My older son loves the classic Jungle Book tale...we could read it every night for a year without him getting the slightest bit bored of it.

My youngest has a new favorite every week it seems—right now, it’s Pinkalicious: about a girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink!

My nine year old loves just about any book we read.  Lately his favorites are the Andrew Lost series.  The books are about Andrew and his cousin Judy who get into many adventures due to Andrew’s science experiments.  They have been shrunk and lost on a dog, in a kitchen, in a garden, in a cave, in the jungle, in a desert and places we would not want to be.  The experiences are very educational in that they learn about these “places” and the organisms that exist in them.  They have also been lost in the ocean and the reader learns about the wonders there as well. They are great books!!

My daughter loves “Goodnight Gorilla” by Peggy Rathman.  The story follows a zoo keeper who goes around to each animal in the zoo and says “Goodnight, . . .(Gorilla, Lion etc)”.  Behind the zookeeper a little Gorilla opens the cages of all the animals who follow the zoo keeper home and into his bedroom where everyone gets ready to sleep. 

The zoo keepers wife awakens after all the animals answer her ‘Goodnight’ and takes all the animals back to the zoo.  Of course the little Gorilla and his mouse friend follow her home and sneak into bed with the zoo keeper and his wife.  Everyone falls asleep.

The lesson: Everyone needs someone. 

My daughter just loves saying goodnight to the animals with the zoo keeper.  It is mostly cute pictures with very little text, and my daughter now that she is older ‘narrates’ the story herself.  It is great to settle down at night with this.

My son is 3 1/2, and if it’s about a “gross” bodily function, it’s funny.

Imagine my surprise at finding the “Walter the Farting Dog” series of books at the library, by William Kotzwinkle. We have read the first one many times, I laugh just as hard as my son… a good lesson not to judge so quickly. Walter turns out to be quite the hero!

A truly fun read for a little boy who thinks it’s the best book ever!

Believe it or not, but my 3-year-old loves Bible stories!  We picked up the Zondervan Children’s Bible at our church one Sunday, and he requests stories by (his) name!  He loves “The Sneaky Snake” (Adam and Eve), David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lions, “Jonah and the Big Fish” and “Jesus and all the Children”.  For a while, we actually had to limit how many stories we’d read in one night.  He’d have us read the whole book, if we would!  (BTW: Since our cat passed away, he’s very inquisitive about Heaven, God and Jesus and whether or not “Tigger bites Jesus like he bit me.") Oh yeah, we’re not overly religious Christian conservatives by any means.  My hubby is a registered democrat and didn’t attend church regularly until he met me.

Congratulations Nancy C! You will win a Kane/Miller book and your son’s favorite book will be featured with April’s Modern Mom Book Club pick!

My daughter just loves “Good Night, Little Bear” by Richard Scarry.  In this story, little bear has to go to bed, but his father pretends he can’t find him.  (He is on his father’s shoulders.) My daughter thinks that the pretense is so funny.  I think she especially enjoys it because it is similar to a game she plays with her father.  At the end, the book asks if the reader thinks the father knew where little bear was or not.  It is always a great opportunity for us to discuss her thoughts just before bed.  Hopefully it will set a pattern for discussing thoughts and ideas for the rest of her life.