CAN'T YOU SLEEP, LITTLE BEAR?

By Martin Waddell
Illustrated by Barbara Firth
1988
32 Pages

Big Bear is puttting Little Bear to bed in the Bear Cave, but Little Bear is afraid of the dark. Big Bear brings successively larger lanterns trying to fill the room with light and banish Little Bear's fear, but Little Bear is still afraid, because it's dark "out there", outside the Bear Cave. So Big Bear takes Little Bear out into the night and shows him the bright yellow moon and the twinkly stars. Meanwhile, Little Bear has fallen asleep in Big Bear's arms.

It seems with little kids it's always nice to be able to tell a story about someone else dealing with a similar problem or fear. Much better than Mommy or Daddy trying to explain why they don't need to be afraid of the dark, dogs, men with mustaches, etc. "Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?", with it's soft pencil and watercolor illustrations, fits very neatly into that category.

THE LITTLE HOUSE

By Virginia Lee Burton
1942
44 Pages

"The Little House" sits on an apple-covered hill in the country, through the seasons, through many generations of one family. She wonders what it would be like to live in the city. The distant city comes closer and closer, until the little house finds herself surrounded by tall buildings, bright lights, and noisy trains, and many people rushing by without noticing her. Until one day the great-great-granddaughter of the man who built the little house comes by and remembers the little house that "was way out in the country on a hill coverd with daisies and apple trees growing around." The woman takes the house out of the city and returns her to the country, where, "once again she was lived in and taken care of." A sweet story with a happy ending for children, with soft, detailed pictures showing the little house's journey as her world changed around her.

Burton won the 1943 Caldecott Medal for "The Little House", and is also the author of "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel".

CAPTAIN'S PURR

By Madeleine Floyd
2003
22pages

Captain's Purr is a charming story about the author's cat, Captain, who lives with her by the River Thames in London. She has painted a beautiful series of watercolors showing off the imposing Captain in all of the important activities that fill his days - sleeping, washing, and eating. But it seems that Captain has a secret life at night which really makes him purr. A great book with a twist for cat lovers of any age.

MARS NEEDS MOMS

By Berkeley Breathed
2002
40 Pages

Poor Milo is driven by his thundering, humorless tyrant of a mother to eat various vegetables and take out the trash. He just doesn't get what's so special about mothers. Until the Martians, who grow motherless out of the ground like potatoes, come to earth one night with a big net to steal a mother - Milo's mother. Milo tags along on the spaceship ride to Mars, where his mother makes the ultimate sacrifice and he finally realizes what's so special about mothers - and teaches the Martians a lesson about mother-love, too.

Mars Needs Moms reminds me of the classic, "Where The Wild Things Are", a story about another little boy who has a bad day, is sent to his room without supper, and whose mother comes through in the end. You may know Breathed as the creator of the Bloom County and Opus comic strips. His illustrations are thick, lush, funny, and finely-detailed. This would make a great Mother's Day gift too!

FAVORITE BABY BOOKS

Thinking back on what my now 3-year-old's favorite baby books were, she liked books with big, bright, colorful pictures, books with Mommies and Daddies interacting with babies, and books with animals. I know, that covers most baby books, but here are a few of our favorites (all available in the form of board books):

Baby Dance, by Ann Taylor, illustrated by Marjorie Van Heerden. In a re-working of the lyrics to "Hush Little Baby", a daddy dances with his baby girl, while Mama gets a little sleep.

One Sleepy Baby, by Pamela Levine, illustrated by Stephanie Milanowski. Baby goes through his (her?) predictable bedtime routine with Daddy counting 1-10 each step of the way. "One sleepy baby, two tired eyes, three bedtime stories, a special lullaby..."

Who Are You?, by Stella Blackstone, illustrated Debbie Harter. This one is a real page-turner and invites interaction with your baby, as the question, "Who are you?" is posed on one page with a visual clue, and then answered on the next with the partial illustration completed. I love the illustrators style - bright, geometric, and full of energy. This author/illustrator team has published many more books that are just as much fun to read.

Hug, by Jez Alborough. Baby chimp, Bobo, sees different animal pairs hugging, and realizes how much he wants a hug from his Mommy too. With the help of the other animals, he finds her and gets his hug. Another good interactive book, because it has only the one word in it, "hug". It's more like having a conversation with your baby about what is happening to little Bobo. This author has created a few other excellent one-word books about Bobo and his Mommy, too, like "Yes", and "Tall".

WONDERTIME MAGAZINE

I'm going to stray from the subject of children's books for a moment to tell you about my favorite 'parenting' magazine. It's called Wondertime, and is for parents of children aged 0-8 years old. I like their very positive approach to all the usual parenting magazine subjects of eating, sleeping, health, and development, as well as the short pieces that remind me to enjoy my daughter's innate love of learning. They'll send you one issue for free, and if you like it, an additional nine issues (not quite monthly) for $10. Here's how the publisher describes their magazine:

"Wondertime is dedicated to helping parents nurture their children's love of learning. A blend of how and why, Wondertime inspires parents of infants through 8-year-olds to see the world through the eyes of their children, and to celebrate the wonder of this all-too-fleeting time.

MAMA, DO YOU LOVE ME?

By Barbara M. Joosse
Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee
1991
32 Pages

My 3-year-old daughter is pushing, pushing, pushing the boundaries A LOT right now, and I think that is why "Mama, Do You Love Me" is her current favorite book. It's about a conversation between an Inuit mother and her young daughter, in which the daughter asks how much her mother loves her, and tries to think of situations that might make her mother stop loving her.

"What if I turned into a polar bear, and I was the meanest bear you ever saw, and I had sharp, shiny teeth, and I chased you into your tent and you cried?"

Her mother replies:

"Then I would be very surprised and very scared. But still, inside the bear, you would be you, and I would love you."

It's a lovely story with soft, watercolor illustrations. I'd highly recommend it to you if you are finding yourself pushed into feeling angry with your kids lately, and looking for a way to let them know how much you will always love them no matter what they do.

HUSH LITTLE BABY

By Sylvia Long
2002
26 Pages

"Hush little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's going to show you a hummingbird.
If that hummingbird don't fly,
Mama's going to show you the evening sky."

Hush Little Baby is a wonderful new version of the traditional lullaby. The author changes the words so that instead of focusing on buying things for baby, it becomes a sweet story about the Mama rabbit and baby bunny going through their bedtime routine, with Mama teaching him about the natural world, and sharing some very special moments with him before he falls asleep. The highly-detailed pictures are truly wonderful scenes depicting each part of the lullaby. This makes a great bedtime book for babies young and old.

STARFALL

I really want to encourage everyone to take a look at Starfall, a great web site geared towards teaching reading and pre-reading skills to Pre-K through second graders. It begins with the letters of the alphabet and their sounds, and proceeds through simple stories, poems and plays, for each level of young reader. There is an interactive element to each story, and the audio narration is done with a child's voice, which makes it sound very friendly. I sit with my daughter while we look at the stories together, and I sound out the words and letters along with the narrator. Anyone interested in teaching some reading and letter skills to their kids should explore this site with them, and watch them respond to the fun presentation.

LITTLE BIRD, BIDDLE BIRD

By David Kirk
2001
32 Pages

"Little bird, Biddle bird,
What shall you eat?
Something squashy and salty?
Or crunchy and sweet?"

Biddle bird is hungry and has to decide what would make a good snack for a little bird. "Is a flower a good meal? Will a bug be a treat? Don't gobble up tidbits you find in the street!" After stretching his wings and considering munching on many different things, he finally makes the good (though rather traditional) choice of a worm. When his Mommy returns to their nest, she lets the whole garden know how proud she is of her Biddle bird.

This is the first in a series of four books by David Kirk, the author/illustrator of the Miss Spider books. He writes very nice verses, and his warm, colorful style of illustration is the best part of these books. The other three books are about a little pig, a little bunny (my favorite) and a little mouse. They are all sweet stories about the little animals exploring their independence. These are great books for babies and older children too!

LITTLE MISS MUFFET'S COUNT-ALONG SURPRISE

By Emma Chichester Clark
2000
32 Pages

"Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey, when along came nine gibbons with balloons tied with ribbons and bananas arranged on a tray."

This counting book begins with the traditional nursery rhyme, but instead of frightening Miss Muffet away, the spider invites her to stay. It turns out the spider is the first guest to arrive at her surprise birthday party. There follows two lemurs, three magpies, four foxes, and so on, up to ten crocodiles (with hungry smiles), each guest bringing tasty treats and festive decorations for the party. Each group of animals is accompanied by a clever rhyme and each picture shows all the animals that have arrived so far, busily arranging the decorations and treats. This is one of those books whose rhyming lines will pop into your head as you're drifting off to sleep (especially if you read it at bedtime)!