Friday Five 1/14/11

Friday Five is a meme from Eve's Fan Garden that we decided to get involved in. You can click the image below to go to the Eve's Fan Garden site.

We have several friends over at Eve's and wanted to support the work they do. We will feature the same topic each week that they do, but the original idea came from Cheryl Renee Herbsman's blog.

This week, Eve's Fan Garden asks....

What are YOUR top 5 all time favorite children's books?

Tevya: I have always been a reader, ever since I was little. I grew up with my mom reading to me and my love of books just grew from there. My favorite children's books have two sides representing the stages in my life. The first two books are my favorites from my childhood, and the last three books are favorites of mine as a mother reading to my children.

1. Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman was my favorite book as a child. I went to a Montessori preschool, and the tradition was to donate your favorite book to their library when you graduated. This is the book I chose. It is still in their library, with my signature on the inside.

2. The Pain and The Great One by Judy Blume was my sister Hydee's choice of donation, but it was one of my favorites, too. Hydee and I identified so much with the siblings in this book. We always said that if the Pain had been a girl, then I would have been The Great One and Hydee would have been The Pain.

3. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney was my favorite book to read to my son, Garrett, when he was a baby. We read this book every night before bedtime, and often during the day as well.

4. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown was Garrett's favorite book for me to read to him. When we finished reading, he would always make up places that he could runaway to and ask me what I would become to find him.

5. Love Song for a Baby by Marion Dane Bauer was my favorite book to read to my daughter, Maddy, when she was a baby. Maddy loved to look at all of the parts of the baby and point to them on herself, and I would always tell her how much we loved her, even before she was born. We loved this book so much that when my niece, Skylar, was born, Maddy and I gave this book to my sister to read to Skylar.

Andrea: 
Much like Tevya I have always been a reader. My mother often tells me that before I learned to read I would listen to her read my stories and memorize them so that I can tell her the stories. I also remember when I started school I had this incessant need to learn to read. I wanted to own the stories all by myself. I am so thankful that I had parents who encouraged my love of the written word. I will forever be grateful. I hope that if I ever become a mother someday that I can  pass on a love of reading to my children as well.


1. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
I have loved this book for as long as I can remember. I loved the adventure and being able to escape from reality. I was also in love with the illustrations. I suppose my monster obsession began in my youngest years and has held me tightly ever since.

2.  Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

This book always made me feel so much better on a bad day. It also made me laugh quite a bit. I admit that even now I can be found reading this at times when I am having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

3. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

Who doesn't love Dr. Seuss? I am not sure why this one was always my favorite of his books, but I would read it over and over.

4. Corduroy by Don Freeman

This book always made me so anxious until I got to the very end. I was always so nervous for the little bear. I also used to imagine that all of my stuffed bears could come to life as well.

5. Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth

This one became a favorite of mine as an adult. I love the illustrations and the lessons the panda has to teach. I will definitely read this to my children some day.