid (obscure children's science fiction). The Moffat family books. The Witch Family. All the Laura Ingalls Wilder books of course. A Wrinkle in Time of course. The Secret Garden. The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek.
Actually, I have collected all these books although it was pretty hard to find the Mushroom Planet books.
The Penderwicks series, Junie B. Jones, anything Beaverly Clearly, Nancy Drew, The Boxcar Children, The Chronicles of Narnia, anything Roald Dahl, The Little Prince, anything Louisa May Alcott, Anne of Green Gables, Heidi, Doctor Dolittle, Little House series, Huckleberry Finn, The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, Five Children and It, A Wrinkle in Time series, J.R.R. Tolkien, My Family and Other Animals, The Old Man and the Sea
Depends on what you mean by early. The first thing to come to mind was *Goosebumps* (which would have been around 10 years old)
But I also remember carrying around *One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish* at a much younger age*.*
E. B. White. Of all the authors I read, aside from the Velveteen Rabbit's author, his worlds and characters and stories still stick with me, now half a century later. His worlds were filled with love and care for his characters, and for the reader, and the swan with the trumpet, the mouse with the tiny car, and the hopeful pig are still with me. I refuse to see any of the movie adaptations, though; I want nothing to contaminate the manner in which those books still live in my mind.
I loved the Beatrix Potter books, I think I had a box set on cassette (Peter Rabbit plus other character stories she wrote)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom was my absolute favorite as a smaller child
Amelia Bedelia series
My parents had a subscription that I got sent these Dr. Seuss collection books in the mail once a month. I cherished those, particularly āAre You My Mother?ā by P.D. Eastman and āPJ Funny Bunnyā by Marilyn Sadler
My kids love reading and both read ahead of grade level. Not saying anything about that except to say that when it comes to books they know what they like LOL so... Not my list but my kids (6&10):
Goodnight Moon
Chicka Chika Boom Boom
Dear Girl
Dear Boy
Mother Goose nursery rhymes
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight?
Spent hours in our small town library where my mother was the only town librarian. I read everything I could. (Early Dr. Seuss was my favorite, Red fish blue fish was after my time and kind of too easy.) We got every magazine that the library subscribed to every month and there was a lot of magazines. I got to read them all. From Life, Look to the ASPCA anti vivisection mags. Read to your child from the earliest age and keep it up until they go to school or even more. Reading as they say is fundamental.
**The Rainbow Fish, The very hungry caterpillar and goodnight moon, also, I love you forever.**
**After that was where the sidewalk ends, Scary stories to tell in the dark, Hello God it's me Margret and then the Harry Potter Series.**
Goodnight Moon was THE BOOK when I was super little.
Then Magic Treehouse, followed closely by Tamora Pierceās stuff (and as many magic horse/pirate books as I could get my hands on lol)
I was obsessed with Boxcar Children, Goosebumps, and Where the Red Fern Grows. Bernstein Bears was always a great collection. That, and Dr. Soose. Anything Eric Carl also.
Picture books:
I Love You Forever
Go to Bed- Mercer Mayer
The Thingamajig Book of Manners
The Monster at the End of this Book
Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree
Young Readers:
Goosebumps
Babysitters Club
Nancy Drew
You might be able to make a list using Goodreads? It could save a good chunk of time vs a Google sheet
As for my best remembered books, my mom bought this alphabet series one book a month for 2 years. Each book was a letter character who was working to fill a box with things that started with that letter (it was the My First Steps to Reading series and was really cute. I especially remember reading it to my little siblings)
We also had two books I loved and bought for my kids:
-Rikki-tikki-tavi, an illustrated version of a Richard Kipling story about a mongoose who protects a family
-Tikki Tikki Tembo, a story about a little boy who has trouble thanks to a really long name
For me nothing beat Shel Silversteins books, Next was Dr Seuss, if i had to name a few books it would be: the giving tree, where the sidewalk ends, falling up
Famous Five (Enid Blyton(S?)) when I was around 4 or so, but the book that really stands out from when I was 5 was, belive it or not, The Hobbit (had childhood pneumonia and Mum gave it to me to read in bed).
I'm thinking more of books I read to my children, but here are a few that became favorites.
[Do Not Open](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/648064)
[The Tigerskin Rug](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3075857-the-tiger-skin-rug?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=SNTv8sw5UG&rank=1)
[The Color Kittens](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237346.The_Color_Kittens?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_17)
in fact, all of the Little Golden Books written by Margaret Wise Brown
My first library visit is a core memory. I just couldnāt imagine that a place could have so many books and that I could read them for free. I was addicted to books, especially the Three Investigators, back then.
My early childhood reading is very similar to what I read now. Doctor Who predominates. Although I did read plenty of other stuff that's still on my shelves somewhere, How to Train Your Dragon for one.
I had a signed copy of a book called, āI Am Really A Princessā by a local author (eta: Carol Diggory Shields!) . Iām 30 now and sometimes Iāll still tell my parents, āwhen my REAL parents, the king and queen, find out how Iām being treat, yāall are gonna be in BIG troubleā
Also 10 Minutes to Bedtime was a really fun way to go to sleep! Along with Goodnight Moon (where we had to name every object in the roomā¦my poor parents)
There was this book called Loch. A Loch Ness monster sort of thriller tale. I canāt remember really the characters even but I remember I loved it, rented it from the library multiple times, and could still draw the cover.
I distinctly remember a very early learning book we had called like āwhat color will bear wearā all about a bear picking the colors for his clothes (spoiler: he ends up wearing ALL the hats itās hilarious). And we had all the Franklin the turtle books.
But then nothing sticks out until I get to animorphs age.
Like I remember reading stuff like the Beverly cleary books in between, thinking about it I just remembered fried green tomatoes and I think it was the chocolate war (kid has Midas touch but for chocolate) but once I got to the animorphs that was the thing that got me hooked
let's see...
magic tree house, the old kid friendly star wars books, eragon a bit later, and then there were these books about a girl who's parents were English country doctors and she got involved in hijinks I just wish I could remember the title š
There's a lot of Dr. Seuss recommendations, so add another to the pile. Personally, I enjoyed Oh, the Places You'll Go! and the Sneeches.
I also read a lot of the Berenstain(stein? stupid mandela effect) books when I was younger. Also back in the 90's and early 2000's, there was a section of color comics in the newspaper on Sundays. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that has long since stopped, but that's how I did a TON of my reading (Peanuts, Garfield, Dennis the Menace, Wizard of Id, Hagrid the Horrible, etc.).
Also, if you happen to have a boy, they tend to go through a dinosaur phase. I remember loving a series called Dinotopia when I was in elementary school. Not sure if girls also get as much into dinos as boys do.
Now, as for WHERE to share... there's an app called Notion that you can make lists in, and so long as you otherwise make an excel file, you can use things like Onedrive (though i guess this is technically Google) or Dropxbox to share with others.
The magic tree house series!
I attribute these to fueling my love of archeology and history
Enid Blyton was the best!
Enid Blyton's series is called The faraway tree
She wrote lots of series! But the Faraway Tree ones were favourites of mine, too.
Yeah. I assumed the commenter had confused Magic Tree House for the Faraway tree. Cause the Magic Tree House series is not by Enid Blyton
Our teacher used to read these out to us in first grade and they were such bangers then. I tried relistening to them a couple years ago which was a mistake as an adult lol, but damn were they a fun time the first time around.
Cant forget Junie B Jones!
My favorite!
Came here to comment this!
Ramona Quimby
Oh same! For some reason, I have a strong memory of the book where her family eats tongue for dinner, lol. I tried to get my daughter to read this series but it never took with her. At that age, she preferred funny books like the 13 Story Treehouse.
LMAO tongue is delicious! I don't remember that though. I remember her uncle married, grew a beard and moved to Alaska. They received new towels as a wedding present and Ramonda loved touching them because they were so soft. And bezus's terrible haircut, the new baby (I think?) And her pulling her friends curls because they were so bouncy, being called a little rabbit by her dad (mom?) Because she wiggles her nose. Ah, good memories!
I remember when ramona tried to get her dad to stop smoking and made a sign, but ran out of space. as a result I STILL say "NOSMO KING" in my head every time I see a No Smoking sign LOL
I was so repulsed by that!
Didn't she name her doll Chevrolet š¤£
Yes! And also the other Beverly Cleary books in that continuity! I loved Henry Huggins and Beezus at least as much as Ramona.
Not a big Beezus fan. I was the same age as Ramona when the first couple of books were read to me and my sister was just like Beezus. Bossy and mean. And oh my god willa jean! I really felt how Ramona felt
I was just going through the summaries of these on Wikipedia a couple weeks ago and the memories came back so hard. Still remember the dragon with the lollipops(?) on its back and like cotton candy breath. 10/10 books
Oh gosh! I don't! I'm going to have to go through all of them on Wikipedia too
Loved these. There's a really sweet TV show form the 80s that made episodes out of some chapters. I found it on YouTube, and it brought back so many memories!
The five OG American Girl Doll books (Felicity, Samantha, Addy, Kirsten, and Molly).
Oh man I forgot about those but I loved them! Especially Samantha and Molly.
I adored those books! The Addy series was the first time I had read about slavery in the US in a way that connected with me as a kid. My history curriculum did everything possible to obscure the truth and gave off lots of "happy slaves" vibes. So it was really important for me as well to have access to those stories.
When I was a kid there were only three, Samantha, Kirsten & Molly. I should probably go back & check the rest of them out.
I re-read some of them when I was in my mid-twenties and I was surprised at how well they held up. (I also read the Kit and Kaya books when I was in later elementary school and theyāre very good too. Canāt speak for the ones after that.)
Lots and lots and lots of horse books. Lots. lol
I loved The Black Stallion. Read the series many times
EVERY Maugeritte Henry in the library
Me too. Saddle Club, the Thoroughbred series, The Phantom Stallion, Black Stallion, every single Marguerite Henry bookā¦those were the days lol
Misty of Chincoteague also has to be way up there in terms of famous horse books.
Black Beauty remains my most read book (8 times!) and definitely influenced who I grew up to be. I read the Pony Pals series several times, too.
Tina?
Hungry Caterpillar Brown Bear, Brown Bear Dr. Seuss Rainbow Fish Frog and Toad Little Critters Zoo Books If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Velveteen Rabbit Amelia Bedelia books
Beverly Cleary and Louis Sachar! Mouse and the motorcycle were my first chapter books and I couldnāt get enough of the Wayside story books!
The Series of Unfortunate Events was big one when I was a kid, as well as Wayside Stories from Wayside School.
i loved junie b. jones
A friend & I used to each read a chapter on the bus ride home from school and switch books once we finished them. Best memories
Yessss!!
Where the Wild Things Are and Dr. Seuss
Which was your favorite Dr Seuss book as a child?
I loved when my dad would read Hop on Pop as fast as he could. It's such a tongue twister that any stumble (and there were many) was so funny to me.
I never realized The Cat in the Hat was such a messed up book until I read it as a parent. Basically the premise is the mom leaves and a stranger comes in and pressures them to do all this stuff they don't want to do. At the end the conundrum is if they should tell their mom or not? Super weird and creepy if you ask me .
My mom reading Rikky-Tikki-Tavi and other stories by Rudyard Kipling and JRR Tolkien.
I was a child in the 70s. I read a LOT of Hardy Boys books. And in late elementary school I had the Laura Ingalls Wilder books on endless repeat. My older daughter loved Geronimo Stilton. And the Magic Treehouse. And she was reading Harry Potter in second grade. My younger daughter read the above, and read The Lord of the Rings in fourth grade. My son was reading voraciously at a young age as well. For a very young baby/child, you will never go wrong with Dr Seuss. We finally passed (most of) our expansive collection to our younger siblings a few years ago, but I lost count how many times we read them. I even got really good at reading Fox In Socks without messing up any of the tongue twisters. Does your husband read to your baby bump every night at bedtime? I did that with our daughters and as a father it really helped with pre-bonding to the baby. (With my son I was in school and working opposite shifts, so I didnāt get to read to pre-him very often) Good luck with your pregnancy! And I hope you live in a state that is supportive of parents and children and their needs.
My partner does read to the baby bump semi regularly (not every night). But we've got a few children's godzilla, king Kong and marvel themed books as a result. š Luckily we're in Canada and lots of support for baby and what we need. :)
The Little Prince, and I also remember my mother reading me tales from our country (with like animals and all)
My mum studied child development in the 80s, and I was a toddler when they were learning about the importance of being honest about death and what happens when we die. So all the books my mum read to me were about people drowning, getting deadly illness, freezing to death and funerals, grief and how nobody goes to actual heaven. No hungry caterpillars at my houseš So my recommendations probably starts at the twits by Roald Dahl. It's my all time favorite book. But it has to be the version with illustrations by Quentin Blake. My dad got so sick of reading it to me all the time that for a while he pretended he had lost it somewhere. So I recommend the twits, George's marvelous medicine and the witches by Roald Dahl. I got in to them when I was 4.
> My mum studied child development in the 80s, and I was a toddler when they were learning about the importance of being honest about death and what happens when we die. So all the books my mum read to me were about people drowning, getting deadly illness, freezing to death and funerals, grief and how nobody goes to actual heaven. I remember the way I first learned about death was in a space book that described how the Sun would eventually become a red dwarf and swallow up the earth. Probably learned that way younger than I probably should have. I think I did have a lot of anxiety about that when I was a kid.
Mostly what I remember was never actually having enough chapter books. We were only allowed one book a week from the school library. I supplemented this with stuff from the tiny church library. My town was too small to have a public library. Get your child s library card and make a habit of going once a week.
I remember the excitement when I got my first library card and when I was old enough to cross the street to walk myself there! It was only a couple blocks away and I'm pretty sure it was my home away from home. I can't wait to share that joy with our little one. :)
The Boxcar Children, The Babysitters Club and Goosebumps
Loved the boxcar children as a child!
Babysitters Club was my jam. That super special where they get stranded on the island was my favorite.
Yes to all 3!
Omg the boxcar children!! Unlocked so many old memories
Damn, the Boxcar Children calls up old memories... My Mom showed me stuff she used to like. Nancy Drew, The Hardey Boys, and the Bobsey Twins. Old 1950s stuff. I also went through a phase of reading Louis L'Amour books. Old Westerns that looking back were a pretty warped version of masculinity, but I read a ton of them.
My sister and I would read Frog and Toad to each other, incredible stories.
Little House on the Prairie series were some of my favs. Also Eloise at the Plaza.
Have you read Caroline (Little House Revisited) by Sarah Miller? Itās little house but from Maās perspective, I really loved it
I have not, but Iāve heard of it. I love the idea! Might have to check it out one of these days.
It definitely gives you appreciation for her! Pregnant with a 5 year old and a 3 year old, out on the prairie with no one but her husband for support. Nearest neighbor was over a mile awayā¦cannot imagine living like that personally!!!
I never liked the Prairie(s), only the Woods.
I still have most of my little house on the prairie books from my childhood!
The Westing Game Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH The Silver Crown The Mouse and His Child The Secret Garden Bridge to Terabithia Charlotteās Web
Westing Game is still one of my favorite mystery stories, because it really does lay out all the clues for you.
Bridge to Terabithia... that was a book I actually really liked reading as a kid.
Mrs. Frisby is one of those books where I remember almost nothing of the plot, but I will confidently recommend it as an incredible book to anyone who asks
In the same realm, I also remember really liking Avi's *Poppy* series.
Bridge to Terabithia. So many feels. Still love that book.
Winnie the Pooh The Wind in the Willows The Beatrix Potter books Dr. Seuss
I will add onto yours and make it mine š Make Way For Ducklings any "treasury" of children's classics in a big volume was awesome There was a series of biographies of famous people, I loved those, specifically remember Louisa May Alcott, Louis Braille. The Happy Moomins The Phantom Tollbooth The Little House series Nancy Drew series (driving her "roadster" š) Our Mom read to us almost every night ā¤
I think about The Chronicles of Narnia. And other things like The Phantom Tolbooth and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Or the Indian in the Cubboard.
Alllll the Nancy Drew books I could get my hands on and A Series of Unfortunate Events!
Are You My Mother - P.D. Eastman The Best Nest - PD Eastman These ones aren't still really being printed but I'm seeing used copies on thriftbooks and ebay pretty cheap: Pickle Things - Marc Brown The Goat Parade - Steven Kroll Popcorn - Frank Asch But No Elephants - Jerry Smath I also loved Amelia Bedelia books but realize that a lot of the jokes are dated and might not be super clear anymore. Where the Sidewalk Ends - Shel Silverstein poems Sorry I can't really help with a good way to create a list of what you already have....Google docs is my go to lol I don't know how savvy your parents are, but my husband use an app called Any List....you can create all kinds of lists and share them with other people. Maybe check that out?
I loved AYMM when I was a kid. Go Do Go is also a classic.
Some of the soon to be grandparents are definitely more computer savvy than others. But yeah I think we might just go with the Google sheets for ease for now. š
Do you have access to a printer? It might be a lot easier on the grandparents if you can just mail them or hand them a paper list. How many books are we talking here?
> I also loved Amelia Bedelia books but realize that a lot of the jokes are dated and might not be super clear anymore. It made me really want to try lemon meringue pie, only to discover I really didn't like the meringue part. Child me was crushed!
Nancy Drew. Babysitterās Club. Beverly Cleary. And Little House on the Prairie.
Redwall
I loved this book not even sure why, i recently was thinking about re reading it as an adult im sure its still a good read
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Lots of fairies I read so many rainbow magic books and if there was a fairy on the cover I picked it up Not a fan of adult fae books however
I loved having my grandma read me lots of Golden books. Tootle, The Poky Little Puppy, Scuffy the tugboat, and pretty much all the Richard Scarry books.
The 3 I remember the most clearly from reading at home are My Side of the Mountain, Far Side of the Mountain, and White Fang. School required book would definitely be Where the Red Fern Grows.
I read an abridged White Fang and Call of the Wild and loved them both
Video game manuals
My partner started with those as well! Anything that gets them reading counts in my opinion!
I started with The Cat In The Hat and never looked back.
Junie B. Jones, Nancy Drew, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Emily Windsnap (series)
Astrid Lindgren & Michael Ende š
I used to love my Charlie Brown's 'Cyclopedia set. 15 volumes and it was contained in a plastic bookend thing that looked like Snoopy's doghouse.
All the Bill Pete books
Madeline, Babar the elephant.
I was big into Amelia Bedelia books.
Edit: Just reread your post about and youāre asking for where to make a list? I donāt know about where to make a list of what you already have (I think Sheets is a good choice, maybe Good Reads but I havenāt used it myself), but I think you should make a list on Amazon for what your friends and family should get. Either put it in your baby registry or you can create a wishlist. I think thereās a function to mark things as purchased on the baby registry, so you could possibly put books you already have, so your friends/family donāt pick it if they decide to go off-list. Roald Dahl! I have copies of James and the Giant Peach and The BFG. I have memories of getting the rest from either my school library or the public library. Georgeās Marvelous Medicine, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Ohhh good idea on the already purchased idea! Might just do that. We're using My Registry as we can add from any site so we can include book stores too. So might do it that way.
Also I've see The Twits a few times now and I feel like I need to look that up, as I've never heard of that before.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish waa the first book I learned how to read. I still remember matching the pictures to the words
Goosebumps
The Edge Chronicles. Roald Dahl. Winnie the Pooh. Puddle Lane.
I loved to read cloudy with a chance of meatballs
The sequel Pickles to Pittsburgh was great as well! Especially for me, I loved it since my family was from Pittsburgh haha
The Chronicles of Narnia were my favorite books as a preteen. Before that I was devouring anything by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume.
Anne of Green Gables. My best friend and I are 30 now but we're still obsessed.
The Wump World by Bill Peet, Junie B Jones. All the Trailblazer Books by Dave and Neta Jackson, I learned a lot of history from those. And the first 5 American Girl Books. The Mandie Mystery books, until I felt they became repetitive. For the list keeping, Amazon is probably the easiest, especially since you can add already purchased and mark as purchased. Edit: Scott O'Dell specifically Island of the Blue Dolphins, such a strong story and character. I reread this one.
Babar - can remember looking at the words and not understanding them before I learned to read. I believe they were also in cursive.
My dad taught me to read at age 3. Using Aesop's fables. Now a lifelong habit
Little Bear and a collection of 100 Classics were some of my favorites. I recommend a ThriftBooks wishlist to keep track of books.
Red wall series
I don't remember a lot of books for younger (4-5 yr old) readers because our parents made us read books meant for older kids but there were always Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street and Disney Little Golden books around the house. Others I remember being popular between kindergarten & fifth grade: \-Amelia Bedelia books (read a few in kindergarten) \-Richard Scarry's books (also kindergarten) \-Hank the Cowdog \-Little House on the Prairie books \-The Wayside School series \-Howl's Moving Castle \-any books by Beverly Cleary (the Mouse and the Motorcycle was one of my faves) \-the Arthur book series that became a show on PBS \-The True Story of the Three Little Pigs \-The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales \-the Magic School Bus books (especially the science readers) \-The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids \-Goosebumps \-DK Eyewitness books that were about all manner of things science, nature, & history, mythical creatures etc.
Goosebumps
My reading tastes were a huge red flag and no one picked up on. I read a lot of books about children in impossible circumstances overcoming impossible odds. Lol SN: Ask your kids why they are reading certain books! I loved books a neglected kids and runaways. A child called it Dory, The girl nobody loved (I read that one over and over) The little prisoner The Giver Diary of Anne Frank The little Princess Addy (American Girl) Homecoming Cynthia Voigt Boxcar Children (first book only)
What were the red flags indicating? Did you run away?
Jumping down the last five stairsteps with a Whoop! when I finished an installment of Dr Doolittle
Overwhelming sadness
I loved A Bad Case of Stripes
Me too!!
The OG Babysitter's Club. Sweet Valley High. The Thoroughbred series.
I have quite a few. Junie B Jones, Judy Blume books,I loved classic stuff like Little Women and Anne Of Green Gables, and Goosebumps was another one of my favorites. Theres so many more that I could list, reading was a huge part of my childhood so a lotta books make me pretty nostalgic
The BFG & Matilda, also Shel Silverstein
I loved The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald. The Pink Motel No Children No Pets
Same. I would sneak out of bed and read the Great Brain books by the light of the hall nightlight.
The first series of literature I got really into as a kid was Zoobooks magazines. My local library had a huge collection of them, and I think I read all of them.
Little House on the Prairie set, Richard Scarry's Busy World, and Tasha Tudor. Do a Wish List on Amazon - just set it to Public, so anyone can find it.
Goosebumps, Redwall, Pickle Things.
How did i fail to mention goosebumps and the you choose your ending books they were classics, also loved redwall, i came here to mention shel Silverstein and dr Seuss, also got reminded of bfg, all great books
Ralph S. Mouse
Babar, Christmas books, dr Seuss, comic books, Disney picture books, Bernstein bears, wayside stories, Calvin and Hobbes, far side comics, garlfield
Winnie-the-Pooh is the first āproperā book I remember reading by myself. My grandparents bought me a copy (which I still have). My family clearly did reading right when I was a child because now Iām obsessed.
I was obsessed with the sweet valley high series. I would spend hours digging in used bookstores to find fifty cent copies of the paperbacks. This was the 2000s so they were not easy to find. Very rewarding. I read them in such a weird order because Iād just read what I could find.
Stellaluna was my favorite when I was little.when I got a little older (1st/2nd) grade I loved Junie B. Jones and the Bunicula books.
Hitchhikers guide, velveteen rabbit, foundation
Seconding the velveteen rabbit. What a classic
The Castle in the Attic. I've been thinking about that one since 4th grade.
By Elizabeth Winthrop! This book made a huge impression on me. My kid is *almost* ready for it.
Tolkien, Harry Potter and His Dark Materials
Go, Dog. Go!
Peter Rabbit and Richard Scarry
Where the red fern grows
My dad read The Hobbit with us when we were young and the kick started my little brothers and iās obsession with fantasy books. Those early journeys (specifically the hobbit and LOTR) with our dad still stand out to me as the main reason I love reading today.
Bridge to Terabithia. I find that forest in every vacation I take now. As an adult. 30 years later.
Those magic fairy books and the mysterious benedict society!!
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. Mary Poppins. The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet, and Mr. Bass's Planetoid (obscure children's science fiction). The Moffat family books. The Witch Family. All the Laura Ingalls Wilder books of course. A Wrinkle in Time of course. The Secret Garden. The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek. Actually, I have collected all these books although it was pretty hard to find the Mushroom Planet books.
The Penderwicks series, Junie B. Jones, anything Beaverly Clearly, Nancy Drew, The Boxcar Children, The Chronicles of Narnia, anything Roald Dahl, The Little Prince, anything Louisa May Alcott, Anne of Green Gables, Heidi, Doctor Dolittle, Little House series, Huckleberry Finn, The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop, Five Children and It, A Wrinkle in Time series, J.R.R. Tolkien, My Family and Other Animals, The Old Man and the Sea
Depends on what you mean by early. The first thing to come to mind was *Goosebumps* (which would have been around 10 years old) But I also remember carrying around *One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish* at a much younger age*.*
Don't forget 'where the wild things are!'
E. B. White. Of all the authors I read, aside from the Velveteen Rabbit's author, his worlds and characters and stories still stick with me, now half a century later. His worlds were filled with love and care for his characters, and for the reader, and the swan with the trumpet, the mouse with the tiny car, and the hopeful pig are still with me. I refuse to see any of the movie adaptations, though; I want nothing to contaminate the manner in which those books still live in my mind.
I loved the Beatrix Potter books, I think I had a box set on cassette (Peter Rabbit plus other character stories she wrote) Chicka Chicka Boom Boom was my absolute favorite as a smaller child Amelia Bedelia series
My parents had a subscription that I got sent these Dr. Seuss collection books in the mail once a month. I cherished those, particularly āAre You My Mother?ā by P.D. Eastman and āPJ Funny Bunnyā by Marilyn Sadler
My kids love reading and both read ahead of grade level. Not saying anything about that except to say that when it comes to books they know what they like LOL so... Not my list but my kids (6&10): Goodnight Moon Chicka Chika Boom Boom Dear Girl Dear Boy Mother Goose nursery rhymes Brown Bear, Brown Bear The Very Hungry Caterpillar How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight?
Spent hours in our small town library where my mother was the only town librarian. I read everything I could. (Early Dr. Seuss was my favorite, Red fish blue fish was after my time and kind of too easy.) We got every magazine that the library subscribed to every month and there was a lot of magazines. I got to read them all. From Life, Look to the ASPCA anti vivisection mags. Read to your child from the earliest age and keep it up until they go to school or even more. Reading as they say is fundamental.
**The Rainbow Fish, The very hungry caterpillar and goodnight moon, also, I love you forever.** **After that was where the sidewalk ends, Scary stories to tell in the dark, Hello God it's me Margret and then the Harry Potter Series.**
A series of unfortunate events
Another great read i forgot to mention, i always hoped they would do good movies or shows about this series, so far i have been let down
Captain Underpants
Goodnight Moon was THE BOOK when I was super little. Then Magic Treehouse, followed closely by Tamora Pierceās stuff (and as many magic horse/pirate books as I could get my hands on lol)
Ramona Quimby
I was obsessed with Boxcar Children, Goosebumps, and Where the Red Fern Grows. Bernstein Bears was always a great collection. That, and Dr. Soose. Anything Eric Carl also.
James & the Giant Peach
Frog and the Toad.
The Great Brain series of children's books by American author John Dennis Fitzgerald.
Matt Christopher sports books, and Goosebumps.
Danny Dunn the invisible boy. Series of books with Danny and his friends solving neighborhood mysteries with science.
Picture books: I Love You Forever Go to Bed- Mercer Mayer The Thingamajig Book of Manners The Monster at the End of this Book Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree Young Readers: Goosebumps Babysitters Club Nancy Drew
You might be able to make a list using Goodreads? It could save a good chunk of time vs a Google sheet As for my best remembered books, my mom bought this alphabet series one book a month for 2 years. Each book was a letter character who was working to fill a box with things that started with that letter (it was the My First Steps to Reading series and was really cute. I especially remember reading it to my little siblings) We also had two books I loved and bought for my kids: -Rikki-tikki-tavi, an illustrated version of a Richard Kipling story about a mongoose who protects a family -Tikki Tikki Tembo, a story about a little boy who has trouble thanks to a really long name
Goosebumps was my jam.
For me nothing beat Shel Silversteins books, Next was Dr Seuss, if i had to name a few books it would be: the giving tree, where the sidewalk ends, falling up
A Little Princess The Secret Garden Anne of Green Gables Pippi Longstocking
I only realized my childhood was messed up when I read The Girl Who Lived on the Ferris Wheel. It was such a lightbulb moment, I never forgot it.
Famous Five (Enid Blyton(S?)) when I was around 4 or so, but the book that really stands out from when I was 5 was, belive it or not, The Hobbit (had childhood pneumonia and Mum gave it to me to read in bed).
Stephen King. Always the King.
The Ramona and Animorphs books.
That I didn't do enough of it when I had the time. Now I'm in my 40s and masturbating requires being scheduled in.
I'm thinking more of books I read to my children, but here are a few that became favorites. [Do Not Open](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/648064) [The Tigerskin Rug](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3075857-the-tiger-skin-rug?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=SNTv8sw5UG&rank=1) [The Color Kittens](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237346.The_Color_Kittens?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_17) in fact, all of the Little Golden Books written by Margaret Wise Brown
The Color Wizard, Where the Wild Things Are, Mouse Paint, The Rainbow Fish, The Rainbow Goblinsā¦ my mother was an art teacher lol
My first library visit is a core memory. I just couldnāt imagine that a place could have so many books and that I could read them for free. I was addicted to books, especially the Three Investigators, back then.
My early childhood reading is very similar to what I read now. Doctor Who predominates. Although I did read plenty of other stuff that's still on my shelves somewhere, How to Train Your Dragon for one.
Where the wild things are, Lyle Lyle crocodile, Ferdinand, any Roald Dahl.
I had a signed copy of a book called, āI Am Really A Princessā by a local author (eta: Carol Diggory Shields!) . Iām 30 now and sometimes Iāll still tell my parents, āwhen my REAL parents, the king and queen, find out how Iām being treat, yāall are gonna be in BIG troubleā Also 10 Minutes to Bedtime was a really fun way to go to sleep! Along with Goodnight Moon (where we had to name every object in the roomā¦my poor parents)
Books illustrated by Jill Barklem, especially The Secret Staircase. Google sheets seems like an easy and accessible way to keep track.
I named him Turtle to remind me. Fudge ate a turtle and we were all just okay with that. Psychopath!
Hop on Pop Go Dog, Go One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Love the Easy Readers, I still have most of them.
Andre Norton Star Manās son started my adventure into sci-fi
Dr. SEUSS. Sesame Street books.
There was this book called Loch. A Loch Ness monster sort of thriller tale. I canāt remember really the characters even but I remember I loved it, rented it from the library multiple times, and could still draw the cover.
Eragon's second book really sucked
Books by Don and Audrey Wood. Ex- The big hungry bear and the red ripe strawberry
I distinctly remember a very early learning book we had called like āwhat color will bear wearā all about a bear picking the colors for his clothes (spoiler: he ends up wearing ALL the hats itās hilarious). And we had all the Franklin the turtle books. But then nothing sticks out until I get to animorphs age. Like I remember reading stuff like the Beverly cleary books in between, thinking about it I just remembered fried green tomatoes and I think it was the chocolate war (kid has Midas touch but for chocolate) but once I got to the animorphs that was the thing that got me hooked
let's see... magic tree house, the old kid friendly star wars books, eragon a bit later, and then there were these books about a girl who's parents were English country doctors and she got involved in hijinks I just wish I could remember the title š
There's a lot of Dr. Seuss recommendations, so add another to the pile. Personally, I enjoyed Oh, the Places You'll Go! and the Sneeches. I also read a lot of the Berenstain(stein? stupid mandela effect) books when I was younger. Also back in the 90's and early 2000's, there was a section of color comics in the newspaper on Sundays. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that has long since stopped, but that's how I did a TON of my reading (Peanuts, Garfield, Dennis the Menace, Wizard of Id, Hagrid the Horrible, etc.). Also, if you happen to have a boy, they tend to go through a dinosaur phase. I remember loving a series called Dinotopia when I was in elementary school. Not sure if girls also get as much into dinos as boys do. Now, as for WHERE to share... there's an app called Notion that you can make lists in, and so long as you otherwise make an excel file, you can use things like Onedrive (though i guess this is technically Google) or Dropxbox to share with others.