Favorites!

"This Book is My Favorite!"

     The Kitah Gimmel Morahs regularly share books during snack time and lunch.  First, we spend a few minutes getting settled.   Then, the children have time to get involved in some table conversation.  Finally, it's story time!
     I tend to introduce each story with this statement:  This is one of my favorites!
     Now, is this logical?  There are approximately 180 days in the school year.  How can a Morah have that many favorites, and more?
     The answer is just as logical:  if you've lived your life as a reader, a parent, a grandparent and a Morah, stories are naturally an integral part of your very being.  And so, to say that you have more than one hundred favorite children's books is a true statement.
     Never did this seem more obvious than my most recent visit to the grandchildren.  I went out-of-town to celebrate the Brit Milah of our latest grandson (Mazel Tov!)  While there, I performed some mundane tasks as well:  laundry, garbage, dishes, grocery shopping.
     I had some downtime, so I decided to organize the children's bookshelf, with the children carefully assisting.  The wonders we found!
     "So, there it is," said one of the children.
     "Hey, I remember that one," said another.
      Each one of us had so many favorites!  I've decided to share some of the gems that we discovered in their bookcase.  Perhaps you, too, are looking for a new favorite!
     Here's my list,  not complete, and not in any order--and each one is a goodie.  I've included fiction only, this time around. Most are picture books, contemporary classics and available anywhere:

Llama Llama Red Pajama, Anna Dowdney
Click Clack Moo Cows That Type, Doreen Cronin
Angelina, Katharine Holabird
Caps for Sale, Esphyr Slobodkina
If You Give a Pig a Cookie, Laura Numeroff
Marvin K. Mooney, Dr. Seuss
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See, Bill Martin, Jr.
Are You My Mother, P.D. Eastman
Knuffle Bunny, Mo Willems
Elephant and Piggy, Mo Willems
Don't Let the Pidgeon Drive the Bus, Mo Willems
Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown
A Pocket for Corduroy, Don Freeman
Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans
The Little House, Virginia Lee Burton
The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf
Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
Curious George, Margaret and H.A. Rey
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Bill Martin Jr.
Freight Train, Donald Crews
Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson

     (Of course, new books are being written and illustrated all the time.  Recently, my husband and I met Georgia resident R. Gregory Christie, an illustrator with several awards, including a Caldecott and the Coretta Scott King Honor Award.  We bought one of his books for our grandchildren.  We enjoyed Mousetropolis, a retelling of the country mouse-city mouse story.  I love my old favorites, and it's so nice to find something new, too!)

Morah Susan