Annalyn has always loved books, and one thing that’s made that possible – or at least easier – is the book-themed baby shower my friends Amy and Mandy threw for me before she was born. They asked everyone to buy a children’s book instead of a card that I would eventually just throw away.

(Little did they know that nearly four years later, I’d still have a ziploc bag full of baby shower cards sitting in between an unopened baby book and my scrapbooking supplies!)

Those friends started Annalyn’s little library, and I’ve loved seeing it grow over the past few years as she continues to enjoy looking at books and listening to us read to her.

I love to read, so encouraging my daughter to do so seems natural. But I’ve been surprised to learn just how many children’s books there are! And not all of them are good ones. Just last week, we took a trip to the library and checked out about eight books – and not one of them was worth reading a second time. On the other hand, a couple months ago, we checked out several books that were so good I renewed them and we read them, repeatedly, for an entire eight weeks!

Today is Dr. Seuss’s birthday, and the NEA (National Education Association) takes this opportunity to celebrate reading across the nation with Read Across America Day. In honor of the big day, I thought I’d tell you a bit about Annalyn’s favorite books – most of which happen to be classics. (It’s a miracle, right? Considering my lack of classic reading accomplishments?!)

“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
~ Dr. Seuss

1. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (She loves all the If You Give… books, actually. We have a collection of four, plus three individual books – AND a CD!)
2. Knuffle Bunny (We also love Mo Willems’ Pigeon books, too – although that pigeon is kind of a drama queen!)
3. Good Night Moon (It might seem like a baby book, but we still read this one at least once a week.)
4. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (I love this book, too. It’s just so fun to say, “Skit skat skoodle doot, flip flop flee!”)
5. Dr. Seuss’s ABC (I’m not just saying this to be nice to the guy on his birthday. Annalyn requested this one so many times as a toddler that when we flew back from Nashville last year, I could easily recite the whole thing from memory.)
6. Caps for Sale (Annalyn’s babysitter gave this book to her when we left for full-time daycare. It was Annalyn’s favorite at her house – and now it’s a favorite at ours. Although, I still can’t figure out why these monkeys say, “Tsz, tsz, tsz” instead of “Ooh-ooh, ah-ah.”)
7. Duck & Goose (I bought several of these books for Annalyn’s first birthday. She finally has the attention span to enjoy the longer books, but she still likes the short board books, too.)
8. Clifford the Big Red Dog (We only own one Clifford book, courtesy of a Chick-fil-A kids meal. But every other week, Annalyn brings home a Clifford book from her preschool’s library. Clearly, he’s a big hit!)
9. Winnie the Pooh (On the weeks she doesn’t bring home a Clifford book, Annalyn brings home a Winnie the Pooh book. She’s definitely a girl who knows what she likes!)
10. Anything with Disney princesses (I don’t let the princess craze run too free in our house, but she does have a small stack of books featuring her favorite Disney characters. Her latest acquisition is a Sleeping Beauty book that she’ll barely let go of except for bathtime.)

And here’s a bonus for you: It’s not a classic, but one of our recent finds is probably my favorite children’s book ever. Ducks Don’t Wear Socks is hilarious and clever, and even though we finally returned it to the library, all three of us continue to quote it on a regular basis!

What kind of books do your children – or you – like to read?

Reading (mostly) classics works for me, so I’m linking up to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family. I’ll also link up to Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda next week. And if you haven’t noticed, this post is full of affiliate links, so feel free to shop away in honor of  Read Across America Day!