All These Children's Books are Winners

There are certain things mothers can’t bear to part with, even if their child has become a teen and has long outgrown the item.

For me, it was my son’s bunny, a tattered pink, stuffed animal with blue-checked ears and a “belly button” in the tummy that my son created by habitually pushing his finger into bunny’s belly as he was taking his naps.

Bunny remains front and center in my son’s room, which has now been stripped of all vestiges of childhood and decorated with rock band posters. Even my son can’t bear to put bunny away.

However, one of my most difficult moments came when it was time to clear his bookshelf of “baby books” and make room for more appropriate teenage reading materials.

I’d spent hour upon hour reading to him from some of these books of which he insisted we read repeatedly. I have such fond memories of the two of us snuggled up in bed together exploring the life of “Little Bear” by Maurice Sendak. And how can I forgot all the giggles we shared over Joshua’s attempts to become potty-training in “Once Upon a Potty” by Alona Frankel? I recall him asking why I was crying the first time I read Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree” to him. And, though he was a toddler, he can still recall my sister reading “Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?” to him with a flourish of drama and exaggerated “Moos.”

Getting rid of any of these favorite books was out of the question. They held too many memories. And what if he someday wants to share them with his children?

I finally relented and gave the bulk of his childhood books to deserving children who might not otherwise have a book.

However, there were those I couldn’t bear to part with. They’re now safely tucked away in his trunk of memories to be opened for the days I want to look back on a long-gone childhood.

Here’s my picks for top children’s books. Tell me your favorites in the “Comments” section.

“The Polar Express” by Chris Van Allburg

“The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” by Lane Smith

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle

“Where the Wild Things” are by Maurice Sendak

“Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Suess

“Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown

“The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein

“The Runaway Bunny” by Margaret Wise Brown

“Guess How Much I Love You” by Sam McBratney

“No, David,” by David Shannon

“Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin Jr.

“Stellaluna” by Janell Cannon

“Are You My Mother?” by P.D. Eastman

“The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter

“If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Joffe Numeroff

“The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats

“In the Small, Small Pond” by Denise Fleming

“Olivia” by Ian Falconer

“Where’s Spot” by Eric Hill

“Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White