There are some children’s book that are made for parents. For example, I love the gorgeous artwork and the lyrical text of Only You by Robin Cruise and the sentimental sweetness of Someday by Alison McGhee, but my daughter isn’t particularly attached to either of them. I’ll pull them out at bedtime (or anytime throughout the day) and try to woo her into the melodic words and the charming illustrations to no avail.
She usually ends up pulling them out of my hands and putting Leslie Patricelli’s books there instead. Leslie Patricelli’s board book collection features strong, sturdy pages, colorful backdrops, and simple pictures starring a diaper-clad baby with beady eyes, a square nose, and a one-dimensional smile. Her books teach “lessons.” For example, Yummy Yucky instructs little ones that “Soup is yummy,” but “Soap is yucky.” No No Yes Yes shows little ones that no, they should not eat dog food, but yes, they should eat a banana.
As a parent, I don’t love the pictures and I even sort-of am turned off by the fact that the book features a baby wearing only a diaper (since I don’t really want to teach my daughter that that is normal…). I also think some of the scenarios are a bit “weird” for a children’s book. For example, the Yummy Yucky book features page spreads that say “burgers are yummy, boogers are yuggy” and “eggs are yummy, earwax is yucky” with corresponding illustrations demonstrating those actions. I wondered as I read if my daughter would see those “bad habits” and mimic them. I am relieved to say that she hasn’t copied any of the “no, no” behaviors and – actually- perhaps they are even teaching her some good things, after all.
One thing is certain: Patricelli’s books are definitely among my daughter’s favorite books to read at bedtime…or anytime for that matter.
YOUR TURN: Are there certain books that you love, but your baby doesn’t or vice versa?
WIN IT! One winner will receive a copy of No No Yes Yes by Leslie Patricelli. To enter, leave a comment on this post prior to Sunday, June 29 at midnight (don’t forget to follow the rules). * Winner must provide a U.S. mailing address.
*UPDATE* The winner is #38 Christi. Congratulations!
Anything I read to him is great.
Right now we are loving “I Love You Stinky Face”
Very cute! This book looks great too!
dansan826 at yahoo.com
My girls’ would love this. One of their faves is Brown Bear Brown Bear.
jceko77@yahoo.com
This looks great and really needed in this family!!!
Dr. Seuss
We both love “365 Bedtime Stories”.
I love all books but my first two don’t really love to read. I have spent a fortune on books trying to get them to read. Harry potter is my favorite and I cannot get my 12 year old to pick it up! My 5 year old, however, loves to read!
We have been lucky with our oldest son. He likes almost any book from Sandra Boynton, Rosemary Wells, to Dr. Seuss . . he is happy being read to. I try not to buy him too many books that tie into shows. Our little guy loves to look at books, but would prefer nothing be read to. We will be working on that.
my son always loved berenstain bears, and I found them a bit repetitive
my kids love any books we read they just love the time spent together :)
Love the Where the Wild Things; Clifford the Red Dog series; however now its mechanics; for robots, tansformers; etx. many thanks SW
I like to read christian story books to him before bedtime but I have to slip them in along with Curious George or Dr. Seuss or he rebels :)
There’s a program here in TN that sends anyone who signs up a free book for their child every month, from birth to 5 years. Last month we got a book called “Llama Llama Red Pajama”, and both my son and I love it! I haven’t had any problem with book incompatibility with him.. except for the Thomas Train books that he insists I read over and over again. Momma gets tired of reading the same thing every day :)
Connor LOVES Oh David books.. and honestly I find them horribly boring… likewise I LOVE where the wild things are.. and he walks away every time i get it out… *grumble*
I blogged you on Prizeatron as well!
http://www.prizeatron.com
I enjoy reading my son books that I grew up liking, like the bernstein bear books but he isn’t interested in those!
Maybe these would be great.
I like Where the Wild Things Are and other children’s classics like that. My son likes this Lightening McQueen book from Disney. I prefer the classics.
I got so tired of reading -Hop on Pop, my son’s favorite
My daughter loves me to read the classic Golden Book “Baby Dear” that we got from grandma. It is not a bad book but gets a little old after the 50th time. I would rather read “If I had a gorilla…” but she is not having it.
I saw the book No, No, Yes, Yes today at Target. My oldest read it to my youngest and I will say when it came to the part about picking your nose, NO. My boys laughed so hard they fell on the ground! Why do boys find humor in stuff like that?
I love all the sheep books, (sheep in a jeep, sheep in a shop, sheep out to eat) I think they are hilarious, but my daughter won’t grab them and takes them away if I do. She prefers this counting fairy book with sparkly 3-d fairies which I find rather odd.
sound like fun books
No they just loved to be read to .
Dr suesse books
There are many books my 3yr old & I both enjoy, like “The Ox Cart Man”, “Do Like a Duck Does”, all Robert McCloskey’s, etc. He really likes Clifford, and Curious George books though, and those I could live without!
Actually, I really like my son’s favorite books… The Big Red Barn and Go Dog Go. We have Patricelli’s book Binky, which he really likes and I’ve been meaning to buy the Yummy, Yucky one too.
Thanks.
My son loves Curious George, but I may scream if I have to read it one more time
These look very cute. They remind me of the “No David!” series of books. For some reason, kids gravitate to these real-life scenario books. The fact that these are boardbooks makes them even better for toddlers!
We need this book! My one year old has started saying “no no” which makes us realize that we need to stop saying it as much. So we are working on saying “yes” a lot more! Perfect book!! m_huston(at)hotmail(dot)com
My daughter and son have a great love for reading. We seem to have been reading the same books over and over for a while. This would be great.
My kids love most books but sometimes I get tired of reading the same book over and over and over, so any book they make me read 100 times i will not love. thanks
Sometimes I think the books that my son doesn’t like are the ones that I think might be a little too advanced for him, i.e. too long or too many words.
There aren’t really any books that we don’t both love because we all love books and they love being read to. I don’t mind reading books to them because of all the benefits.
my grandkids don’t care what the books are about, they just want someone to read to them
Personally, I loved Runaway Bunny and had visions of reading that to my daughters… Yeah, not so much. My daughters LOVE Dora, any Dora or Diego book. I have literally fallen asleep while reading them, I am not kidding, although being pregnant might have something to do with that….
My son actually loves anything and everything I read to him, we haven’t had a squabble yet on what he’d want me to read, now he does want me to sometimes read the same exact book 10 times.. and that can get a bit old… especially in 1 sitting but at least he’s hungry for books and I’m glad of that!
I guess I was lucky. My kids just wanted someone to read to them. They did not care what the book was about.my kids were the same way .lol just as long as u read.
I’m just expecting now, so I’m not sure about the answer to the question yet. I would imagine that parents get tired of reading the same book even though their kids may love a certain one!
It’s hard to know right now. I just go through the rounds reading one after the other sometimes. Usually he ends up playing when he’s done/bored.
I guess I was lucky. My kids just wanted someone to read to them. They did not care what the book was about.
Love books. Since I like to read I always try to get little ones in my family to like it too. They tend to like ones with great pictures the best.
My daughter is just becoming interested in books, so this would be great for her. Thanks so much for the opportunity.
I have to read Sheep In A Jeep a million times a day! I used to like it, but now I want to accidentally lose it!
My daughter loves David Carter’s Busy Bugs, Lazy Bugs. It must be the simple illustrations and the big-eyed bugs that draws her to it.
she always wants Dora, which are just episode rehashes, drives me crazy
I enjoy the Dr Seuss books but he is not into them yet
I love ‘Is Your Mama a Llama’ and my daughter doesn’t like it. She could read ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ every night but I get really tired of it….
Madeline books
THANK YOU GOD BLESS
I love the Frances books, she doesn’t. She loves the Berenstein Bears and I am so sick of them!
The Madeline books are classics
I love Where the Wild Things Are-but my grandaughter would rather read Baby Donald Makes a Snowfriend, which I have read to her hundreds of times.
Thank you for your wonderful contests…I want to win this badly for dear friend who would really love it…thanks again :)
Most books the kids and I both enjoy. I can’t think of any we don’t.
Cute book, I have not heard of them actually!!
Both my boys loved, loved Go Dog Go. I was (am) so tired of it. It’s kind of boring actually. Right now Xander is into Where the wild things Are and it’s one of my favorites so that makes me happy! When my daughter was little it was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and It was *alright* the first 10 times, then I was reciting it in my sleep!!
I’m a consultant with Usborne books so our house is filled with them and luckily, we all love them all. However! We visit the library often and pick up books by other publishers…my son loves No David, No! I can’t stand the illustrations but once I read the history of the book, I had to laugh and appreciate the book (and make sure I use the positive reinforcement approach so he’s not writing his own version of this book someday!)
Coincidentally, I had a talk with my 6 year old earlier today about some books I picked out from the library that he didn’t like. Since we hadn’t actually read them yet, I was curious what he didn’t like about them. It came down to the illustrations…it was very interesting to get his impression of what a story would be about and if it would be enjoyable before we read the story. For some of them, the story was much better than we had anticipated!
I was wondering the same thing as you about the book giving the kids bad ideas when you were reading it to Blondie the other day, but she loved it. I guess she’s smart enough to know not to do most of those things (although she does pick her nose still…), so it’d be nice to add to the library. Thanks!
My daughter was given a musical ‘Backyardigans’ book as a gift; the book drives me crazy, I’d like to toss it in the trash, but she thinks it’s marvellous!(Gnash, gnash.)
My little girl loves to read these “fake” Disney princess story collections. I can’t stand them. If I am going to read Disney books I prefer to read the classic version. Thanks for the fun giveaway!
There are some books that my sons like to be read over and over that I just get tired of, but for the most part, I’m glad to read them any books. Of course, they are all about superhero books whereas I’d love to read them more touchy feely books, but alas…..
I haven’t found any books that the kids and I don’t both enjoy. They love all kinds of books.
we all LOVE books at our house so we haven’t came across any that either of us don’t like yet:) we really like to read/sang chicka chicka boom boom together!
thanks!
moore.g at insideconnect.net
Hello, My great-nephew likes books with animals and/or people! I can tell that he studies them intensely when I read with him. Please enter me in your children’s book giveaway. Merci, Cindi
books are a favorite at our house. love to read anything thats fun and cute. most books nowadays fit that. these books are really cute. love the baby.
My son used to love I’ll Love You Forever, and I loved reading it to him, but he gets really bored with it now. He loves to look at the pictures in this book about wolves, I get bored with that one lol!! chrisandamyward@comcast.net
Can’t think of any. They love to be read to.
Most books the kids and I both enjoy. I can’t think of any we don’t.
My daughter currently loves “Wiggle” by Doreen Cronin, but that’s OK, because I love it too! Yummy Yucky and No No Yes Yes look very fun. No No Yes Yes made me think of Todd Parr’s “Do’s and Don’ts” book that my daughter also loves. Cute, but silly, and some “don’ts” you hope they don’t decide to try.
http://psychmamma.wordpress.com
If I win you can redraw, but I just wanted to say that maybe she’s too young for your books. Keep trying!
I definitely love it when a book has wonderful artwork, but my kids sometimes don’t appreciate it.
So far we’re in agreement on just about everything.
No need to enter me…just wanted to add that my kids (especially my son) loved the Yummy Yucky book when they were younger.
I’d love to win this for my nephew. He’s still little so we don’t have differing opinions on books yet, but I’m sure it’ll come to that someday. :)
Both my boys have found the love of reading. They are currently into Pendragon.
My son loves to read books about rocks, not exactly my favorite but as longs as he stays interested in books, I’ll get every one ever written for his age!
I hope my child likes Beatrix Potter books! We’ll see!!
What’s neat is that my Nana used to read me the book “There’s A Monster At the End of This Book” which stars Grover from Sesame Street! She says it was my absolute favorite!! My 12 year old son loved it when he was young, my 7 year old still loves it, and my 18 month old is obsessed with his Sesame Street ABC books!!! Go Sesame Street.
This would be a great addition for our storytime.
gkstratos @yahoo.com
I need this something awful
My baby loves looking at everything.
We are trying to conceive, so I can’t answer this question honestly, but I would love to win it when we DO have a baby. Thanx 4 the chance!!!
these sound great!
My favorite book as a kid was Are You My Mother?
cool book.
My kids love the “Once Upon A Potty” books. Really cute when they were potty training but now the one is and the other 4. They crack each other up reading them. Now that my 2 year old is getting ready to potty train, I’m trying to find another book. I just can’t handle her brother and sister’s comments and fits of uncontrollable laughter.
I just found your blog today and I’m so glad I did! My son loves the books that have buttons for playing sound. They drive me crazy – at bedtime the last thing I want to do is listen to more battery-operated toys!
My favorites are The Bear Snores On or Are You My Mother? :)
he likes all books and pictures
I really like the Sandra Boyton books and LOVED reading them to Jacob, who couldn’t get enough. Oddly, though, Bridget won’t have anything to do with them. I think I mentioned before to you that Bridget prefers the “word books” with pictures of real children.
I think the Leslie Patricellie books look fun. The diaper-clad babies are spot on. I know it’s not just MY kids who prefered to wear nothing but a diaper around the house when they were little, and I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I can barely keep clothes on Bridget and Jacob even now! And I think earwax and boogers, while disgusting, are quite normal for a toddler to experiment with. From what you’ve described of the books, I think she’s captured what real kids do – eat soap and pet food (or maybe that’s just my kid).
we’re mired in a MILLION readings of EVERYBODY POOPS :)
Oh yes, I love the book Hippos go Berserk, makes me laugh everytime I read it but my daughter likes Miss Spider’s Tea Party. I guess that is a good thing since there is compassion in the story.
My daughter loves her other book that she has by this same author.
Ok, If I dont’ win this one, I will have to go buy them myself. lol I’ve never heard of her books before, and I am a huge book fan. I haven’t started w/ any books with my 3 month old yet, but my other kids really like Dr.Seuss books, and the Mercer Mayer books.
My son has several favorites. Some of these include “Is Your Mama a Llama”, “Go Dog Go”, and any of the “That’s Not My…car, truck, dragon” books. I generally don’t mind any of these books, however, when you have them memorized it can get a little monotonous. I have resorted to hiding certain books for a day or two, just so I can have a break.
I like to read any of the Sandra Boynton books. They make me smile and it is easy to make them fun and really get animated reading these.
Oh my goodness. My son used to LOVE Dr. Seuss and I know that Dr. Seuss has his place but I just could not stand it! It gave me headaches.
I always loved the Olivia books and he did for awhile until he thought it too girly.
funny – we go back and forth. she wants to read X, i can’t stand it again. then, i want to read Y and she’ll have no part of it. but then it switches.
This is an adorable book with illustrations that are appealing to both kids and adults and as for the topic, that’s just irresistible. I’d love this for the kids!
Cute book. My son loves to read this tractor book – it’s for older kids but he loves it. I hate reading it because it takes forever and well I don’t know. I just dont like it!!!!! My son and daughter would like this one. We’ve seen similar ones at the library.
I love Rosemary Wells’ books and Roo likes them but she doesn’t think they’re the greatest thing ever. She likes all of the corporate tie-in “books” like Barbie, Princesses, etc. which I find pretty reprehensible but I tend to suck it up. I just try to counter all the pretty, pretty with smart comments…