Hi, Magdalena. Sounds like you've come to the right place. I know what you mean about not wanting to part with a beloved book. Libraries are great places but you always have to give them back their book. And if there's one I own and really want to share, chances are I'll just buy another copy and give it away. The most recent case was a book called Peace like a River by Leif Enger. Most of my "treasures" have been reread several times.

Speaking of children's books, I also still love them. Have you ever seen the book Imagine a Day? The pictures are strange, beautiful, mystifying. Another of my favorites is Officer Buckle and Gloria. It is hilarious.

I like variety too--fiction, nonfiction, old, and new. But I have to say that in many cases, the new ones generally don't quite meet the standards of the older books. I suppose there are those who would disagree.

Happy reading.
Froniga

I've never read any of the suggestions you made, but you can bet that I will eventually look for those. Childrens books have always been a love for their artwork. I know that sometimes the art can be better than the book. I love both.

Magdalena, I'm glad to see another lover of children's picture books here. No children in this house, but shelves of picture books. I can't resist the beautiful illustrations. What do you think of Robert Sabuda's intricate pop-ups? I just got the one on dinosaurs, and spent a happy evening turning the pages and lifting the flaps, and getting an update on dinosaurs while I was at it. :)

cheryl

To be completely honest, I've never heard of Robert Sabuda. I feel so sheltered now. I must say though, there are so many Authors and Writers in this great world of ours, how can we keep up with them all. :)
I have a little girl. She will be two in March. She LOVES to read already. Well, she looks at the pictures while I read to her. She is getting better at pointing out things in the pictures when I ask her where they are.

Pop up books have always been intriguing to me. I have a few by "not-so-well-known" authors. I love the imagination that they utilize in creating them. I was watching tv one evening and they had a special about Edward Gorey. I was amazed to find out about a lot of other works he did besides the Gashlycrumb Tinies. He actually had some pretty intricate pop up books published. They're pretty rare now of course.

Anywho, I plan on making a list of things I need to check out so that I can keep up with everyone else.

I will get back to you about Sabuda's pop-ups, you can count on that ;)

Hi Magdalena, I'm another lover of good children's books. I still buy them for myself, although my daughters are 13 and 15 now! I am currently waiting for delivery of a long-out-of-print book from my childhood which nobody else knows, a czech book about a wizard by the name of Kajetan...
Picture books are hugely important, as they introduce children to both literature and art. My all-time favourite is probably Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are", but I also love a lot of the contemporary ones, e.g. Lauren Child's "Lola" books (I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, I Am Too Absolutely Small for School), Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean's "Wolves in the Walls", all the Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith books. I think the standard of illustration for children is higher than ever.
I wouldn't consider Edward Gorey a children's book author, but he's another favourite of mine, too!

Me too! I love Childrens' Books - especially the old classics - I can read them over and over 'Treasure Island' 'Wind in the Willows', Enid Blyton's Famouse Five,
Macolm Saville's books.
And I adore 'pop ups'; I buy them for myself and let me grandchildren look at them.
Welcome to RP - you've obviously found the right place.
Jan

Another children's book lover here. I used to work in the children's part of a library and loved it. The children's librarian was wonderful about sharing her favorite books with me (I was her assistant until my husband's job transfer entailed our moving to another part of the state). I had so much fun working there. Some of my favorite authors include Don and Audrey Woods, Peter Catalanotto, and Anthony Browne (for picture books) and Madeleine L'Engle, Carol Kendall and Carol Ryrie Brink for children's fiction and finally, Robin McKinley, Megan Whalen Turner, Anne McCaffrey and Sherryl Jordan for YA fiction. There are so many more that I love, but these were the ones who's names I could think of just now.

I adore some of the older "classic" children's literature and own several: "When We Were Very Young" (Milne), "Otto of the Silver Hand" (adore the illustrations by Howard Pyle), "The Bird's Christmas Carol" (Wiggins), "Little Women", "Dog of Flanders", "Black Beauty", Grimm's Fairy Tales,"Lad of Sunnybank", not to mention all the old tales of Robin Hood and King Arthur. As someone else said here, the exquisite illustrations are important.

I think Robin Hood and King Arthur are what made me an Anglophile.

My favorite books now are murder mysteries but not horror or thriller types.

Magdalena, I have one of Edward Gorey's pop-ups, The Dwindling Party, (a family visits an estate, and something happens to them all, one by one, until only the little boy is left), but it's the only one I've ever seen. I found a collection called Amphigorey that was a surprise at the time, I knew of Gorey only for the Mystery! opening sequences on PBS.

rouan, I picked up one of Anthony Browne's books, Into the Forest, on your recommendation, and did not regret it! I liked how he incorporated so many classic fairy tales into the story - some of them hidden only in the illustrations. BTW, did you see that Megan Whalen Turner's The King of Attolia is out? There are already 4 reviews at Amazon!

cheryl

I've thought about it and I don't believe there is any rhyme or reason to the books I like. I am open to try anything. I've read well known classics and both loved and hated various books and the same goes for much contemporary fiction/literature.

Sometimes I enjoy a particular author and want to read several books by the same author and sometimes not. I find authors of fiction can be compared to musicians; Like when a band has one really good album but none of the others come close to it, or when the music all sounds the same...once you've read one or two books, by that author, it's like you've read them all. I find the best authors allow the writing in their books progress in style and dimention and change over time.

Childrens books are great. Specifically, I have collected fairy tales for many years. This is partly for the various illustrations and variety of tales, but mostly for the differences between the interpretations of the same tales.