I was talking about great kids books with a co-worker and thought I'd blog about my favorite kids book author, Bill Pete. I really dislike the "Mother Goose" stories with their inappropriate language, pacing, and generally boring stories. I know that everyone remembers them from their child-hood but get over it and buy good books for your kids and your friends' kids. Bill Pete's books are colorful, perfectly drawn, and with beautiful stories -- some rhymed, some not. My favorites are "Kermit the Hermit" and the "Wump World". My son and I also really liked the Richard Scary paperbacks and D&K board books.

In Monterey Bay there's a jumble of rock
Stacked up like a castle across from the dock.
The king of this castle, on old crab called Kermit,
Lived all by himself in a cave like a hermit.
There was never a crab who was one half as selfish
Or one tenth as mean as this crusty old shellfish.