Don't you think this is a common parental survival skill? I mean really, how many times can a sane person read Goodnight Moon in a two week period without going mad if they aren't able to zone out?

Most definitely.

And the second talaent: My children are in their 30's. Certain books that I read many, many times - I can recite without the book for reference! (Especially: Green Eggs and Ham!)

Sam I am......LOL

Yes, definitely survival skill. My older daughter used to love these books called Rose Petal Place. I just hated them. And she knew if I missed a word or tried to shorten it so I definitely read them on auto pilot.

Now my grandson wants to ask what everything is so on every page we stop and he points to an object- "what's this? (wa dis)" and if I try to turn the page -on no! we have to go back and I have to say what the object is! It drives his mother crazy but since I only read the bedtime stories once in awhile I am more patient. Grandchildren are so much more fun!

Yep, me too. I teach children w/severe autism, and they like simple repetitive stories such as "Brown Bear" and others written specifically for autism that could not be more basic. ex."Today is Monday. I get on the bus. I go to school..." etc.) Since I have a number of them committed to memory, I have to be careful I'm on the right page!

I can still recite The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and I read Poky Little Puppy until I could do it in my sleep. For some reason, my daughter adored that one.

When we graduated to Winnie the Pooh, I was delighted.

I took a children's literature course in college which I loved and the professor would actually read passages out load now then. It was wonderful. Especially his rendition of The Wind in the Willows.

My oldest son loved a book called The Little Mouse, The Red, Ripe Strawberry, and the Big, Hungry Bear very repetitive and perfect for read-aloud. When he was quite small (5 or 6 months) we had to make a long car trip with just the two of us. Partway through the trip he started fussing in his car seat which was, of course, in the back seat. I couldn't pull over just then so in desperation I just started reciting The Little Mouse.... It worked like a charm and he was soothed and happy but I found myself reciting the story over and over for the next hour. He still knows all the words at the age of 16 and he loved reading the story to his younger brother and sister when they came along. Brenda

Absolutely a common parental survival skill. I made up a tune to Good Night Moon and would sing it to my children. I also used to try to "cheat;" anyone else try to skip a page here or there in effort to get thru the book, often after lunch when I would be struggling to stay awake? Then I'd hear my daughter's horrified voice, "Mama, you meeta (missed a) page!"

Deborah, as you point out, it is not just reading to them, but looking at pictures, talking about what is going on that my children loved.
We still have a very old and heavily stuck together copy of one of the Richard Scarry books."Can you find Goldbug in this picture?", hoping they would take more than 5 seconds or "see how many very small things you can count on this page"
When our daughter was about two years old she went through one of those phases of waking in the night crying and being very cross for about half an hour. I used to sit her on my lap (difficult with a small but determined child who had gone rigid with anger) and 'read' to her . . . in the dark. Luckily I knew all the words of 'The Greedy Little Pig' and after a while she would calm down and go back to sleep; but leaving me wide awake.

I can still recite One Fish, Two Fish from memory, as well as most of Green Eggs and Ham and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. When she was very little my DD loved books about Pooh Bear and we had a set of 12 of them, each one seemingly longer than the last. She knew if I skipped even one word and I was so happy to give those wretched books away when she outgrew them.

Pooh books aside, I really enjoy reading out loud, and try to do different voices for each character. It's a lot of fun. I still read aloud to my kids, they're 12 and 8 now, and we've had a great time reading through my old set of The Three Investigators books.

My kids loved "The Little Mouse, The Red, Ripe Strawberry, and the Big, Hungry Bear" So much in fact that I'm going to go have to buy one for my grandson because our copy got worn out.

That reminds me,my son, Max, loved "Where The Wild Things Are".

Sheri, my children were post The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but what a great book. So good in fact, that the Royal Mail, when they brought out a series of stamps of children's book illustrations used the VHG and even added a few holes to the stamps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Royal Mail Stamps

My daughter (in pre-K this year) loves to "read" (actually I think she just has it memorized) Old Hat, New Hat to me. After I read her a bedtime story, she reads that (or Brown Bear, Brown Bear) to me. Her dramatic performance is a hoot. She also loves to yell out, "Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin," when we read The Three Little Pigs. Yeah... and we improvise. She often stops me whenever I'm reading to point out pictures she likes, or tell me which character she is going to be. I think I've got a budding little actress on my hands!

I've been through various phases of reading to my kids. My oldest likes for me to read to her when she's in the bath tub. I also remember trying to read a chapter book to both girls at once for bedtime. They'd eventually start fighting, squirming, or jumping on the bed until I'd get to the point that I'd stop reading out loud and just continue silently to myself until they noticed. Sometimes it took awhile.

I think it is almost a given that if you are a parent, you will eventually have Goodnight Moon memorized.

Vee, what clever stamps! Thanks for posting that link.

I was thinking about illustrations that we've loved in kids' books, and our favorite has to be Don and Audrey Woods' Piggies, another book we read to shreds.

Don and Audrey Woods are the ones who did "The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear". We also loved King Bidgoods in the Bathtub- very funny.