It’s a bit odd to me that I’m an English professor and have written one post about books. Since the holidays are almost here and books are wonderful gifts, I thought it was the perfect time to write about some of my favorite books from when I was a kid!
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My mom was an elementary school teacher, so her classroom was always full of books. I remember heading to her classroom at the end of the day and curling up in a beanbag to read while she finished her lesson planning or cleaning up after the school day. Honestly, it was my favorite time of the day.
It breaks my heart to hear kids say they hate reading. The reason I loved (and still love) reading is that you can get immersed in a good book; it lets you become someone else, travel to new places, and experience things that can’t happen in reality. So if you want to encourage a love of reading in your child, here are the books that I remember loving as a kid – they’re perfect for bedtime stories or for your kids who can read to read themselves or back to you! Enjoy!
I loved this book so much that I named our first dog Poky. It’s an easy read about a curious little dog, and from the reviews on Amazon, it seems like this was a staple for a lot of people growing up. There are also sweet little pictures of the Poky puppy and his friends.
“Stand Back,” Said the Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze!”
I still think this book is hilarious – it’s a very dramatic tale about exactly what the title indicates – an elephant who is preparing to sneeze and is warning all the other animals to get ready. In addition to the funny story are the pictures, especially the facial expressions on some of the animals.
Are you seeing a theme at this point? I loved/love stories about animals, especially devious little dogs who find themselves in trouble. Harry doesn’t want to take a bath (we can all relate to that, right?) and runs off on an adventure, going from a white dog with black spots to a black dog with white spots. There’s a series on Harry, so be sure to check out his other adventures, too!
How could you not love sweet little Corduroy? He just wants to find a home, but he needs to find the button for his overalls. This is just a really sweet little story with some really pretty illustrations.
Finally a story that’s not about an animal! This book reminds me of my mom because she always loved this story. I also love stories about magic, so this is a fun tale (with really pretty illustrations) about Big Anthony who doesn’t follow instructions and messes with Strega Nona’s magical pasta pot after she told him not to…
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Ok, so this is another book that I think is hilarious. Will it make your kid smarter after reading it? Absolutely not, but I definitely think it will make them laugh. Since this kind of spoofs fairy tales, it might be more for the adults out there than the kids.
It was really hard to narrow down my favorite books to only six. These six books don’t remotely cover all the books that I think are fantastic, so let me know if you want me to continue posting about kids’ books, and I’d be happy to continue with recommendations!
What were your favorite books when you were a kid? Let me know in the comments!
Biscotti and a Ph.D. 
Never heard of the book Strega Nona, I will have to find that one to read to my soon coming granddaughter. Thanks for the recommendations.
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Aw, absolutely! So excited for you all!!!
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