Reddit reviews Good Night, Gorilla

My daughter loves books and I really like some of the Sandra Boyton books. We got this vinyl one, "Barnyard Bath", for bathtime- it's silly, short, and gets the kids involved in cleaning the animals and then themselves.

Dear Zoo is a classic lift-the-flap with pretty sturdy flaps. Goodnight Gorilla is also an old school book with a simple story told mostly through the pictures.

I'm loving all the suggestions!

Goodnight Gorilla was the first to elicit laughter, mostly for the confused/surprised sound I make when the lights go off, the animals say goodnight and the wife's eyeballs open wide in the darkness.

Any of the monkeys-jumping-on-the-bed books are fun when your child is sitting on your legs and you bounce them around and onto the floor. It should be the first book read at bedtime because it's so lively.

Any book is a bedtime book, so I read OP's question as, "What is your favorite book?"

For me, it's Too Many Frogs because I'm best at doing the voices for the two characters in the story, along with a raucous knock-knockety-knocking at the door.

For my wife, it's Trashy Town because she has worked the reoccurring refrain into a sort of song with participation from the kids when they're asked if the trash truck is full yet. "NO!" Mr. Gilly drives on...

Touchpoints-Birth to Three -- This doctor/author is used by many hospitals in their new parent education (he has a video series).

Long-term, the best parenting book is Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing. wherein a 1950s father laments the state of play among kids these days (in the 1950s). It will help you trust giving your kids time to play on their own, creating their own secret little worlds, instead of trying to manage every moment of their lives.

Good books for reading to your kid are really about quantity, not quality (although you want a minimum level of quality). Building vocabulary and understanding happens best by not reading the same tiny collection of books over and over again (which is also really boring for you).

Unless you're independently wealthy, that means either extensive use of your local library, or frequenting thrift stores and yard sales. On the latter, I can provide more advice (after 8 years, our home library of children's books hovers around 4,000).

Obviously, new board books have a certain allure during the first 18 months or so while your kid still tries to stick everything in his mouth. But if you're holding the book, no worries.

Three board books:

1. Everywhere Babies -- Our copy was mangled after two kids. My wife made me buy another copy for her as a keepsake.
   
   
2. Guess How Much I love You
   
   
3. Goodnight Gorilla -- the first book my kids laughed at, albeit they weren't introduced to it from birth, so the joke hit them as new.
   
   One serious I got great mileage from in toddlerhood was Disney's Out and About with Pooh 19 volume set. I'm no fan of Disney, but this is an excellent (out-of-print) series that teaches life lessons to toddlers. It's not like the AA Milne books, but you'll find that AA Milne's books are written for much older children, and much of their humor is intended (I think) for adults.
   
   Around the time you're experiencing first grade, Danny the Champion of the World is an excellent book for Dad to read to his kid. The focus of the book is the wonderful loving relationship the child has with his father, unlike so many other children's books where the parents are antagonists.
   

Hey, infants and toddlers need books too!

Yummy Yucky was a favourite in our house. So were Dinosaur vs Bedtime and Goodnight Gorilla.

Getting a little bit older, my kids loved all the Arnold Lobel books and so did I. They were/are among the very few of my kids' books that I never ever got tired of reading over and over again, night after night.

Personally I loved the Madeline books and the Babar books, my daughter liked them but I could never get my son into them.

This was a huge favourite for both my kids in the toddler/preschool years. I can still recite some of those stories from memory (and do).

The original Thomas the Tank Engine stories are really charming. If your nephew ends up taking an interest in trains and that sort of thing, this is a gorgeous book.

eta: almost forgot: Maurice Sendak is essential. My kids can both recite Chicken Soup with Rice from beginning to end.

My daughter was(is) a big fan of Little Blue Truck.

We also like Goodnight Gorilla and Peek a Who

For ones that can grow with her, I'd recommend:
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Press Here
How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight

Honestly, anything by Mo Willems or Jane Yolen is going to be good! I have some books on my daughter's gift list too.

For more suggestions, a friend of mine is a librarian and has a TON of books pinned on Pinterest. Here's just one of her boards.

For us? My daughter can always use more books. We have a ton, but she loves them. I think I'm most interested in The Day the Crayons Quit for her right now. It looks really good and funny and we like to read a little above her level to her anyway (she's almost 4 so at the bottom of this one.)

Green eggs and ham.