Children's Books - A mother's perspective

When I was pregnant with my first son I remember reading in a parenting magazine a mother confessing that sometimes she skipped pages in the children's books at night so that her kids would go to sleep faster. I was quick to scowl and judge and for the most part I still do love story time 3.5 years on.

The ideal picture is 2 little boys, clean and fluffy from their bath. Snuggled into their pajamas and sleep sacks. Each jostling to gain enough space on my lap whilst we read their selection of 2 - 4 - 6 books. Beau even chooses his book and then shuffles clumsily backwards in his sleep sack until his little legs collide with mine and he collapses into my lap and opens his book selection.

Of course there is the reality as well. The fighting over whose book gets read first. The overtired crying when a favorite book can't be found. My complete exhaustion and waning patience. And I see myself 3.5 years ago looking so smug and self-righteous shaking my head and clucking my tongue at the poor mother who admitted to skipping pages to get through this last routine before peace and quiet. And I know I am her.

Yes, sometimes I have hid the book which my son was currently obsessed with and which I couldn't read one more time without going insane. I am usually aware I am getting close to this point when I can recite the book by heart. This has happened to many, many books, because lets be honest, children love repetition and routine. Even books I initially loved are no fun on the 1 000 reading or when they play through your mind at 11pm at night. Such was the fate of Puff the Magic Dragon for well over 3 months.

Yes, sometimes I have lied and said a book was missing, or left at someone's house, or in the car, or down in the playroom, if my son chose a book I really didn't enjoy. For example, the big brother book that refers to the new baby as a "poo-poo-head". I have also had to hide books which caused nightmares, such as Toy Story and Monster's Inc.

And yes, on occasion I have flatly refused to read a book because I just disliked the story such as the book at our doctors office called Big Nuisance which is about a giant in Japan who grows a tree in his ear or if the story is REALLY long such as the May Gibbs story of Chucklebud and Wunkydoo.

Yet despite how I feel about story time on many nights, there is of course the joy I know it brings to my children. I can see it when Beau dives for "Where are the Eggs?" every night for a month. Or when I hear Noah reading "Brown Bear Brown Bear" to Beau by heart. I started this bedtime ritual because I wanted to instill in my boys the love for books and reading that I have. On Pinterest (of course) recently I saw this pin

"I do not want to just read books; 

I want to climb inside them and live there". 

I can already see Noah is loving books this much when I hear him playing out the stories we read at night time or when he sits for close to 40 minutes whilst I read his current (VERY LONG) favorite, The Seven Habits of Happy Kids.

A couple of my friends have recently written great blogs about their favorite children's books, or the favorites of their author-friends. So along those lines, here are our family favorites in no particular order:

Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty & David Roberts
Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle
My Subway Ride by Paul Du Bois Jacobs & Jennifer Swender
Ten Little Fingers & Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox
Possum Magic by Mem Fox
Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan & Pamela Lofts
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama & Loren Long
Chucklebud And Wunkydoo by May Gibbs
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox
There's a Map on My Lap:All About Maps by Tish Rabe
Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Suess
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
The Gruffalo's Child by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
The Magic Hat by Mem Fox
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman

So on that note, what are your favorite children's books? And how do you feel about story time at the end of the day?