A-Hunting We Will Go!
by Steven Kellogg
(Harper Collins, 1998)

Inspired by the traditional children’s song, the verses in this variation turn getting-ready-for-bed into a singing game. Your children will join in as the young brother and sister put off bedtime by first taking an imaginary trip into a forest, down a stream, and over a waterfall. Kellogg’s illustrations lend exuberance to the trip.

Anna’s Book
by Barbara Baker
illustrated by Catharine O’Neill (Dutton, 2004)

Anna insists that her mom read her book over and over again. Although mom complies, she eventually must do some laundry. Anna, left wanting to hear the story again, must figure out a solution for herself. Luckily, Teddy listens patiently while Anna reads and rereads to him. Here’s a child on her way to becoming an avid reader!

Barnyard Banter
by Denise Fleming
(Henry Holt, 1994)

Young children are quick to join the clucking, mucking, mewing, and cooing as they follow the antics of the goose who can’t be heard above the barnyard noise. Fleming’s spectacular, textured illustrations are bright, bold, and engaging enough to keep children looking for the goose who finally makes herself heard.
Also available as a board book.

Do You Want to Be My Friend?
by Eric Carle
(Harper Collins, 1971)

This nearly wordless picture book has suspense--and then surprise--as a lonely little mouse searches for someone to play with. Young children will soon echo the book’s only text, “Do you want to be my friend?” They can easily predict each animal that the mouse will question by learning to use a pictured clue: the tip of the next animal’s tail.
Also available as a board book.

Do You Know What I’ll Do?
by Charlotte Zolotow
illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. (HarperCollins, 2000)

The love of a sister for her brother flows through this simple text. “Do you know what I’ll do when it snows?” she asks. “I’ll make you a snowman.” In Steptoe’s vivid cut-paper collage, a promise unfolds on each page. “Do you know what I’ll do when I wake up? I’ll remember my dreams and tell them to you.” The book fits well at day’s end—or to start a conversation about loving actions.

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
by Eileen Christelow
(Clarion, 1989)

Young children who love fingerplays will be quick to repeat parts of this repetitive rhyme as five fuzzy, agile monkeys jump on the bed. One by one, monkeys fall off, ignoring the warning: “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” Mothers will appreciate they, too, can be bed-jumpers.
Also available as a board book.

Goodnight, Gorilla
by Peggy Rathmann
(Putnam, 1994)

If your child loves hearing Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown, HarperCollins, 1947), try bringing home Goodnight Gorilla, an alternative naptime/bedtime story with a mischievous gorilla in the pivotal role. When the zookeeper says goodnight to the animals, he has no idea that the gorilla has surreptitiously lifted the keys from his pocket. Even better, the zookeeper has no idea that the animals, freed from their cages, are following him home. With very few words, and a riotous bedding-down of the animals, Goodnight Gorilla is one of those books you won’t even mind reading again and again.
Also available as a board book.
Also available in Spanish.

Have You Seen My Duckling?
by Nancy Tafuri
(Greenwillow, 1984)

This book becomes a game as well as a story! A mother duck loses her eighth duckling, and asks the other animals the question young children will repeat: “Have you seen my duckling?” Children giggle as they gleefully find the duckling--never lost, but cleverly hidden in each picture.
Also available as a board book.

Mama Cat Has Three Kittens
by Denise Fleming
(Henry Holt, 1998)

If your children “meows” with Mother Goose’s Three Little Kittens (illustrated by Paul Galdone, Clarion, 1986), they will also relish Denise Fleming’s bright, page-filling kittens. As Fluffy and Skinny carry on the business of “kitten-ness,” Boris, the third kitten, simply “naps.” Boris’ naptime, like that of many children, comes just when everyone else is ready to sleep. That’s when Boris “stretches, yawns, washes his paws, and pounces.”

Mice Squeak, We Speak
by Arnold L. Shapiro
illustrated by Tomie dePaola
(Putnam, 1997)

With clear, clean illustrations that appear in colorful frames, dePaola captures each line of this poem that celebrates animal sounds: “Mice squeak. Sheep baa.” Parents of very young children may introduce this book just with animal sounds. But it won’t be long before they will be enchanted by the verse.
Also available as a board book.

Moo, Baa, La, La, La
by Sandra Boynton
(Simon & Schuster, 1982)

Folks give this book to new parents with the words, “This one is my child’s favorite.” On bright-colored pages, goofy, cartoon-style animals do their “sounds” on command. The sheep page offers a wild-eyed little cotton ball of a sheep with open mouth to make its sound: “The sheep says BAA.” On the facing page, three bow-tie wearing piggies dance in a vaudeville line, accompanied by the simple text: “Three singing pigs say LA LA LA!” That’s when the children take over: “No, no,” you say, that isn’t right.” At story’s end, the animals hush, waiting for the child to talk. Be prepared: You will wear this book out.
Board book.
Also available in Spanish.

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
by Dr. Seuss
(Random House, 1970)

“Oh, the wonderful things Mr. Brown can do!” Among those wonderful things is, of course, that Mr. Brown can moo! Your child will answer the invitation to make Brown’s sounds. Can you “sizzle, sizzle” like eggs frying, “tick tock” with the clock, “slurp, slurp” with the cat? Your child (and Mr. Brown) can!
Also available as a board book.

The Napping House
by Audrey Wood
illustrated by Don Wood
(Harcourt, 1984)

With built-in “read again” language, the snoring granny takes a nap. In a soft blue room and with rain against the
window, a child climbs on top of the snoring granny to dream. Next comes the dog, and then the cat. The bed in the napping house begins to sag as the story builds with more and more nappers. And then: a “wakeful flea” lands on top the sleeping creatures, setting the sleepy pile into riotous reverse action—just as the rain ends, and sunshine floods the pages with yellow. What fun to follow the illustrator’s perspective shift from a straight-on vantage point to looking straight down at the stack of sleeping creatures. What fun, too, to laugh at the havoc caused by one wakeful flea.
Also available as a board book.
Also available in Spanish.

Old Mother Hubbard and Her Wonderful Dog
by James Marshall
(Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1991)

Some researchers say that children with Mother Goose in their backgrounds experience additional boosts in school — including their awareness of rhymes and their appreciation of sounds. James Marshall’s Mother Hubbard, though, would be worth sharing even if there weren’t lasting effects! Imagine a nicely rounded granny with a multitude of hats and her bulldog with an amazing array of talents.

Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Play Rhyme
by Nadine Bernard Westcott
(Puffin, 1992)

Two children, with the help of some friendly elephants (and a baker), build a giant peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The comical illustrations may become your children’s favorites. Even better, they will join in the chant: “Peanut butter, peanut butter. JELLY! JELLY!” One mom said her two-and-a-half year old demands the book every night.

Piggies
by Audrey and Don Wood
illustrated by Don Wood
(Harcourt, 1991)

Everybody knows where “five little piggies” can be found—right at the ends of hands and feet. But not everybody imagines that round, pink piggies can really cavort at the ends of two outstretched hands—the ones that appear on each page of Don and Audrey Woods’ Piggies. Whether shivering at the ends of gloved fingers, playing joyously in a bubble bath, or delighting in being mud-covered, these piggies have a most delicious time.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
by Bill Martin, Jr.
illustrated by Eric Carle
(Henry Holt, 1991)

One of children’s all-time favorite books, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? (Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle, Holt, 1967), can now be paired with its two “bear brothers”— Polar Bear and Panda Bear (Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? by the same author / illustrator team, Henry Holt, 2003). Whichever bear book you choose-- or even if you choose all three--you’re in for some rereading! Brown Bear focuses on colors, Polar Bear explores animal sounds, and Panda Bear features movement.

Slop Goes the Soup
by Pamela Edwards
illustrated by Henry Cole
(Hyperion, 2001)

Clumsy warthogs preparing dinner use noisy nonsense words to tell this delightful story that little ones will beg to hear again and again. Bright, playful illustrations invite young children to giggle at the pictures as they laugh and play with language. Sure to be a favorite, the book invites young children to join in the chant, "A-a-a-choo! goes the warthog. Slop goes the soup."

Ten Sleepy Sheep
by Phyllis Root
(Candlewick, 2004)

Ten little sheep fight going to sleep, until one by one, and in various spots, they give in (“One by the vine, one by the gate, one by the rose...”). If counting sheep backwards doesn’t help your child fall asleep, then the quiet refrain surely will: “Sleep, sheep.” This one is a nice companion to Time for Bed by Mem Fox.

Time For Bed
by Mem Fox
illustrated by Jane Dyer
(Harcourt, 1993)

The lullaby language in this bedtime story of sleep sets a quiet mood that helps make transition to sleep more serene. “It’s time for bed, little sheep, little sheep/ The whole wide world is going to sleep.” In gentle rhyme, the mother’s voice speaks to the little one. One loving father and his small daughter turned this book into a song.
Also available as a board book.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
by Michael Rosen
illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
(Simon & Schuster, 1989).

Based on the old camp chant, Rosen’s variation uses the sounds of the bear hunt (“Stumble trip! Stumble trip! Stumble trip!”) to follow a father and his four children as they slide through the grass, swish across the river, and sludge through the mud in pursuit of the bear—until the chase leads everyone safely back home to bed.
Also available as a board book.
Also available in Spanish.

Wheels on the Bus
by Raffi
(Crown Books for Young Readers, 1990)

One of the reasons children request books again and again is because they can participate as you read. Movement, rhythm, rhyme, and repetition invite the children back. Wheels on the Bus has all of these elements. Little hands go “Swish, swish, swish” with the wipers on the bus. No wonder it has been a favorite of young children for many years.
Also available as a board book.