I've been carefully sifting through all the poorly written crap that is out there for kids to find the best used books for the new grandbaby. You need to start reading aloud to her in the third trimester because research shows that they retain some of what they hear. So I don't want him to hear junky literature before he's born ... thus the great book hunt. It's amazing how many of my favorite books are board books now- so durable and lasting, even for the kid who learns to read by eating the words. I have most of the classics in good shape and am starting a second set- one for her house and one for ours! In the meantime, someone asked me what to buy a 2 year old. This is my list of my early childhood favorites- the ones every kid should have memorized! 1. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown 2. The Very Hungry Caterpiller by Eric Carle 3. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney 4. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch 5. Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle (ok- all the Eric Carle books) 6. 10 Black Dots by Donald Crew 7. School Bus by Donald Crew 8. Truck by Donald Crew (See above note about Eric Carle- it applies here too) 9. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson 10. No David! by David Shannon 11. Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi 12. 1 Fish, 2 Fish by Dr. Seuss 13. Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman 14. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! (Best ABC book ever!) 15. Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathman 16. Stellaluna by Janell Cannon 17. Curious George by H. A. Rey (any of them!) 18. If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Joffies Numeroff (you'll want the sequels next!) 19. Sheep In a Jeep by Nancy Shaw 20. On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman And our favorite book when the kid was growing up... we went through several copies as we fought over turning the next page, giggling hysterically every time as if we didn't know the ending... 21. The Monster at the End of The Book by Jon Stone Would you add anything to this list? Edit: Add the following books to this list to make it nearly complete! Can't believe I left off the Jimmy Liao- those books are on my Amazon list waiting for payday... they should be the new kiddy lit classics! 22. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak 23. Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina 24. When the Moon Forgot by Jimmy Liao 25. The Sound of Color by Jimmy Liao 26. A Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats (any Ezra Jack Keats are perfect!) | 
