Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I'm a Sap...

So tonight I went to read Lucy a story before bedtime and instead of our old standby, Wet Pet Dry Pet Your Pet My Pet, I decided to change it up a little bit by reading something new. What I happened to grab was I'll Love You Forever. Good grief, I got about a quarter of the way through the book and realized my eyes were welling up... ok, I lie, welling up is a definite understatement, in reality I had tears streaming down my face like when I'm cutting an onion. My question to the author is how the hell am I supposed to read this to my child without bawling like a baby?

Lucy, who had long lost interest in this silly book with nothing shiny to scratch or fuzzy to pull, turned to face me and was mesmerized, almost as if to say "What was this wet stuff coming out of Mom's eyes and WHY is she trying to snuggle me like this?" She reached up towards my face with a tiny finger, almost as if to wipe my tears away, and I was just thinking "Oh how sweet" when...bam! A tiny middle finger jabbed gleefully into my eye, followed by shrieks of laughter. She's a real sentimental one my Lucy.

What is your favorite bedtime story book? I need some suggestions, preferably some that won't make me cry!

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."
-Robert Munsch

31 comments:

Bren said...

I'm a fan of the Very Hungry Caterpillar...definitely won't make you cry!

I also love Dr. Suess books (although avoid "Baby, Oh, Baby, the Places You'll Go" if you don't want to cry!) Apparently babies love the repetition, and a study even used the Cat and the Hat as an example of how babies in the womb might recognize a rhyming book read after they are born.

If you want anymore info (it's a great story, if you ask me) feel free to e-mail me: ann_erb@hotmail.com

Candice said...

There's always Good Night Moon. We also have one called "Mommy's Little Star." It's my favorite. It's all about how much a mommy loves her child.

I love your blog, so I left an award for you on my blog. :)

Jennifer said...

My favorite childhood story of all time ... will make you cry. I love it though. It's my favorite still a the ripe ole age of 33.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

amy said...

we've been reading a few poems from "where the sidewalk ends" each night. it's a favorite of my husband and I's from childhood. although i am much more aware of how twisted shel silverstein can be than i was as a kid!

mindy said...

Okay, first off, I would be bawling my eyes out too. I haven't even picked up that book because I'm just not ready for it yet! lol...
And Macy is totally noticed my eyelashed and tries to touch them but lands straight in the eyeball....oh well.
I keep it simple at bedtime - a Bible story, Dr. Suess, something easy. She's usually fighting sleep pretty hard by 8:00.

Kim said...

Favorite board books in general at our house:
-Anything by Sandra Boynton (the belly button book is a favorite)
-That's not my dragon (or dog or monster or...)
-Can't you sleep dotty?
-Gossie / Gossie & Gertie

Good luck!

Johannah said...

When I was little my absolute favorite bedtime story was Goodnight Moon. It's the best!

Rebecca said...

We always do Pajama Time, The Going to Bed Book, and Good Night Moon...those three are an every night occurrence. I am with you though...some of them send me weeping for a tissue! Have you ever read "I Love You The Purplest?" Awesome...

Sarah said...

Awww, that book was my favorite as a child! I would make my mother read it to me over and over. I'm glad to hear it's still around so that I can try not to cry when I have a little one to read it to!

AmberS said...

I'll Love you Forever is one of our favorites, but I think Good Night Moon is the best. We have read it so much Brock "reads" along with us. I love it.

Meg said...

I loved that book as a little girl and when I had my son my husband bought it for me. I have tried on several occations to read it to him and can never make it through it. I start crying and crying.

lol about Lucy poking you in the eye... she is so adorable!

Emily (Wolfe) Ripper said...

Bev! Lucy and Abigail would get along perfectly! She cracks up laughing when she pulls my hair and I nicely tell her "no" or when she pulls on my ear/earrings/necklace/nose/etc.... and I say "ouch!" Isn't it crazy how fast our baby girls are growing up???!!!!!

Jenn said...

My little brother and I's favorite story book was "The Sleep Book" , by Dr.Suess. Mom hated it, becasue its a tonunge twister at times, and kinda long. When I had my last miscarriage I was so exhausted from crying, but couldn't go to sleep, so she read it to me over the phone, and my husband came in later and hung it up because it worked! :)

LutherLiz said...

I like Snuggle Puppy by Boynton and Goodnight Feet by Constance Morgenstern.

Jennifer said...

Oh boy! lol. I don't have kids but when I was little I loved those Precious Moments story books and little golden books.

In college I took a Childrens Lit. class and kiddos loved having me read Kitten's First Full Moon to them.

I still have all the books from my childhood and can't wait to read them to my kids some day.

FYI
Check out Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Great concept!

http://www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com

Tara said...

I see someone mentioned it, another tear jerker is "The Giving Tree."

When my twins were Lucy's age, their favorites were the Sandra Boynton books. We have so many books though it's hard to choose a favorite. One of the first books they sat through intently was "One Fish Two Fish" by Dr. Suess. Personally, I like the flow and rhyming of "The Cat In the Hat" as well.

Around 1 year old my son loved "Cars, Trucks and Things That Go" by Richard Scarry. Even at such a young age, he memorized where the "goldbug" was on each page. It was a cute party trick!

Miss Amelia Jane. said...

I agree with a couple of previous posters. Anything Sandra Boynton. Amelia's favorites are The Goodnight Book and Barnyard Dance.

I also got a great book from my sister in law called Country Babies Wear Plaid. She loves this and pointing to, and naming, "moo" (what she calls a cow), tree's, mommy's, binkie, and fish. If you'd like, I could look up the author :)

Anonymous said...

My youngest just loves Very Hungry Caterpillar. LOVES it. It's the first book she grabs every night.

me said...

The Miss's bedroom bookshelf is full of bedtime books. Either talking about bedtime or totally mellow and perfect for inducing snoozes (in a good way). She picks out three a night and we pick out two.

My/our favorites still...

Time For Bed (Mem Fox)

Snuggle Up Sleepy Ones (Claire Freedman)

I Love You Stinky Face (Lisa Mccourt)

On The Night You Were Born (Nancy Tillman)

The last one is the one I give all new moms. I LOVE IT!

me said...

And oh yeah - my husband recites the Eric Carle bear books ("Brown Bea,r Brown Bear What Do You See?," "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?," and "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?") after he turns the lights out.

The one I recite after lights out is "The Eensy-Weensy Spider" (Mary Ann Hoberman) and it has 11 verses that are very cute!

Sorry for the 2nd reply!!

not the bella vita said...

I really like The Tiger Who Came to Tea, by Judith Kerr, even though my son has absolutely no interest in it yet.

Anonymous said...

two bedtime books i adore:
i love you stinky face
and
guess how much i love you

Anonymous said...

Eeeeee. That book is so messed up. That and The Giving Tree are two of the most talked about books in terms of analyzing screwed up children's literature.

Seriously, the mom climbs into her adult son's window.

And in The Giving Tree, the tree gives everything until is has nothing left of itself, and still gets treated like crap. Neither take take take until nothing is left nor give give give until nothing is left are lessons I'd want my kids to learn.

Anonymous said...

Llama Llama Mad at Mama and Llama Llama Red Pajama are our standbys. You WON'T be disappointed!

andrea said...

that is one of my favorite books to read to G - I never get through it without tears though.

Same with Oh the places you'll go by dr. suess.

soxchamps said...

Oh, I bought that and then tried to read it and wondered why! It is so sweet, but to read it out loud is so hard! Bridget picked it the other night, and finally I got through it,but just barely. I had to do that "reading but not actually paying attention" technique!

Anonymous said...

What about "The Runaway Bunny", same author as "Goodnight Moon", I think. That was one of my favorites as a young'un. Although my absolute favorites were (and still are) Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit, etc) and A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh). I have happy memories of my mom reading these to me, and I wish she could read them to my baby.

Ruth said...

I agree with anonymous - "l'll love you forever" was just too weird for me. Someone gave it to me as a baby shower gift and I ended up donating it because I just couldn't read it without feeling that it was the oddest, creepiest thing. I get what the author is trying to portray - that parents love their children forever, no matter how old they get - but driving across town to climb in through their window? No.

If you're looking for heartwarming with a much more relatable storyline, I recommend Sam McBratney's "Guess how much I love you" and (for those with more than 1 child) "You're all my favorites". We also love Yves Got's "Sam loves kisses", and for regular stories (i.e. about other things than parent/child relationship) we love Dr Seuss, Eric Carle's "Very Hungry Caterpillar", A.A. Milne poetry and Ezra Jack Keats "Whistle for Willie".

Happy reading!

Anonymous said...

"I love you through and through" is a favorite in our house. It's simple and a quick, but sweet read: http://www.amazon.com/I-Love-You-Through/dp/0439673631

Jennifer said...

looks like most of these have already been mentioned, but I'll 2nd them:
Sandra Boynton books- we're into Barnyard Dance right now
That's not my....there's a ton of them, and they've got some fun textures.
Dr. Suess, she likes the Foot Book lots
The wheels on the bus by Raffi
Richard Scarry, I am a Bunny and some car book.

I feel like we read these the most at any rate.

Anonymous said...

Im so glad other people think that book is weird, too! That mom would make one CRAZY mother-in-law!

And I agree that Sandra Boynton books are amazing!

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