If you’re looking for good books to read, look no further. I practically grew up with Sandra Boynton as a household name. I heard about her anytime I walked into a bookstore. And now that we have kids of our own, I know why.
Her stories are silly and her illustrations darling. Her rhyming is fun and easily memorizable. There are a number of her books that Fox and I take turns spouting off lines while we’re out and about. In this round up, we have some of her best books for you.
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Are You a Cow? (click to buy on Amazon)
Even now while I write this I hear my voice go from memory…”Hey! I’m a chicken, yes it’s true! Tell me, tell me, what are you? Are you a cow? No”. Then proceeds a hilarious list of animals. A dog, a penguin, a pig, a hippo. The final page ends on “You must be you! Now isn’t that great”. It’s always nice to be reassured that you’re the best version of yourself. Fox and Mountain Goat both love this one. Easily one of our top 3 on this list.
The Going-To-Bed Book (click to buy on Amazon)
If you’re buying new books for your nursery, then get this one! It’s a darling tale of the shenanigans a horde of animals partake in before bedtime. I think they’re on a cruise? I mean, they all brush and brush and brush their teeth and then go up on the deck to exercise. These animals must have as much energy as these young kids of ours. My favorite part is the last page where the “moon is high, the sea is deep. They rock and rock and rock to sleep”. I can still feel the little tufts of Mountain Goat’s hair and smell his baby smell with him on my lap, softly swaying back and forth reading these words.
Blue Hat, Green Hat (click to buy on Amazon)
I’m pretty sure every child thinks this book is hilarious. Blue hat, green hat, red hat…oops. There’s that silly turkey always trying to put his clothes on the wrong way. Backwards coats, socks on his wings. He just doesn’t get it right. Until the end. The turkey, fully decked out from head to toe, jumps in the pool. This is another necessary book for your home library.
But Not the Hippopotamus (click to buy on Amazon)
Of all the books to read, this one is my personal Boynton favorite. It’s a series of nonsense. A moose and a goose together having juice, but not the hippopotamus. This stubborn hippo just doesn’t want to join in on any of the fun. We like to read this one with increasing intensity and speed to see how fast we can go through these tongue-twisters. Until finally….deep breath…”and he just doesn’t know, should he stay, should he go? But YES! the hippopotamus”. Good for hippo. I know sometimes it takes me a number of times before I shed my serious side and join in on the fun too.
Perfect Piggies! (click to buy on Amazon)
Perfect Piggies has a song to go along with it that’s quite catchy and darling. This book boasts of all the wonderful things about piggies. Their ears, their roundness, their tails. What Mountain Goat likes best is the page where each of the 4 piggies is holding a balloon. He fell asleep last night just staring at it.
What’s Wrong, Little Pookie? (click to buy on Amazon)
Seriously parents. How many times do you have the energy to distract your toddler from their tantrum? Just read them this book if you can’t do it. So that means we’ve read it quite a bit since getting it. Little Pookie is not doing so well, so the mother asks what could be the matter? She goes down a long, and sometimes ridiculous, list until finally, Pookie doesn’t even remember what had him upset in the first place.
Happy Hippo, Angry Duck: A Book of Moods (click to buy on Amazon)
If you’re looking for an “emotions” book for kids, this is a great one. Oh, but that duck! All the animals in this book experience and display a wide variety of emotions like sad, tired, confused and Mountain Goat also likes to tell me what kinds of animals they are. A dog. A cow. A pig. It’s like everything in one! Emotions and animals and animal sounds if you want to. Another darling Boyton book.
