What are your favorite books for your preschoolers?

I have a 3.5 year old and we read anything about Thomas the Train and Cars. I would love to broaden his horizons - any suggestions?

Thank you!

Permalink Reply by TooManyHats on September 25, 2008 at 4:51pm: Dr. Suess anything and Little Critter books were on the top of my kids lists when they were little. I have two boys and hear you about the train books, but really they loved them soooo much.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Leigh on September 26, 2008 at 12:57pm: My 3 year old is excited by anything that my husband and I read when were little so we get to walk down memory lane and read little golden books to her. Also, my husband discovered a book he loved as a kid called "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" that she loves too. It'd be right up a boy's alley.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by TheScrappyMama on September 28, 2008 at 4:55pm: My daughter is a huge fan of the Dr. Seuss books (she just turned 4 in August). She also likes Little Critter and Bearanstein (sp?) Bear books. Actually, she just loves books period so anything is good for her. LOL; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lori on September 29, 2008 at 6:18am: I have to go with Dr Suess as well. My daughter is now 13, and we still use Dr Seuss quotes in our conversations. The messages really stick, and now that she's older, we actually talk about some of the hidden meanings. I still have Oh The Places You'll Go on my bookshelf, and we talk about it quite a bit.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Annette Yen on September 29, 2008 at 7:08am: Oooh, this is a great discussion - I've gotta pull up my "must have" list and will post here --- now...where's that list...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stacey Kannenberg on September 29, 2008 at 7:27am: When my girls were little they loved Good Night Moon, 5 Little Monkeys, the Little Critter Books to name a few. They helped me write Let's Get Ready For Kindergarten! & Let's Get Ready For First Grade! They are currently helping me write Let's Get Ready For Second Grade! I mean, who better than a current 2nd grader and a 4th grader that just was there! HA! Happy Reading!
Smiles - Stacey Kannenberg; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl on September 29, 2008 at 1:27pm: My daughter is 27 months and the books she loves most right now are pretty much anything by Sandra Boynton ("Moo Baa La La La", "What's Wrong Little Pookie", "Pajama Time", etc.), a wonderful book by Garrison Keillor called "Daddy's Girl" that is illustrated beautifully by Robin Glasser, almost all of the Eric Carle books, Mo Williams "Pigeon" books (though personally, I don't really "get" them), the "Olivia" books of course are always a good bet, classics like "The Big Red Barn" and "Goodnight Moon"...

But my all time personal favorite right now is hands down Charley Harper's "ABC's" ... Charley was an illustrator & his whimsical drawings of animals are STUNNING. There is a 1,2,3 book coming out next month as well which I will definitely be buying tout des suite. Dexy loves, loves, loves this book!

P.S. I personally do not enjoy reading Dr. Seuss, nor does my daughter seem to have any interest in them. I'm sure that'll change as she gets older.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl on September 29, 2008 at 1:28pm: P.S. I realize that some of my book mentions are more suited to little girls, but figured I'd share them anyway for the mamas here who have daughters! ;-); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Stephanie Skordas on October 3, 2008 at 8:43am: Books we loved include:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Pete's a Pizza by William Steig
Hi Pizza Man! (not all our books were about pizza, I promise)
No David! (2-3 books in this series)
The Diary of a Worm
The Napping House; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by BuddynPumpkin on October 7, 2008 at 11:55am: My 4 year old son loves books by Mo Willems and Kevin Henkes. Mo Willems has written books such as Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus, Knuffle Bunny & Edwina The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct. Kevin Henkes has written Owen, Lilly & Her Purple Plastic Purse & Chester's Way. He also likes Dr. Seuss books too.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by lclark0621 on October 8, 2008 at 8:29pm: The Berenstain Bears series,
Little Critters Series,
You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusimano,
Clifford series,
Little Wombat series by Charles Fuge,
The Day the Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathmann,
the Gilbert books by Diane Degroat,
No Place Like Home by Jonathan Emmett and Vanessa Cabban
the Elmer series by David Mckee,
the Corduroy books; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Andrea on October 9, 2008 at 4:16pm: Can you say Clifford! We have almost the entire collection and she loves it! She takes them with her in the car, stroller, to bed, etc.

We just started reading the Arthur collection, and I found an Amelia Bedelia book she likes. But Arthur, Thomas, the Sesame Street musical books and our current favorite - Catalina Magdalena Hoopensteiner Wallendeiner Hogenlogenbogen was her Name... top the list after Clifford!

She's just about 2 so a bit younger than your sun, but she loves to read these!; ▶ Reply to This