The Bairn's Book Club: 2-Years-Old

A lot of the books The Bairn loves at the moment are books that he's loves for many, many months now.  Here's a selection.

And the Train Goes by William Bee
I love the illustrations in this book about a train leaving the station.  There's a lot going on in each one, and there's a recurring snail on each page, which The Bairn's cousin was very interested in when she read it at our house.  The Bairn loves all train books, especially if they involve train noises, but this one is especially nice because of the design, I think.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
The Bairn started reading this alphabet book when he was about 18-months-old and he would pretend to eat the beautiful fruits and vegetables on each page while declaring all of them, "Liscious!  Oh, liscious!"  He's still very interested in the illustrations, but he also wants to discuss the letters on each page now and enjoys matching up the letter sounds to the correct foods.

Little Tug by Stephen Savage
This story of a little tugboat who helps the bigger, faster boats is very simple with minimal text and, again, lovely illustrations.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The classic.  The only downside to reading this one is that The Bairn has begun "nibbling a cocoon" all the time, meaning that he grabs food from the counter or toys or my arm and gnaws on it without warning.

I'm Fast by Kate and Jim McMullan
A train and a car race from Sacramento to Chicago (spoiler: the train wins).  The Bairn LOVES this book and I tolerate it.  I've learned more about freight cars and diggers and construction sites than I've ever cared to know in the last year since my child has begun reading picture books.

If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff
The modern classic.  The Bairn likes all of these books (of the four we own or have checked out of the library) except for If You Give a Moose a Muffin.  That one scares him.

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson

I've just discovered Karma Wilson and The Bairn and I both love her books, especially Bear Says Thanks.  These books are right at The Bairn's level with nice illustrations and interesting stories about animals and friends.  I find a lot of mediocre children's picture books in verse, but I love these.  The verse never seems forced.

Ben Loves Bear by David McPhail
This is a board book about a little boy and his teddy bear.  It's very simple and I would have thought that it would be a little young for The Bairn, but he loves it.  In fact, today we had to act the story out.  He was the bear and I was Ben.

Cars and Trucks and Things that Go by Richard Scarry
Oh my goodness, this book is too beloved.  I have read it nearly every day at least once for months and months.  I hid it for a while just to get a break and now I've put it in the church bag so that The Bairn can enjoy it without forcing me to read it so often.  We own a number of Richard Scarry books but this is definitely the favorite.


Oh, and this one reads too.  This is not a staged photo.  She just happened, appropriately, to be reading One Duck Stuck while wedging herself into the couch.