I couldn’t believe my luck this week when I arrived at the library to find a beautiful collection of board books on sale for 25 cents each. I got eight gently used books for $2, and here are my favorites from that shopping spree:
Goodnight Moon is such a classic that I’m a little ashamed that we didn’t own it until now. Clement Hurd’s simple illustrations are the perfect complement to Margaret Wise Brown’s smooth-flowing text. I think this is the perfect bedtime story for a very young child, although so far Lily tries to grab and eat it (I recommend wiping down board books purchased second-hand or even new before giving them to children).
Johnny loves this My First ABC Book. I love the range of illustrations as well as the fact that it is destruction mode proof. Lily also finds this book very tasty. Actually, that’s her reaction to just about everything these days…
Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day is a book I remember reading with my youngest sister. Realists may find the idea of a dog babysitting an infant irritating, but if you weren’t offended by Nana the dog in Disney’s Peter Pan you can probably enjoy the adventures of the baby and dog in this book. I love that the story is told almost exclusively in pictures, with words only on the first and last pages of the book. My family actually named a dog Carli in honor of the dog in this book.
I really enjoy singing books, and the whimsical illustrations of Jerry Smath in this edition of Wheels on the Bus makes it a real winner. Each picture has fun touches to make the song all the more engaging: a dog licking the bus driver’s face for the “Move on back!” verse and a traffic jam for the “horn on the bus goes beep beep beep” verse. I also love that there is a boy playing cello on the bus.
The baby on the cover and the picture on the last page convinced me to buy I Love You As Much… I love Henri Sorensen’s illustrations, particularly the two I mentioned. The book goes through various animal mothers telling there babies how much they love them, and closes with a human mother saying, “Now sleep, child of mine, while the stars shine above – I love you as much as a mother can love.” This final phrase goes beautifully with the illustration, and makes up for slightly less-smoothly flowing text by Laura Krauss Melmed in other parts of the book. 
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
That’s awesome that you got that many board books for so cheap! I have to check out our library sales, everyone says they’re pretty good.
We love the Carl books, and I also love that it’s all in pictures. And I USED to love Goodnight Moon but at the moment I am completely sick of it :)
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Wow, you really scored!! My son loved that little ABC board book too! And the funny thing is that he never chewed on books, except that one. I have never read the last three, but they look like they’d be sure hits. I should track them down.
.-= lynn´s last blog ..Focus on Owls: Children’s Books and Companion Crafts (Sort of) =-.
Those first two are two of our favorites around here. So much so that the first copies we had are long gone from over use. :)
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I think Carl the dog is great. We, like most families, also own Good Night Moon. I really like board books and am sad that we’re growing out of that stage…. books are books, but there’s just something about board books… especially knowing that they’re virtually indestructible.
.-= Quadmama´s last blog ..The Not-So-Fun Part of Bedtime =-.
I am envious of your fabulous deals. New books are so expensive and you picked up some really great ones!
We’ve read these, and love them! You are so right about wiping down board books before giving them to little kids. Clara went through a book-eating phase too!
.-= Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog´s last blog ..Cheap Thrills — Indoor Ice Skating =-.
Thanks for joining this week! All those board books look wonderful, and we enjoyed a couple of them when Anna was younger. I hope that Lily and Johnny will have hours of reading fun with these beautiful board books.
.-= Natalie´s last blog ..The Art Box – January 4, 2010 =-.
Those are some great titles, we’ve read a few ourselves, I’ll have to check out the others :)
Wow! Lucky you! I love deals like that. Cute books :)
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