Oh, and Ezra Jack Keats books are wonderful and remind me of my own childhood–they were favorites then, as well! (They also fit into my word per page rule)

In my house, my husband is the Czar of bedtime, so he does most of the story reading. (As I am a preschool teacher, I read stories FOR MY JOB, and I don’t mind letting him do it most of the time at home.) He is incredibly picky and demanding about children’s literature.

“I hate Jan Brett,” he says.

“Jan Brett is wonderful, ” I say, aghast. “You can’t hate Jan Brett! Children love Jan Brett. I do Jan Brett month every December in my classroom!”

“I hate Jan Brett, ” he repeats. “Never bring her into this house again.”

So I have two solutions. One is I go to the library every week for new books. My husband and my two sons are always desperate for new books and I must away to the library to supply them. (I keep up with websites that review children’s books and request all the ones that sound good on my library’s website, so when I go in each week, I’ll have 10 or more books waiting for me.)

My other solution is to buy very funny books. Snarky, hip, funny books. Hubby loves those. So do the boys. Here’s a few of our favorites:
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Mo Willems
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, Willems
Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, Willems
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, Willems
Knuffle Bunny, Willems
My Friend is Sad, Willems
I Will Surprise My Friend!, Willems
Punk Farm, Jarrett Krosoczka
Slide Already!, Kit Allen
Traction Man is Here, Mini Grey
Scaredy Squirrel, Melanie Watt (the 2 sequels are almost as good)

Your site keeps me smiling. Thank you. I really liked “I Hate This Book.”

I can sooooo relate. My four-year old now knows when I intentionally skip pages of her favorite book, Good Mousekeeping. I used to love this book; then I hated it and now I like it again. Here’s what happened: Just when I thought I’d be finished reading to her, and I’m ready to go to sleep myself, she’d say, “Again Mommy. Pweeeeeez.” Or, when I’m in Starbucks with my friends, that same book has to be with us in the car so she can flip through the pages. And, she wouldn’t leave me alone until I read it to her once we get there. I gave in to the meltdown she had after I hid the book for a few days. BUT, I now have a solution – and it isn’t pain killers. I found a page from that same book as an audio book AND a video book on You Tube and then was directed to a site that has the complete audio and video of the same book. She can now hear and see it whenever she wants and I can have (some of) my life back -when I want..