Take a look, it's in a book...

My mom taught me a great many things, and one of them was the love of reading. I was looking for some good children's books the other day for my friend's baby and in searching, I stumbled upon tons of the books that my mom read to me as a kid and that I loved. There are so many good ones! These are just a few of my favorites from when I was little. You should go read them, or read them to your kids, but you don't have to take my word for it...

A Letter to Amy, by Ezra Jack Keats
"It looks like rain, you better stay in, Willie," Peter warns his dog, as he dashes out to mail a letter. He is inviting Amy to his birthday party, but he wants the letter to be a surprise for her. The wind blows the letter out of his hand as the storm grows. The author transforms the look and feel of the city on a rainy day in his great illustrations. Learn more. Buy it. Borrow it.


Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney
This story, including the illustrations, is beautiful. Miss Rumphius is the narrator's great aunt who set out as a young girl to go to faraway places, live by the sea, and do something to make the world more beautiful. She does all of these things in her adventurous and exciting life as a single woman while bringing hope and beauty to those she meets. Miss Rumphius also loves to plant lupines in her yard and everywhere she goes, so we always called it "The Lupine Lady." This book teaches responsability and self-fulfillment, especially in girls. Buy it. Borrow it.


Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey
This is a story about Sal, a little girl who goes berry picking with her mother and found it more fun to eat berries rather than pick them...until she got mixed up with a mother bear and her cub on the same errand. Classic. Buy it. Borrow it.