Oh, my... this is why I homeschool. For the little ones, I love P.D. Eastman books. I have never really loved Dr. Seuss, but I've never found a P.D. Eastman book I didn't like. My favorite is "Are you my mother?". I also like "Sam and the Firefly" and "The Best Nest". For your son's age, though, I like little board books. Some are good, some aren't so good. After 4 kids, our good ones are falling apart. My babies liked simple rhyming and nice cadence, although, to be perfectly honest, none of the little ones could be read to until about 18 months. I tried, but they were always on the go, wanting to eat the book, or crawl away, or whatever.

Elizabeth

In particular, through Hemingway with regard to bull fights.

hawk

Oh, he did like it when I read poetry to him. I was reading Sir Walter Scott's "The Lady of the Lake" and it relaxed him.

I did Kipling and Robert W. Service with my girls.

For babies and toddlers, the famous English nursery rhymes of Beatrix Potter are charming, innocent, adorable, age appropriate, and humorous!

There are many beautifully illustrated hard back books to choose from--the illustrations are as charming as the rhymes...

I still remember rocking and reading them to my babies in my lap years ago while they intently looked at the charming animal characters...

Here are two I remember by heart:

Appley Dappley the little brown mouse,
went to the cupboard in somebody's house...
In somebody's house there is everything nice:
sugar, jam, biscuits--all perfect for mice!!

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?!?
I've been to London to visit the Queen!
Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you do there?!?
I chased a mouse right under her chair!!

--Alice

That's just what I'm looking for!

I've held off posting to this thread because I could get really wrapped up in it and get nothing else accomplished, since children's literature (which to my warped way of thinking, can span the gamut - from true classics to Little Golden Books) is one of my passions. Another passion being reading to children, something I've done with my own brood since the first was born 33 years ago and right up to the present with my now 5 year old.

At a very young age, quite honestly, I think children most appreciate nonsense verse and rhyme (especially cumulative rhyme), simply because the alliteration and the cadence transcend any need to understand the text. Put simply, the sound is engaging, upbeat, and often soothing.

Among 'modern' authors - whom I'd consider those of the 20th century to now - those listed below are among my very favorites in presenting the types of books I describe above.

In most cases, a specific book is less important to me than the author, simply because the author's style is so consistent and the quality of his/her work is almost invariably excellent. Still, I have noted the titles of a few that I particularly treasure.

Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon & The Runaway Bunny)
Ludwig Bemelmans (Madeline)
Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpiller)
Theodor Seuss Geisel (Green Eggs & Ham)
Verna Aardema (Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain)
Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are)
Anna Dewdney (Llama, Llama, Red Pajama)

Many years,

Neil

Just to surprise you all - I didn't read to my tinies - they went to sleep to music [ or occasionally an electric drill ] we didn't start proper bedtime stories till they were about 2

THEN it was Beatrix Potter , Alison Uttley , Dr Seuss - indeed anything that got their attention then .

But always after the story - music on a very elderly cassette player - always classical , very soft and peaceful music

Very, very good advice!!!

My youngest son always loved Shel Silverstein. Here is one of his stories, 'The Giving Tree' http://www.scribd.com/doc/12395693/The-Giving-Tree

That's my wife's favorite.

There's no shortage of good books, and I think more are available now than ever before. All of the titles mentioned here are excellent, and I have all of them in my school library. The highlight of my school year is seeing the joy on the face of a 5-year-old checking out his first library book. That really is priceless.

Nothing compares to Frog and Toad.