My wife and I have always made it a priority to read to our children–I’m sure most of you do the same, and yes, I do the voices. I would like to think that this habit has helped lead to our second grader’s ability to read at a 5th grade level.  Every night, before bed (unless someone has misbehvaed), we gather on the bed and read.

We recently finished reading the book, The Tale Despereaux (soon to be a major motion picture that doesn’t resemble the story we read) which took several weeks. “Despereaux,” with its lack of pictures and abundance of chapters, was a departure from our usual bedtime fare.  Overall, the book was very good, but had some very dark themes for younger children.

This got me thinking – what are some of your, and your kids’ favorite children’s books?  I’ll start the list off with some of my family’s favorites, and encourage all of you to add your favorite books and mini-reviews in the comments.  Our very own book club.

Our favorite family books in no particular order:

• Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak
• Just about any Dr. Seuss, but especially: The Cat in the Hat; Green Eggs & Ham; Hop on Pop; There’s a Woset in my Closet
• Micawber – John Lithgow
• The Remarkable Farkle McBride – John Lithgow
• How I Became a Pirate - Melinda Long
• Olivia – Ian Falconcer
• Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me – Eric Carle
• Knuffle Bunny – Mo Willems
• The Giving Tree (Always reminds me of Bart Simpson repeatedly writing on the chalkboard, “The Giving Tree is not a chump”) – Shel Silverstein
• My second grade daughter loves all of the Junie B Jones books