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How have a sleepy rabbit, a frog and toad living in the woods and a stowaway bear held our loyalty as readers for generations?
Adults often are fiercely loyal to their favorite children's book and characters, for life, reading and buying "Goodnight Moon," "Days With Frog and Toad," or "Paddington Bear," over and over again.
These old stories remain perennial best-sellers because in the pages adults reconnect with their childhoods -- a time before project deadlines, business trips and home remodels -- and that tight bond, real or imagined, with their own parents, say booksellers and children's authors.
Who would miss the chance to pass on that connection, and those memories, to their daughter, grandson or niece?
It "takes me back to just this perfect time when I was in third grade in Mrs. Fowler's class and we read 'Where the Red Fern Grows,' " Holly Hearn said as she shopped at All for Kids Books and Music for her 9-month-old daughter, Avery, and 3-year-old son, Ryan. "You just want your kid to feel that same feeling."
Despite the annual flood of new children's titles -- at least 10,000 in 2006 alone -- a few classics always rise to the top this time of year.
"Where the Wild Things Are" and "Goodnight Moon" tied for top honors, while "Harold and the Purple Crayon" grabbed plenty of votes, in an informal newsroom poll.
More interesting than the winners is the passion behind the votes.
"Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel," said Greg Allen, author of perhaps the most popular daddy blog, Daddytypes, "was one of my favorite, borderline-obsessive books when I was little.
"This year, after consulting with my mother, my wife got it for me for Father's Day, so that I could read it with the kid," he wrote in an e-mail.
Allen isn't the only parent with a lifelong commitment to a classic of kiddie lit. Since the New York-based blogger ran a Bizarre Book Contest in July, 1.1 million people have visited the competition.
Then there are the forgotten favorites, such as Ken Kesey's "Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear" and the kid's poem "Jabberwocky."
"The idea is that we remember from our own childhood those things that we idealized," said Richard Jesse Watson, an award-winning children's book illustrator who lives in Port Townsend. "We look ahead with these ideals we want to implement for own children.
Time also weeds out weaker books, Watson added, so shoppers feel confident they are buying a tale that survived the scrutiny of generations.
The classics also have a few things in common. The books let kids and parents forget the real world, put themselves into the story, and yet leave just enough to their imaginations, according to staff at All for Kids Books and Music.
"The best books are the ones where you see yourself in that character," said René Kirkpatrick, who has sold books for 15 years.
Parents have more visceral reasons for picking favorites.
"It's all about feeling that love," said Sally Maskill, who has three kids ages 4, 6 and 11 months. It's "still wanting that love that came from your parents."
Beyond love, Mom and Dad pass on life lessons to the next generation through the Lorax's feisty environmentalism, Babar's politeness or the determination of "The Little Engine That Could." The lessons, however, don't have to feature loopy bears, curious monkeys or overly saccharine messages.
First published in 1922, "The Velveteen Rabbit" is an often-dark tale of disease and loss.
"But, I think its ultimate theme is about what matters most is human emotion and being cared for," said Bainbridge Island-based children's author George Shannon. "There is darkness in the book, but it still comes out that life is good, life is full of possibilities."
Whatever your favorite classic, the old standards remain some of the best gifts, Shannon added. "It is sort of like 'Oh don't give me things, give me experiences,' " said Shannon, author of "Busy in the Garden" and 36 other titles. "I think when you share a classic book you get to do both."
The reason parents hold onto a single book for decades often is far simpler. "Maybe secretly we want to be children again," said Maskill, the mother of three.
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