How to make storytime slap

A power ranking of children's books from your friendly neighborhood new mom

Ah, your 20s. Filled with adventure, therapy, weekend regret, and the promise of a life unfolding. Also, a time to hone your literary tastes. For me, I fell in love with memoirs, historical fiction, and historical accounts. One of my all-time favorites, First Women, is the perfect blend of our nation’s top ladies, their history, and juicy, behind closed (White House) doors gossip we all crave. I even read Prince Harry’s Spare to hear a first-hand account of the world’s moved loved and hated prince.

In our 20s, we join a book clubs! Read for pleasure! I even had the audacity to prefer physical copies over audiobooks, in the name of “the experience.” How millennial of me! Then life happened, as it tends to do. I turned 30. I had a baby. Gone are the lazy Sunday afternoons leisurely lying on the sofa, book in hand. Gone are the days of “picking up a book” and getting lost for hours as I read on the porch, or on the beach, or on an airplane, only looking up to realize it was already nighttime. Now, the eternal countdown clock ticks towards nap times and bottle schedules. My hands cease to be mine anymore, seemingly always filled with a baby, a bottle, a burp cloth, or all three at the same time. So, along with the hormonal roller coaster and bodily changes I signed up for, even greater changes have shocked me—I’ve embraced audiobooks.

However, I’ve managed to hold onto my sacred physical books, but now, in a whole new manner: children’s books. Designated reading time is before naptime and bedtime. And, as much as I intend to impart my love of American history and British culture upon my daughter, topics now revolve around curious monkeys, menacing rabbits, and partying pups. So, at roughly 1:30pm and 7pm every day, we dive into the world of children’s books. We delight in the escape of pure imagination!

My mom was an English teacher by trade and moonlit as a mother by night. As soon as she found out I was having a baby, she hauled two bins full of my brother and my childhood books from Alabama to Texas. My mom was a bit of a purist with an affinity for the classics—I grew up hearing that any children’s book worth reading was written before 1970, or something like that. And, the house rule was that we got presents and toys on birthdays and Christmas, so don’t even bother asking outside of those days—but we could always ask for a book. Did my brother and I exploit this? Absolutely. Did it pay out in the end? As adult readers (and now, listeners), I’d say so.

As I prepped a pink nursery, I dug out copies of books like Curious George, where my brother’s scrawl covered the inside cover as he practiced writing his name, circa 1996. Pictures I had grown up seeing, but long forgotten, came flooding back, my body washed in a wave of nostalgia as I sat cross-legged on the ground, next to an unfinished crib, flipping through the pages of my childhood.

So here I am, during nap time, making bold claims as to some of the top children’s books with my qualifications as 1. a reader 2. an adult responsible for the formation of a child 3. a hope to pass along a literary love to my daughter.

Our (my) criteria are as follows:

-Does it actually have a storyline?

-Does it slap? (re: do we keep grabbing for it time after time?)

-Are the illustrations interesting and stylistic? I’d argue this is just as important as the story.

-Does the story create a sense of wonder? Am I in a British garden eating the farmer’s carrots alongside Peter Rabbit? If not, I don’t want it!

There are *literally* thousands of children's’ books, and as a public service, I’ve dug through the piles of self-published crap, climbed through the harrows of meaningless, brightly colored covers and trash topics, and narrowed down our top books. Throw them on your registry, send them to your mom-to-be in lieu of plane tickets to a baby shower, and who knows, maybe one day your friend’s kid will be reading these books to their baby!

So, without further adieu, here are my top books, in no particular order—the ones being read on repeat at the Hill household—and should be at yours, too!

Go Dog Go by P.D. Eastman Starting strong with a book written by Dr. Seuss’s protege, P.D. Eastman. There’s a reason why Seuss and his crew are the GOAT. We’ve got big dogs, we’ve got little dogs, red dogs, and blue dogs. We’ve got rhymes, we’ve got contrast and comparisons, opposites and complements that will blow our little baby’s mind! My favorite subplot is the pink poodle who constantly needs hat affirmation, and her spotted dog companion will. not. give. it. to her. Favorite scene is that tree party, for obvious reasons. It’s one of those books that feels random, but there’s actually so much going on (re: learning?!) within it.

Curious George by H.A. Rey One monkey, a million adventures. Monkey in a chocolate factory? Check. Monkey behind the scenes at the zoo? Check. Monkey wasting city resources and taxpayer dollars by creating false alarms for the firemen? Check! George could be ANYWHERE! and he’s gone EVERYWHERE! Is he chaotic, yes, but we love George for it! I appreciate the consistency of the plot: man in the yellow hat takes George somewhere, leaves him unsupervised (but also, like, man in the yellow hat…we should know, by now, how to avoid this mayhem). We love George and his earnest, unapologetic self who has a heart of gold (or yellow?) who somehow ends up the hero despite his own self-destructing best efforts.

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey About as timeless as it gets. I love how the first page and last page are two-page illustrations, but they create a setting and tell a story in their own way without words. How glorious does picking blueberries on a summer afternoon in Maine sound! Mother is a secondary, hands-off character who craves solitude so badly that her child ends up face to face with a bear. Not a great look for mother. BUT, bears that talk! Baby bears! Blueberries for Sal has got it all for a little imagination to run free. Kuplink! Kuplunk!

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans An old house covered in vines? Twelve girls in two straight lines? IN PARIS?! Hand drawn depictions of French daily life complete with a dog named Genevieve—très chic! We love our redheaded heroine, Madeline, and her spunkiness and bravery despite A. peer pressure from her annoyingly wet-blanket classmates and B. the overloading nun, who you know is exhausted. I think Madeline and Curious George would get along, famously.

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, Pictures by Margaret Bloy Graham Another dog book, but deserves a spot on the list. I would say, in this case, the illustrations are the strength. City scenes, blue-collar workers fixing the streets, diners in a cafe. BUT ALSO, heartbreaking that Harry has to PERFORM to try to convince his owners that IT’S HIM! Only to result in total rejection. We run through the whole spectrum of emotions with this one—is there hope for Harry? I’m not saying it’s Homeward Bound agonizing, but we’re in the ballpark. Will Harry ever be known and loved again by his people? Only a bath will tell! (Also extra points for bath time propaganda…“my parents will love me again if I’m clean.”).

Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter British rabbits in sweaters with buttons. Say no more. This is the gold standard, I’m afraid.

In that same vein, there’s also a (growing) list of the absolute WORST books, but that’s for another time. Thanks to Haley for asking me to *guest write* on her book newsletter, a true honor coming from the literary queen herself. As an artist, this isn’t my world and I’m flattered to have been asked. Feel free to reply with your hot takes, nostalgic-induced fiery disagreements, or what you think I left off the list!

Mary Gus is a painter and Alabama native who lives in Dallas with her husband, dog Scout, and tiny reader Anne Fowler! We met the first week of college and quickly learned that the other was always down to skip class to go for a drive in the mini, sign up for classes outside our majors like tennis and magazine writing, and see midnight premieres at our tiny college town theater. Check out her work here.