I really wish that Tell Me a Mitzi were still in print. I loved that book, so much.

OMG, we had that book and read it to pieces (not literally). My mom probably has it stashed away with the rest of our prized baby books. Our first cat was named Mitzi, though I'm not sure there was a connection.

I'm trying to remember the story of Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls but I really only remember that I loved the name and cover. And wanted the poster when it came out. The floor below me did the design and I coveted. Maybe I still do.

Wolves in the Walls is probably not an appropriate baby gift...Blueberry Girl doesn't so much have a story, but is very nice.

Seconding Knuffle Bunny

Aims suggest Fancy Nancy as a possibility, or the Olivia books...

The Olivia books are a fave in our house. But for a baby, we loved the Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton.

The Olivia books are a fave in our house. But for a baby, we loved the Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton.

I like "Katy and the Big Snow." Katy is a bulldozer, and the strongest one (they don't send her out for just little snows). Nothing is made of the fact that she's a female bulldozer; it's just taken for granted.

(Mike Mulligan's steam shovel is also female.)

I just got an email from Powells about 30% Mo Willems titles, if that's of interest.

A good friend of mine wrote a vampire book, and I think it's a helluva first novel. It's available free for Amazon download for the next few days; check it out if so inclined! [link]

Here's a snippet of a summary I agree with:

Redlisted is a book that features strange delusions, dreams, forgotten memories, and mind control. It presents an engaging puzzle of plot lines and back stories that the reader gradually deciphers. The vampires in this book are neither depressingly Gothic nor sickeningly romanticized. They're both modern and timeless, and deal with contemporary problems while juggling ancient powers.

Best of all is that Redlisted features a sensible, tough, capable heroine. Though Kate often finds herself in dangerous, disorienting situations she never lets circumstances get the best of her. Though she suffers through some pretty gruesome trials, she never plays the victim.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd never really looked at Knuffle Bunny before, and it looks great. I think I've decided on Knuffle Bunny, The Snowy Day, and a The Snowy Day plush. (This is my friend's third kid, and the oldest is just three, so I figured the older two can enjoy the books right away, and the baby can enjoy the plush right away.) I labeled the cards with Knuffle Bunny for the three-year-old girl, The Snowy Day board book for the one-year-old boy, and the doll for the new baby girl, but I'm sure that, with the kids that close in age, pretty much any books or toys will be played with and read by all of them.

I'm still in a book hangover from staying up way too late reading Among Others. It is almost exactly my life as a teenager, minus Wales and magic. Also, I never got through Dahlgren. We read almost all the same books. The protagonist says, "I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books." That is me.