There are dozens of others that I flip through at the library, get four pages in at nighttime and then just start ad libbing because the story is so terrible.

There is, however, an author I will gladly engage an “again” wish from kids every time they ask; Oliver Jeffers.

If you don’t recognize his name, you’ll easily remember his art work.

How To Catch A Star is the story of a boy who longs to own a star and eventually catches one. The Way Back Home is about the boy and his alien friend co-operating to get off the moon. Up and Down and our favorite, Lost and Found, follow the story of the boy and his best friend, a penguin.

In 2008, the simple tale of the boy and the penguin he found riding to the South Pole and back, Lost and Found, was turned into an animated special.

His pictures tell incredible stories and the words on the page are few. Jeffers‘ imagination is stunning. His story telling is simple. His artwork is subtle.

Simply, his books don’t suck.

What are your favorite (and least favorite) bedtime books?

To a child, the world is full of music. There is no division in their minds between music and sound, or between voice and song. Ever listen to a small child talking to themselves in that sing-song little voice they use? Ever leave a small one alone with a cup and a hard surface?

Even as adults we’re want to tap that pencil as we suss out a sudoku puzzle.

So when my daughter was young, we used to have “Opera days” where, before going off to daycare, everything had to be sung. No talking, only singing. As hard as this might sound at first, you pretty soon get into a groove of your choice; be it reggae or gregorian chant. You’ll even find that simple things like “Do you want some toast?” can take on Wagnerian proportions, much to the delight of your little ones.

The point is that even a rarefied discipline like opera is, at its heart, nothing more complicated than “sing me a story”. Anybody can do it about anything they like. And equally important, this game you play with your kids lets them know that music IS everywhere, and that anything from “everybody clean up” to “time to go to sleep” can be music.

And somehow dropping her off to the tune of “So Long, Farewell,” from Sound of Music seemed to draw far fewer tears on those days when it was hard to be separated.

So get your Mojo back, discover your inner Elvis and give “Opera day” a shot. There’s nothing quite like starting your day with a standing ovation.

And now, I offer as a reward, the musical stylings of Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper:

About the author: Christopher is married to the beautiful and talented Michelle, and dad to four year old son Roan and eight year old daughter Faith. He is a self-described opera, sci-fi, literature, and music geek. Follow Christopher on twitter @wildsheepchaser

You took them out to visit your aunt at the farm to play with the Barney DVDs and Old Yeller.

How children are immune to insane repetition I will never understand. I’ve tried to keep Zacharie’s music interests to something the entire family can handle, but when it comes to books, the advice from Three Men And a Baby (it doesnt matter what you read, only the tone of voice you read it in) only works for so long.

Soon enough you have to read them “real” kids books.

With Where The Wild Things Are in theatres, Chad Skelton, The Vancouver Sun‘s Curious Dad, has a post up about kids’ books and which ones are the worst.

All dads seem to have an opinion on this one and the repetition of which we need to tell these tales lies at the core of our objections.

Daniel B. Smith at Slate has an axe to grind with Eric Carle‘s Very Hungry Caterpillar.

As of this writing, my daughter is 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days old. Because Eric Carle’s books are practically distributed on maternity wards along with baby formula and nipple salve, and because my wife, like everyone else, thinks they’re wonderful, I have read one of them to my daughter nearly every nap- and bedtime since she was born: 796 consecutive days.
[Slate]

Dads around the world feel your pain, Daniel.

Robert Munsch‘s Love You Forever tops my ‘hate’ list. We received it as a gift when Zacharie was born, however it’s not repetition that makes this book offensive, we read it once and threw it out.

The creepy way the mother and son spy on each other and crawl into bed and cuddle? Ew. I get the spirit of the book, but the story to go along with it is just all kinds of wrong.

Which books have you burned? Which are your favourites?

When Zacharie was an infant, we fell in love with the art in Olivier Dunrea‘s Gossie series of books and would read them to him often.

When it came time for him to start reading and thumbing through books on his own, we gathered a good collection of Bright Baby vocabulary board books.

Right now Zacharie is loving the Amazing Machines series from Tony Mitton and Ant Parker. My parents have the complete series in one volume and my Dad reads it to him every time he stays over. At our house we have them in individual books and he picks a couple of different ones for story time.