Help me buy a children's book collection

June 3, 2007 1:38 PM

A friend and fellow bibliophile is having her first child. As a baby shower gift, I'd like to get her a nice children's book collection (in the $100 range). The 58-volume Dr. Seuss collection looked awesome, but at $500 is beyond my price range. I thought I'd get some ideas about what children's book collections you or your children have loved. (I'm thinking Hans Christian Anderson collections, etc.) She's having a girl if that makes a difference to your answer.
posted by bananafish to Shopping (45 answers total)

The Ant and Bee series are great.
posted by LeisureGuy at 1:49 PM on June 3, 2007

For a personal gift, get a classic with the child's name in the title. I gave my niece Charlotte a first (UK first--I'm not that wealthy) of Charlotte's Web.
posted by Hogshead at 1:58 PM on June 3, 2007

Do you have a preferred age group? If not, My wife and daughter have both collected all the Anne of Green Gables books. Also beloved are Madeleine L'Engle, C. S. Lewis's Narnia Tales, and Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie" series.
posted by RussHy at 1:58 PM on June 3, 2007

Beatrix Potter
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:00 PM on June 3, 2007

Why not put together your own collection of best loved children's books? Buy books you remember loving, write a note and explain that these were your favorite books as a kid and maybe share a memory of one/some of them, if anything fits. I'd be much more touched by a collection like that from a friend of mine, and the thought that went into it, than a more generic "own everything *** has written/illustrated!"

Oh, and maybe try to buy a range of books, from younger/babies to more posh illustrated/written books so that your collection can grow up with them through the years?
posted by warble at 2:02 PM on June 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

It occurs to me you could buy half a dozen Dr. Suess books, just to get her started...
posted by RussHy at 2:06 PM on June 3, 2007

seconding warble's advice: put together a collection of your favourites, or the "classics" you'd want the baby to have.
posted by gursky at 2:27 PM on June 3, 2007

I would recommend buying a collection of fairy tales that the parents can read to their daughter before she begins to learn to read. Fairy tales are usually short enough that the child can pay attention throughout the entire reading, something it would be harder to do with a short novel.
posted by inconsequentialist at 2:35 PM on June 3, 2007

I had and adored a "World Treasury of Children's Literature" set which seems to be out of print but still easily available used.
posted by Jeanne at 2:35 PM on June 3, 2007

The Folio Society has some lovely volumes of fairy tales. The right editions, the right illustrations. They'll steer the kid off Disneyana and look nice on the shelf. For example.
posted by kmennie at 2:40 PM on June 3, 2007

Richard Scarry. Richard Scarry, Richard Scarry, Richard Scarry. But the good ones -- not the ones published "by the estate of Richard Scarry." I started to put together a list here, if you're interested. Some of them are out of print, so if you track them down they'll be special even though they're not a boxed collection.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:49 PM on June 3, 2007

Seconding RussHy's suggestion to buy as many Dr. Suess titles as you can afford. You can buy a lot of Dr. Suess for a hundred bucks. Also seconding Richard Scary.

More ideas are Frog and Toad or Shel Silverstein.
posted by LoriFLA at 2:51 PM on June 3, 2007

Best answer: Betsy Tacy?
posted by wildeepdotorg at 2:52 PM on June 3, 2007

I always give Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are. It's my favorite and the illustrations are so cool. In The Night Kitchen and The Nutshell Library are also pretty awesome.
posted by jrossi4r at 2:57 PM on June 3, 2007

Please don't overlook Pooh and friends.
posted by bricoleur at 2:58 PM on June 3, 2007

We have a matching set of the A. A. Milne books. There are 2 Pooh books and 2 books of poetry that are very good. Here it is.

Seconding the Beatrix Potter.
posted by DarkForest at 2:58 PM on June 3, 2007

My default baby-shower gift is usually The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, with a selection of books that I think are good, starting with infant board books and going up a few years.
posted by anitar at 3:00 PM on June 3, 2007

Dr. Seuss books are great, but do note that they are a bit weird for tiny tots. I've had to explain to my two-year-old child that there is no need to worry about nellars in the cellar -- and that "Night, night...we fight all night" is not a call to action.

So, if you do a collection, please mix it up, rather than sticking to just Dr. Seuss.

I like:
Barnyard Dance (Sandra Boynton)
Goodnight Moon (Helen Wise Brown)
Hug (Jez Alborough)...my fave -- it only uses one word
Charlie Parker Plays Be-bop (C. Raschka)
Are you my mother? (Dr. Seuss)
Cat in the Hat
posted by acoutu at 3:04 PM on June 3, 2007

I like getting kids the Curious George books. There is a nice hardcover collected set of the original Curious George stories, as well as a book of new stories that look quite nice.

I also like picking up Robert Munsch books, but they tend to get saved for when the kid is a little older. Love You Forever is nice for showers, but his other books are a little more silly.

I agree with the idea of giving them books you enjoyed as a kid. A nice inscription inside the book makes for a lovely connection.
posted by melissa at 3:05 PM on June 3, 2007

The Little House on the Prairie collection was my favorite.
posted by LadyBonita at 3:07 PM on June 3, 2007

Go with a nice selection of board books -- chunky, chewable reads that are intended for little ones. These include a number of Seuss books ("The Foot Book", "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?"), as well as titles like "Go, Dog, Go," "Are You My Mother?," "I'll Teach My Dog 100 Words," etc. (Any one of these specific books will have a list of the rest in the series.) "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" was a big hit with my little guy. Your mega-book-mart should have an entire section devoted to them.

Trust me: Board books. Mom and Dad can read them one-handed, while cuddling baby; baby can grab them and chew on them without causing much harm or tearing them; and they're easy to take along because they're so small.

Save the plain paper books for about three years from now, and start a tradition of giving the classics for birthdays/holidays.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:10 PM on June 3, 2007

Nthing Beatrix Potter. This is on your price range.
posted by HotPatatta at 3:17 PM on June 3, 2007

Follow-up: It's Random House's "Bright and Early Board Books" series. Amazon link here.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:30 PM on June 3, 2007

Speaking as a parent, dear god, please, go easy on the Dr Seuss. Well-meaning friends and relatives have given my daughter (now four) probably two dozen assorted Seuss books, and I have to say that nothing but nothing puts a damper on my night like going in to read her bedtime stories and finding that she's selected Green Eggs and Ham, The Sleep Book, and one of the tongue-twisting books. Don't get me wrong, they're great books and I frequently read them to her, but they seem more appropriate when a child is leaning to read and the parent can say 'here, try this!'

I'm another one who'd suggest getting some of your favourite books, maybe for a variety of age ranges. Start with board books -- Goodnight Moon, for example, or Sandra Boynton (The Going to Bed Book is popular here). A lift-the-flap or tactile book would probably be well met: Where Is Baby's Bellybutton, say, or Pat the Bunny. Then get some early readers, maybe Doctor Seuss or Richard Scarry. Move up a bit, then, with a maybe the first of the Little House books, The Boxcar Children or The Famous Five, or the first Betsy Tacy book, a Munsch (Paper Bag Princess!), or Beverly Cleary. You should be able to get easily eight and probably more like twelve books for $100 if you shop carefully, and you're sort of starting a book collection for the child, which I think is lovely -- many of these things can later be expanded at birthdays or holidays, if you wish, by continuing to add age-appropriate books.
posted by meghanmiller at 3:35 PM on June 3, 2007

Animalia by Graham Base ( not sure of spelling and too lazy to walk across house to get the book.) The best illustrations and hours of fun for all ages. We still check it out with our teenager. It's kinda like Where's Waldo but, waaay cooler. I think he has another one out by now.
posted by winks007 at 4:16 PM on June 3, 2007

I agree with warble, gursky, meghanmiller etc that a selection of books might be better. Books that come as a set are bound to look a bit pre-packaged, and there's a greater chance of the child (or parents) not liking that author. Also, if it's a really posh set your bibliophile friend might be pained if the child destroys it (as will happen).

The other thing is, I've found it really hard to find books you'd want to keep that babies will like - once they get old enough you can go with rhymes and sentences, but when they're tiny they just want patterns and interesting textures. So bear in mind that if you get books that have much text or lovingly detailed pictures (books that adults would like), the child won't appreciate them for a while.
posted by paduasoy at 4:17 PM on June 3, 2007

And LeisureGuy, thank you for the Ant and Bee reminder - have you seen the prices though! Just goes to show that bananafish's friend might have a hard decision about whether to allow her daughter to read some of your collection, if they are actually valuable.
posted by paduasoy at 4:41 PM on June 3, 2007

Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever should be in every child's library.
posted by yeti at 5:30 PM on June 3, 2007

Another potential idea is to get a nice bookshelf for her, to hold all the books she will grow up to have.

Maybe even have one made, or have a name carved into it.
posted by mazienh at 5:32 PM on June 3, 2007

If you had to go with just one author/illustrator, I'd pick Eric Carle. His books are a springboard for endless discussions with kids, on everything from favorite animals to making up rhymes to how he combines simple shapes to build complex forms. I never get bored with reading his books to children because the responses are always so varied.

A slightly more grown-up suggestion is work by William Steig -- Sylvester's Magic Pebble, Doctor De Soto, Amos and Boris -- they're timeless stories, and Steig's illustrations are fun.
posted by Marit at 5:41 PM on June 3, 2007

I enjoyed the Berenstain Bear series as a child.

If you really want to go for volume, you could try yard sales... you might find books that are in good enough condition to be given as gifts.
posted by IndigoRain at 5:49 PM on June 3, 2007

I still dearly love my childhood Beatrix Potter book - a hardcover that had about sixteen books in it. Every few years, I rediscover it.

Also, the World Treasury of Children's Literature (two volumes), edited by Clifton Fadiman. Seems to be out of print, but it has everything. The kid might have to turn about seven or nine before all the stuff in it is accessible - although there's plenty of pictures for a non-reader to enjoy. It contains a good number of the classics - from memory:
Goodnight Moon
some Dr Seuss
Ramona by Beverly Cleary
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
... etc., etc. Altogether they probably make up about a thousand pages.
posted by Xere at 6:13 PM on June 3, 2007

Don't forget the Madeline series and Amelia Bedelia!
posted by AwShucks at 6:16 PM on June 3, 2007

Steven Kellogg and Tomie dePaola. And Silverstein is essential.
posted by landedjentry at 6:28 PM on June 3, 2007

Almost forgot: A while back, I asked for recommendations on best book series for children/young adults. Here's how the hive mind answered. You may find some good suggestions in this list.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:43 PM on June 3, 2007

How about a series of books for each year in the child's life, one-yeas-old through ten-years-old. Each wrapped separately, to be opened on the appropriate year.

Possibly...

1 - Black and White
2 - Goodnight Moon
3. Harold and the Purple Crayon and Hop on Pop
4. Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen
5. Best Word Book Ever and Fox in Sox
6. The World of Pooh
7. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and The Box of Delights
8. The Hobbit and The Phantom Tollbooth
9. Harry Potter Book I
10. The Golden Compass
posted by grumblebee at 6:59 PM on June 3, 2007

I had a beautiful A. A. Milne illustrated hardcover. I think it was a lot like this one, but older. It was a baby gift and I brought it with me to college.
Pooh makes awesome bedtime stories, so it works even pre-independent-reader.
posted by rhoticity at 8:56 PM on June 3, 2007

Please, NOT the dumbed-down board versions of classics (and I'm speaking as the granddaughter of the man who owned the top bookstore on the west coast for thirty years...the Pickwick; Publisher's Weekly used it as their template for their west coast bestseller list).

My choices would be (given that others will provide the obvious classics...hmm, no one's yet mentioned Eloise):

Susan Meddaugh's Martha books, about the dog who is able to talk after she eats alphabet soup.

Ian Falconer's Olivia books, about an anthropomorphic pig.

Mo Willems' Pigeon series, which also include board books; he has also begun a series about a depressive elephant and optimistic pig for older readers.
posted by brujita at 10:35 PM on June 3, 2007

Definitely take a look at Eric Carle's books. He has a classic, beautiful, colorful collage style, with many books wordless or nearly so; they're perfect for very young readers. Try "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," the "Very First Book" series about numbers, colors, shapes and words, or anything on the list here for starters. A collection of Eric Carle would be an atypical delight for the rugrat and the parents. (For what it's worth, I had a four-year-old gleefully take me through "The Mixed-Up Chameleon" the other day; it was a hoot.)
posted by mediareport at 10:36 PM on June 3, 2007

Response by poster: Thank you all so much. There's so many wonderful answers here, I wish I could use them all. But I think the suggestion of a range of books for various ages is great and I'll definitely include some of the books I loved as a child in the mix (a wrinkle in time comes to mind). Thank you, Thank you!!!!
posted by bananafish at 10:39 PM on June 3, 2007

Get a bunch of Little Golden Books. I adored them.

A friend of mine is having her first child this month and as part of her gift, I got her a copy of "The Poky Little Puppy" since I loved it so much as a child and wanted to share that with her child. She was so excited when she saw it - turns out it was her very favorite book as a child. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 11:12 PM on June 3, 2007

I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Chronicles of Narnia yet... I loved having those books read to me as a young kid.
posted by sunshinesky at 5:01 AM on June 4, 2007

If you are still in the south bay definitely check out Hicklebee's Books in downtown Willow Glen. My wife and I have gotten lots of great suggestions from the staff there. Usually at the last minute before a birthday or Christmas.
posted by BrotherCaine at 5:38 AM on June 4, 2007

I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Chronicles of Narnia yet...

Well, the kid isn't even born yet. Narnia is a bit much for babies.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:32 AM on June 4, 2007

So many of these recommendations are really for much older kids. While it may seem like a nice idea to cover a broad age spectrum, it may present a storage hassle for the parents: will they be able to *find* A Wrinkle in Time eight years from now? I'd vote more toward the board books. We've been reading to our 15-month-old virtually since birth, and only now is she really getting into it (like, bringing over books and demand they be read, dozens of times an hour). Touch-and-feel books (Usborne is king of this category, e.g., That's Not My Puppy) were early favorites, though she's starting to grow out of them now. Second in line were word books, especially photographic ones (DK and Priddy Books are known for these), and nursery rhymes. Anything with animals is good, especially Eric Carle (Brown Bear). And, true to form, she loves Goodnight Moon, too. I like Seuss, but that's more for me than her at this point. Her complete library (minus a few recent acquisitions) is at http://www.librarything.com/catalog/bugaloo.
posted by libraryhead at 10:28 AM on June 4, 2007