A scented storybook for the holidays

I spent all morning yesterday baking cookies. And tonight, Emma and I made an apple pie for Thanksgiving. The house smells wonderful! Baking for the holidays reminds me of my next pick:

23. The Sweet Smell of Christmas 
by Patricia M. Scarry

The is a scratch-n-sniff book with a very simple story. The little bear recounts his family's Christmas traditions, smelling the Christmasy smells all the while. I loved this book when I was a little girl, and I was thrilled to find out that it was still being published when I had Emma. Now she loves it too. Sure, there's not much to the story, but the smells keep the kids engaged. It's just so much fun. Emma also loves Little Bunny Follows his Nose, another scented Golden book by Katherine Howard.

Good little monkey

A year or two after I graduated from college, I had an interview at Houghton Mifflin. I remember sitting in the reception area surrounded by Curious George books in all shapes and sizes. I was in awe to think that I could possibly work at a company that published such an incredibly popular and classic series. I didn't get the job, but that's OK. (I'm happy at my current company.) But I will always remember the moment when I visited the home of Curious George.

21. Curious George and the Rocket 
by H. A. Rey

What's not to love about a curious little monkey? He's always trying to do good, yet is constantly getting into trouble. In this story, George is asked to ride in a rocket ship by the infamous Dr. Wiseman. The rocket lifts off, and the man with the yellow hat loses sight of George. George is ejected from the rocket and floats safely home. At the end, he gets a medal. The story is short and simple, but for some reason, it's Emma's favorite. We have at least a a dozen other Curious George books. They're all a lot of fun. Emma recently chose to download a Curious George book on my Kindle too.

Note: I heard that the Curious George Store in Harvard Square closed recently. Such sad, sad news. I had lots of fun visiting the store over the years. My most memorable trips were in college and then again when I was pregnant with Emma.

Anoter snow day classic

20. The Mitten by Jan Brett

Against her better judgement, Nicki's grandmother makes him a pair of white mittens. She warns him not to lose them in the white snow. But as soon as Nicki ventures out, one of his mittens disappears. A mole, a rabbit, an owl... they all take refuge in his warm, white mitten. Even a bear! But it's the mouse who stretches the mitten to capacity when he makes the bear sneeze. The mitten then floats up into there air where Nicki finds it again. I love that the practical "parent" and the fanciful child are both right in this story. The illustrations in this book are great too — there are just so many interesting details. (Brett illustrates all her own books.) This is such a nice winter tale, perfect for a snowy evening. Emma also likes The Three Snow Bears and Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.

Button button, who's got the button?

19. Corduroy by Don Freeman

This classic is one of everybody's favorites, I think. Corduroy is a lovable little bear who goes in search of the button that's missing from his overalls. He's convinced that no one will buy him from the department store shelf if he doesn't find the button. Eventually, however, a little girl takes Corduroy home and gives him a new button and, more importantly, a home. She makes it clear that she loves Corduroy just the way he is. There's not much else to say about this wonderful and endearing story, except that it's got to be one of the most well-loved children's books ever. Happy 40th anniversary, Corduroy!

Big lessons from a little fish

18. Swimmy by Leo Lionni

A few days ago, Emma and I were watching Finding Nemo on TV. It reminded me of one of our favorite books, Swimmy by Lionni. Swimmy is a unique little fish. He's a different color than the other fish in his school and he's brave — not afraid to venture out into the sea or to stand up to fish that are bigger than him. There are so many good lessons to be learned from Swimmy, but my favorite is that if you work together, you can solve big problems (like bullying!). It's so important to sand up for what you believe in, and that's just what Swimmy does. The illustrations in Swimmy are wonderful too. And the words are simple, yet poetic. We also like Frederick, another Lionni classic, but Swimmy is our favorite.

Photo: Emma and Buttercup

Buttercup is named after the mother rabbit in The Little Rabbit.

Oldies but goodies

My next three picks are really old and rather obscure. They're not by popular authors, nor are they considered classics (or at least I don't think they are). But all three are near and dear to my heart. They were some of my very favorites growing up. So, here goes:

15. The Lunch Box

This book is out of print. It's a story about a boy named Davey who is disappointed to have the same old boring lunch in his lunch box day after day. On his way to school, he runs into his animal classmates and they all describe what they have in their lunch boxes. In the end, they decide that they each have what's best for them. (After hearing  about the cat's cold fish and the dog's old bone, Davey decides his peanut butter sandwich doesn't seem so bad after all.) I loved this book because it's shaped like an actual lunch box with a handle. There are some funny details too. The cat's lunch box is shaped like a fish, for instance. And the goat has an old boot for lunch and eats the newspaper that his lunch was wrapped in for dessert. Emma gets a kick out of these details too.

16. The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright

I have no idea where this book came from or why my mom got it for me. (I'll have to ask her sometime.) But I really loved it. It's about a doll who has no friends until one day she meets a little bear and his father. She befriends them, but is frightened that she will lose their friendship when she and the little bear misbehave. I found (and still find) the pictures in this book totally intriguing. They are actually still photographs of a doll and teddy bears. It's amazing to me how the photographer captures the story with her camera and evokes so much emotion with each photo. Apparently this book is rather controversial, since father bear spanks little bear and the lonely doll. Regardless, even if it's no longer PC, I definitely enjoyed it as a child. (Emma has a copy on her shelf, but we haven't read it yet. I'm not quite ready to have a conversation with her about spanking...)

17. The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn

I sill love this book. We had a bunny growing up, so it was extra special  when I was a child. The story is about a little girl whose pet rabbit gives birth to seven bunnies. (She names them after the days of the week.) She wants to keep them all, but once they start growing up, they keep getting in to mischief and are just too difficult to look after. So, she has to find them all good homes. The pictures in the book are actual photographs. They're totally dated (from the late 70's), but that gives the book some of its charm, I think. Emma loves this book as much as I do. She even named our bunny after the mother rabbit in the book, Buttercup. There is a whole series of these books. The Little Lamb was (is) my other favorite.