Calebite and Benjaminugget

Tonight I read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" for our bedtime story.  When I got to the part that read "That night, he had a stomachache" Caleb murmured "Oh, that's so sad!  I feel so badly for him."  That's our compassionate Caleb!

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Lately Benjamin has been choosing his own story for us to read at bedtime.  I have read in the past about "good children's books" and "bad children's books," although I have a hard time accepting that, since I think that your own taste is just as valid as whether or not experts think it's well-written.  I would definitely agree that many of the books considered best-sellers or classics just seem to be better written in terms of their lyrical rhythm. Luckily, Benjamin seems to have a keen sense of good art.  His favourite books are:

Love You Forever (Robert Munsch)

Goodnight, Moon (Margaret Wise Brown)

You Can Do It, Sam (Amy Hest)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle)
Curious George (Margret and H.A. Rey)

And these are genuine favourites - there are at least 30 books on the bookshelf in their bedroom, and he can go through the bins and pick any one he wants.  But he always comes back with one of these (or all of them!)  I don't mind reading any of these night after night.  Perhaps that is the best indicator of "good children's literature"