Friday, February 10, 2012

Children's Books I've Recently Read and Loved

I still love going through the children's book section at bookstores, and I am thrilled to have several children in my life now whom I have happily picked out books for in the last year: my niece (five), the Guy's nephews (three and five) and a friend's daughter (two). So in case you want to know, here are some books that I got for them and loved.

First on the list is the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. People, it is awesome. I bought the cheapest paperback version, but even so, the paper was great and the colors are so vibrant and beautiful even I sat and caressed the pages! Both my niece and the Elf are now proud owners of this one! It's for really small children who will just love the colors and beg you to tell them the story, or for those who've just begun to read. It also has the numbers one to ten in it, through sets of beautiful fruits, so the little one in your life may even learn to count! (Heck, if you don't have or know a kid, just buy it for yourself to give your shelf some color.)

Compared to how much I loved the first book, Goodnight Moon was just about okay. Again, I got the cheapest edition I found, which might have been my mistake, because I quite liked the text and the premise of the book, but the graphics just didn't wow me and the paper seemed thin and cheap.

I picked up Make Way for Ducklings on sale at Landmark.The drawings are in black and white, but they are beautiful. It made me want to go to Boston, where the story is set, and walk about the areas described here, especially the park. This one has a lot of text, so if the child in question is young, you might help them read it or read it aloud to them.

I had never even seen a Dr Seuss book as a child (as far as I remember), so I was thrilled when I finally got Oh, the Places You'll Go! This is meant for the Guy's five-year-old nephew and it's just perfect: it's like a map of your life to come, and it gives you hope yet doesn't hide the bleakness ("you'll be alone, a lot"). The illustrations are amazing, and it's in rhyme! I'm buying another to send my niece.

What have you got? What other children's books should I be buying for myself my nieces and nephews?

(All the links are affiliate links, but I mean every word about the books.)

8 comments:

A G said...

Oh, I have a LONG list to add! I've already bought (and I'm reading to my kid, though not very regularly!) these:
Paperbag princess, Princess Smartypants, The Emperor and the Kite, Dear Dragon - these are picture books, incredible good graphics, with feminist subversive messages to the whole princess paradigm, and also just plain fun to read.
Gruffalo & the Smartest Giant in Town - awesome graphics again, and hilarious stories, though I have a grouse - Gruffalo is an adaptation of an old Panchatantra story (with not credits given! Argh!)
All of Mo Willems's series. Just hilariously awesome, a pity my daughter doesn't see the whole point of it (she's just 2, so I'm still hoping).

Unmana said...

Chevalier: Thank you, thank you! Your daughter is lucky. I haven't got any of these, but will add them to my Flipkart wishlist NOW.

~G said...

The niece also has the hungry caterpillar. It is so cute! I said I want one too and she refused to give. One mean child. I would have got myself a copy but it is expensive. I think I will just wait till she gets bored of the book and flick it. :)

Unmana said...

Expensive? It's a hundred rupees!

~G said...

I think I saw the price in $ was somewhere close to 3 0r 4 dollars. Anyway, another very cute book is "my mum goes to work" by Kes Gray. It talks about how the working mother desperately makes up for the time lost and goes overboard with everything that it makes the child want to mother to go to work the next day. It is funny in a cute way. Do read it when u can.

Unmana said...

G: That explains why I keep running out of money--to me, an expensive book would be $20! Anyway, the post links to the book in Flipkart, at 100 rupees. Thanks for the other book reccomendation: I've added it to my wishlist!

Nupur said...

I was just few days back contemplating to order the very hungry caterpillar and now your review strengthens my decision :)

some of the books that I bought for m daughter's b'day return gifts from flipkart turned out good like

.big book of activities
.50 wittiest tales of birbal
.101 brain teasers
.sleepy kittens [with 3 finger puppets]
.collins easy learning maths
.fun with hand shadows

et al

Nupur said...

blogger ate my comment :( I had typed a long one :( :(