Kids books that I am somehow not tired of

"The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears and paws..." On my short-list for favorite reads of all time, They All Saw A Cat is a brilliantly imagined and illustrated exploration of how a cat appears to all the other animals it encounters. To the dog, the cat is s slinky whisp with an enormous bell on its collar. How does it look to a fox, or a snake or a bat? Wenzel shows us not only the interaction of these creatures but introduces young readers to the profound impact of perspective. Using animal characters to foster imagination and curiosity is standard practice in children's books, but this one justifiably snagged a Caldecott Medal for pulling it off so well.

This simple walk through a day in the life of a pleading parent and a child just being a child has an undeniably fun cadence and a sweet ending. I'm not sure why the mundane antics of a very typical kid feel like a drop of therapy but there's some alchemy happening here. Maybe it is because the misbehavior showcased for the kid is so low-stakes that the overall effect is just to reinforce good behaviors while fostering a little bonding over the tribulations experienced both by kids and their caregivers.

We are big fans of illustrator Brendan Wenzel (he's even elsewhere on this list), and this tour through the backyard insect menagerie written by Angela DiTerlizzi always has something new to show us. There's a big gray cat exploring the landscape, and always a ladybug in the picture somewhere, as we are guided by the book's economical but fun rhyming text. With all the books identified on the "What's that bug page" and a wonderful revelation that the previous pages have in fact been a tour through the child's back yard, this one is a delight. It's colorful and great for introducing the insect world to the very little or inviting the interest of the somewhat squeamish.

Of the four of Burton's most popular stories in one handsome volume, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel might be the most popular, and The Little House won the Caldecott Medal, but it's ***Katy and the Big Snow_***that has been the favorite in our house. These are tales of hard work, determination, and meeting the challenges of new landscapes and changing worlds, with a healthy dose of almost quaint 20th-century optimism. They are imaginatively told and really fun to look at.

This book is impossibly cute and very short. An unseen narrator uses the imagined threat of a hungry bear to convince a mouse to to share his strawberry. Thanks to this book, I can make my kid laugh hysterically just by saying the words "Red. Ripe. Strawberry." An impossibly cute book.

Our little one loves blueberries. And strawberries. And raspberries. OK, of all berries. So this short, rollicking fantasia with a fuzzy bear playing Virgil to a little boy's Dante as they traverse a Paradise of berries is sort of like a more innocent Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

We love the cadence of this The Gruffalo, the exagerrated depiction of an imaginary monster, the unexpected turn when the monster [spoiler alert] turns out to be real, and the clever final act, when the mouse outsmarts the monster he summoned. Every time. The best way to encounter an imaginary monster is in rhyming text that scans this well.

What a debut for Carle, a giant of children's illustration. Its the distinctive style, the clever conceit connecting page to page, the breaking of the fourth wall at the end... Brown Bear is just incredible to me.

Donald Crews illustrations are bold and clear, and this text is so simple that it was one of the first books we enjoyed together with our child. The train goes all sorts of places.

I could imagine and end to capitalism before I could imagine my child growing tired of this book. I'm not saying it won't happen one day. Just that I cannot imagine it. The fact that I'm always finding new things to amuse myself in Scarry's worlds is a source of wonder. The text here is fun, but it's just getting lost in the whimsy of the imaginary conveyences that never gets old.

Wimmelbooks are especially great for getting a kid to point out things they know, giving them words for things they don't, and allowing them to start to create their own stories. As our little one has gotten older and noticed more details, there are other levels to enjoy. We can make up new stories every time, or point out details that have been missed or forgotten.

It is hard to imagine not enjoying this famous title, right up until the moment it is seared into your brain forever. Predictably great for reinforcing first adjectives and prepositions, this one is funny and sweet and musically impeccable. Seuss at his best.

If there's one book on this list I should definitely be tired of, it's this one. It is only notionally related to the literary work it explores, Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. There's hardly anything to it except for a different sound effect on each page, but for some reason it still slaps. If you enjoy making sound effects, this one is for you.

Tomie dePaola's wordless picture book is an absolute winner. The protagonist wakes early to make pancakes from scratch (as in, churning your own butter scratch), overcoming setbacks at every turn before bulldozing her way to a happy ending. It's relatable, fun and allows you to tell the story differently each time.