Children's books...

I did a quick clean out of some of my little ones' books. There were a few I had no sentimental attachment to, and they also just weren't great books. Those are easy to let go. A couple of them, though, I feel a bit of "mommy" attachment to. I just can't part with them easily... or at all...

My Goodnight Book (Eloise Wilkin) - Our copy is messed up. I think it must have been in a diaper bag when my older kids were little and had milk spilled on it. It's a board book (Amazon still has pictures, even though it's not in print anymore), but the inner pages were obviously stuck together at some point, because there are rips across the tops of several pages. Just a sweet book with wonderful memories. I'm keeping our battered copy, just because it brings back memories of a special time of life with little ones.

Babies and Baby Animals (the one with the puppy on the cover) (Gyo Fujikawa) - I love these two books. I can't find the animal one... somewhere in my mind I think one of the kids drew in it to the point that I didn't keep it anymore? Or maybe it will turn up as I keep going through books. I still have the Babies one, and I am keeping it.  My kids have loved it, and it's just a sweet book that I can share with my grandkids.  :)

Baby Faces (by Funfax) - This little board book was a favorite of our younger three kids. It's so torn up. I'm going to buy a new one for our granddaughter for her upcoming birthday, and maybe a new copy to keep here at Grandma's house...

Potty Time (Jonathan Langley and Anne Civardi) - Another book that was used numerous times with all my older kids. Obviously, it's about potty training. We don't need it anymore, so I'll pass it on to my daughter-in-law for when our granddaughter is ready for potty training. I'm glad we're not going through that stage again around here, but it's still fun to look back and remember the sweetness of little ones learning to do new things. Special times.  :) There are several pages that have been taped back together because one of our children actually took scissors and cut them out. I have a good guess at which one of them did that...

Pooh Dreamy Songs - This is one of those board books with the music buttons along the side. More good memories as I remember singing, "Good Night, Tigger", "Silver is the Moonlight" and "Are You Sleeping (Baby Roo)", and "Sleep, Eeyore, Sleep." I love it, but time to send it on to our grandbaby...

Here Comes Winter (Janet Craig) - This is a first reader that we've had from the time our oldest was learning to read. It's falling apart (already been stapled back together.) I don't really feel anything sentimental with this book... it just has been a part of our lives for a long time. I am just going to recycle it with other papers, but maybe it deserved a mention. We certainly have read it a lot of times around here. If it was in better condition, I'd keep it.

Also a couple of "personalized" books that belonged to my oldest sons. You know the kind... their names are part of the story. One of the grandparents gave them to my older kids... and I'll just pass them on to them.

There there are the DK board books... My First Words. One is random everyday stuff, one is animals. I had a love/hate relationship with these two books. The little kids loved them and I did, too... until there were little pictures with things kids don't recognize because they aren't a part of their world or look nothing like the version that IS a part of their world... or they used a word we don't use, like "sofa" instead of "couch." I don't know why that bothered me. They really were cute books that we used a lot. If they were in good shape (someone took a permanent marker to one... and I haven't seen the other one yet. I think it might have gone away in a previous clean out, because it was damaged, too), I would keep them.

Okay, one I have strongly disliked all these years... I Used to Be Afraid by Sally Hudson McMillan. The idea of the story is good (be brave even when you are afraid), but I don't know. I just didn't like the flow or the whole little gnome (or elf? I don't even know) friend who says, "I am Kandu, I am your friend..." My kids all liked it, but I'm not sad that it's now falling apart and I can get rid of it. Mean, I know.

There are so many more books, more than I can mention. Some I am handing down to the cute grandbaby, some are too trashed and are going in the garbage, and many are still being enjoyed here at home.