With all due respect to people making their living writing children's books, there are just some books that are unbearable to sit and read with your children. The book Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss is thankfully not one of them.
If I had to choose which book had the most influence on our son's early interest in reading it would be Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?. Honestly, he loved it at 9 months and still loves it a year later. A telltale of Dr. Seuss's books is the rythm of the rhyme -- reading each page, you can't help but rock left-and-right to the beat of the words. It happens without thinking and is perhaps what draws small children most into the illustrations and "noises" as you read. The book is no longer words but a moment of reading entertainment, which is what a lifelong love of reading is all about.
There are other things about reading this book that might make your child love it. One is the fun of "acting" out the different parts of the book as a family. With Hale on my lap and Jill across the room I'll narrate the story and Jill will do the sounds. Hale l-o-v-e-s it! If you are a parent or grandparent of young children, I'd recommend getting this book and getting everyone in the room involved while reading it. I mean, what room full of adults doesn't have a cow-sounder or some boom-boom-boom's in it? The way that your child will react to the fun and family aspect of reading as a group will almost be better than -- but not quite -- the simple story that is Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?.
Hale says: One time is not enough
Hardcover: 24 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; Board edition (November 26, 1996)
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Kevin, what is the copyright date on that book? I'm thinking I read that book to you when you were Hale's age. I don't know what happened to it, as I don't have it now. Do any of you other brothers remember it?