childrens

I’m sadly past the age when most of my friends are having babies and it’s been a while since I’ve been invited to a baby shower, so I long ago stopped stocking up on cute little outfits and one-of-a-kind stuffed animals and that kind of thing.  So when my daughter was invited to a baby shower and I completely forgot about it until the last minute, I knew I had to come up with something quickly.

(You may wonder why a 12-year-old girl was invited to a baby shower.  It’s not a teen pregnancy thing.  It’s just that Annie’s social life is always busier and more interesting than mine.  I’ve stopped questioning it.)

So there I am, panicking a little, trying to think of what stores are nearby . . . and then I think, “Oh, wait.  The bookstore!”  I run over to my all-time favorite local Indie, Village Books in the Pacific Palisades, and I head to the back to the children’s corner.  Katie O’Laughlin, who owns the store, once told me that picture books are one of the few things that e-books can’t compete with, so it’s something small bookstores like to keep a good stock of.

I wanted this present to be special since it was coming from Annie, and then it hit me: I should pick out the picture books that meant something to her when she was little (which feels like a minute ago and an eternity ago), the ones that she and I read over and over together because they meant something to us, or just brought us both so much pleasure we never stopped enjoying them.

The second I spotted Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes, it was in my arms.  Both my daughter and I are natural worriers.  We don’t face any new situation without fretting about the various things that might go wrong, the people who might not be friendly, the parking spaces that might not materialize, the food that might not be good . . .  I love that book because it acknowledges that not all kids are carefree and lighthearted.  That was an easy one.

"Our" book

I was tempted to get one of Ian Falconer’s Olivia books because we loved those so much, especially the first one. The drawings and the text are just perfect.  But they’ve become so hugely popular that I worried a little she might already have gotten them.  While I was trying to decide, my son came up and handed me Ferdinand the Bull.  ”You have to give her this,” he said.  ”It’s our story.”  (Ferdinand, for those who don’t remember, is the bull who would rather pick daisies than act like the other bulls.  And, yes, it is our story,)

I also got Jules Feiffer’s I Lost My Bear which is maybe the most fun book to read out loud ever, because the narrator/protagonist is wildly over the top emotional as she searches for her lost teddy bear.  It’s a fun, fun book and I’ve always loved pretty much anything Feiffer’s ever done, for kids or adults.

My memory being what it is, I can’t remember for sure but I think I also got another Kevin Henkes, Sheila Rae the Brave, because that was a real favorite of Annie’s.  So was Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse and Julius the Baby of the World.  Basically you can’t go wrong with Kevin Henkes.

I couldn’t buy every favorite book because there wasn’t money, time or world enough, and I won’t bore you by listing them.  But if you’re a mom or a dad, the next time you need to get a great baby shower gift, think about picking out your own kid’s favorite picture books and writing a little note about why each one was special to him or her.  Even better, take your kid along and let him pick the books out and dictate or write the note himself.   I can’t think of anything more special or more likely to get used over and over again.

Plus it gives you an excuse to go to the bookstore.  And we all like to do that.

Great minds think alike: Kim just reminded me she’s written about her own favorite baby shower book choices.  Check out her top picks.