The books Riley wants us to read over and over are Good Night Moon, Curious George Visits a Toy Store, and any of the Dr. Seuss tongue-twisters. As children’s books go, I figure it could be much worse—at least he likes the classics. He’s got more than one book in his collection that would have to find its way to the recycle bin if he wanted to hear it every day, such as the odious/preachy I Love You Mommy.

I’m sure most of us are up to our ears in kids’ reading material and don’t need a whole lot of suggestions in that arena, but I wanted to share a few of the title that have a special place on Riley’s bookshelf. A couple of them are many years old, from when I was a little kid, and I hope that Riley one day enjoys them as much as I used to—and maybe even passes them down to his own kids. If they survive his childhood, that is, which given the state of some of his much-loved tomes seems doubtful.
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I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t get to spend as much time reading as I used to. Pretty much the only time I open a book anymore is right before I fall asleep at night, which is to say I maybe get one or two pages in before slumping into an openmouthed, snoring coma.

Therefore, I really don’t want to spend my minimal amount of reading energy on an “eh” book, you know? And while I feel kind of bad making recommendations for or against books here (such a totally subjective topic), what the hell, let’s talk about the best things we’ve read lately — and the don’t-waste-your-time ones, too.

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