Books written by Hayley

Little Spino

Book recommendations

Children's book clubs

We have been very pleased with the Baby's First Book Club; they send about one book a month, pretty well adapted to the age of your child, and if you don't like it you just send it back. We keep them all, since they are not too expensive, and she seems to like all of them (though not always right away). There are lots of books with flaps and popups and other things that kids seem to really like.

Hayley's favorite books

[CONSTRUCTION]

Under a year

Pat the bunny
Look at me books
Published by Dutton. This is a series of books with colorful pictures of babies doing things like eating, playing, dressing, etc. Hayley really liked these for a long time; we got very sick of them:-). Medium size, hard pages.
The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs
A touch and feel book based on the delightful Snowman video. Medium size, hard pages.
Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
A classic, really nice story. The pictures are colorful and full of detail; some of the pictures show details enlarged, which is interesting. Lots of subtle differences from one scene to the next (they are all of a child's room at night). This was one of Hayley's favorites for a while. Small, hard pages.

12-15 months

The Sandman
Published by the Baby's First Book Club (no author given). A short and simple story about the Sandman, who comes around at night to put children to sleep. I didn't particularly like this book, but Hayley did. Large, colorful, hard pages.
The Whose books, by Keith Faulkner
A little boy visits various animals, looking at their homes, their food, etc. Big flaps open out. Very simple pictures. Medium size, tough paper pages.
The Spot books, by Eric Hill
Spot is a little dog who has simple adventures. Flaps open. Simple, colorful drawings. Medium size, tough paper pages.
Thumbelina, by Hans Christian Anderson
This is a book that Kathy had when she was a child. Strange pictures; they look like photos of accurate figurines. Hayley liked to look at the pictures a lot. Large, hard pages.

15-18 months

Winnie the Pooh books, by Janet Campbell
Book versions of the Disney cartoon versions of A.A. Milne's books. Weird, huh? Like the cartoons, they are pretty true to the original, but the pictures are much more colorful and appealing to children. Large, paper pages.
Golden books
A series of Disney and other books; quite a range of ages. Hayley likes the 101 Dalmations and ones with Mickey Mouse. Medium size, hard cover, paper pages.

2-3 years

The Velveteen Rabbit, by Marjorie Williams
Ken Basye and Debbie Merrill gave her a really nice edition of this story, illustrated by ???. A boy's favorite stuffed rabbit becomes real when the boy finally outgrows him. One of my favorite stories.

Other peoples' recommendations

Here are some books that looked good; I would be interested to hear from anyone who has seen them.
Daddy Makes the Best Spaghetti -- Anna Hines
Anna Banana and Me -- Lenore Blegvad

My favorite books from my childhood

[CONSTRUCTION]
Narnia books
C.S. Lewis' Narnia books These were far and away my favorite books of all time. They describe the adventures of four brothers and sisters (the later books center around other characters) who discover a door into another world, where animals talk and magic is commonplace. I can't recommend these books strongly enough. Probably good for eleven or twelve year olds.
Willard Price's Adventure series
This is a long series (thirteen or fourteen books, I think) describing the adventures of two boys (about thirteen and fifteen) who travel with their father to many different places to capture animals for zoos. The stories are fictional, of course, but the natural history facts are extremely accurate. I am often amazed by how much I learned from these books, and they are fascinating to read. Aimed at twelve to fourteen year olds.
Roald Dahl
Very entertaining stories; Dahl has an amazing imagination. These three are good for younger children, perhaps eight or nine. Roald Dahl has also written a number of wonderful short stories for adults; they have the same kind of crazy light-hearted humour, but usually center around humorous sexual situations. I strongly recommend these to adults who like light fiction. Some of them are:
[Brown] [Brown CS] [People] [Jak] [Hayley]
Jak Kirman
Last modification : 1 Dec 1995