Children's Books discussion

My son (almost 3) is really getting into rhymes, especially silly rhymes. Dr. Seuss is and his made-up words are great right now -- he loved There's a Wocket in My Pocket! especially.

Can anyone recommend some books along similar lines? We have lots of rhyming books, but the silly ones really tickle his budding sense of humor. Thanks!

You should try "The Flea's Sneeze" by Lynn Downey and "Sakes Alive! A Cattle Drive" by Karma Wilson

I really liked The Golden Treasury of Poetry by Louis Untermeyer, of which I was reminded when I searched my library catalog for "nonsense verse."

Of course there's also Edward Lear. And your library should have a whole section of poetry at 821 and thereabouts, so you can just browse by cover.

I'll look in my library at that shelf next time I go.

Kathryn, if you are still considering exposing your children to German language picture books, one of my favourites when I was a child is the silly, colourfully illustrated and delightfully alliterative Henriette Bimmelbahn. And I believe that it has been reissued for the Kindle.

William Cole has lots of collections, too. I did browse my library shelves, but it seems that many silly rhymes are part of larger collections. That is, they are sections in fat books for older children that also include riddles and jokes, *or* also include verse that isn't silly.

I know there are some picture-books that illustrate a single silly song, like some by Raffi Cavoukian, for example Shake My Sillies Out.

Thanks, all, for all these wonderful suggestions!!!

Gundula, we haven't made much progress on the German picture book front as his German-born grandfather only visits a few times a year but I did find a few German-language Easter books I'll bring out when they visit next month. I'm really hoping he will teach the boys some German even just with FaceTime conversations over the years but I don't know--he didn't teach his own children but maybe he will feel differently as a grandparent. It seems such a shame not to share it. Sigh.

Cheryl, I had forgotten Raffi wrote picture books, too. We are big fans of his music! Thanks!! :-)

Kathryn wrote: "Thanks, all, for all these wonderful suggestions!!!

Gundula, we haven't made much progress on the German picture book front as his German-born grandfather only visits a few times a year but I did ..."

It is different now, but at that time, there were good reasons not to (except that often, the children later regretted not having been taught, especially if there was still family in Germany, and often, it did not even do all that much silence the bullying either).

The "Henriette Bimmmelbahn" book is really fun, and since it deals with Omas and Opas as well, very suitable for a visit from grandpa.

Was there still a stigma in the late 70s and early 80s? How sad. I guess I thought German wouldn't have been frowned upon by then. I do know that my dad's best friend (also German-born) never taught his American-born son, either. So maybe there were reasons. I guess I just never saw any of the bullying, etc. My husband said he always loved listening to his father speak German with his grandparents. Now that they've passed away his father (an only child) doesn't have anyone to speak it with :-(

That sounds like a perfect book. Thank you!

Kathryn wrote: "Was there still a stigma in the late 70s and early 80s? How sad. I guess I thought German wouldn't have been frowned upon by then. I do know that my dad's best friend (also German-born) never taugh..."

I certainly was called a Nazi quite a few times after we immigrated in 1976. It is sad and annoying, but I think it also depends on geography (it might have been worse in Alberta than, say, Ontario at that time).

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, Gundula!

Kathryn wrote: "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, Gundula!"

Thanks, it sure was a pain and not very nice.

Two that have been recently enjoyed in our house:

The Duchess Bakes a Cake - no silly words here (to its credit), but fantastic clever rhyming throughout. I'd say it's a worthy peer of the best Seuss.

17 Kings and 42 Elephants - quite a few silly but fitting words, e.g., "Big baboonsters, black gorillicans, swinging from the branches by their hairy knees," and very distinctive illustrations.

These are perhaps not necessarily silly, but they are fun and also provide some ecological information.

Jo MacDonald Saw a Pond
Jo MacDonald Had a Garden
Jo Macdonald Hiked in the Woods

And while I find Hey Diddle Diddle: A Food Chain Tale a bit problematic, in that it to me trivialises the deadly relationship between predador and prey somewhat (and the illustration of the snake feels a trifle creepy to me), the rhyming song like text is a fun way to introduce food chains to younger children.

A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers is long, and the ideas perhaps too complex for a pre-schooler, but it would be fun to read aloud one rhyming & rhythmic poem at a time and see what he thinks of the dragons baking bread and the man with the marmalade hat.

Pattern Fish is our very favorite rhyming book. It features patterns in both the illustrations as well as the words: "Bubble Bubble Pop/Bubble Bubble Pop/A pufferfish blows bubbles they go floating to the top/Bubble Bubble Pop/Bubble Bubble....(turn the page) Pop."
I love the way the rhymes all have different words to describe actions or sounds of each of the fish, and then the kids have to finish the rhyme based on the pattern. My nephews introduced this to us when they were 3 and 4 and my daughter was 3. They are now 7 and 8 and love it still! As do all of the new generations!

More wonderful suggestions! Thank you. I'm happy to see my library has some of these :-)

To follow up on William Blake's Inn, another good Nancy Willard is Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch - great rhymes and outlandish illustrations.

Just read another incredible rhyming book by Margaret Mahy (author of 17 Kings and 42 Elephants). This one is just wildly silly - Bubble Trouble. It's hard to do it with a straight face - the rhymes and alliterations just shine, and the rhythm is infectious. It's kind of like a more sophisticated version of the Tweetle Beetles bit of Fox in Socks. You'll want to practice it so you can perform it at a brisk pace without stumbling. Highly satisfying.

Thank you, Michael! My son loves bubbles so that sounds like a real winner.

I wonder if one of the books we read for the poetry theme in the picture book club might work, Flicker Flash, but maybe the rhymes are not silly enough (but as concrete poetry, they might be appealing to your son).

You could try Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox. If I remember correctly, the entire text is not in rhyme, but the gist of the book is that Rapunzel keeps mishearing the prince and throwing down things that rhyme with "hair." Very silly.
Also, I have a list of a number of rhyming picture books at my blog post here. The theme is not silly rhymes specifically, but rhyming picture books with fantasy themes. Many of them are indeed silly, though.