In the late 2000s I kept a personal mom blog called Nest Bliss. I reviewed books, wrote about the house and the girls, and was even in the Wall Street Journal. These posts are from then: light, young, a mom in her late twenties. I have edited them to stand on their own.
First I will mention that I love children's literature, I have several perspectives weighing on my choices - #1: In college I took several classes on children's lit. while completing my elm. ed. degree - yes it is interesting how I ended up in arts marketing :) #2: I have shared books in classroom settings for years. #3: I have a 17 month old who is actually quite the reader. For a children's book to make any of my lists - it needs to be 'real' children's literature and be something both my daughter and I enjoy reading. This is tricky, because she is really very interested in pointing at pictures of real animals and reading about Elmo - Sesame Street books are not on my list - even though (shudder) I have several. Neither of me ever tire of reading the following: My 17 month old can read this book by herself - well she has memorized it and pretends to read it. I am not crazy about all of Katz's books - some of them are flimsier than others and some read like they were made for the sake of making more books to sell. This one though is so fun to act out with your little toddler. This book taught my daughter to recognize the work 'no' at about 13 months old. Sensory, flaps, animals, tails - what isn't to love? Boynton is by far the most consistent toddler author as far as entertainment and quality. What is your favorite children's or toddler book? What is your toddler's favorite book?