Mother Goose rhymes have been around for a long, long time for a reason. Children love them and a mother should have a great supply of them ready at all times to share by heart. I included a goodly number of them to refresh your memory in the beginning of the book. l found a Mother Goose book that was laid out developmentally. If you have a baby, start with the ones that are silly but are fun to say and listen to. Then they unfold through the familiar and imaginative stages and then story. Children love repeating Mother Goose rhymes! When they get a little older, let them watch you say and write the words in the first pages in their Memory Gems and let them illustrate them. Later, use them for copy work as your children start to write as a way to practice their writing. Next, I included all the poems from Stevenson's Child's Garden of Verses, a hands-down childhood favorite of many moms. If you go in the online library, I linked to 5 different versions that have beautiful color illustrations you can print out if you want illustrations to go with your poems. And while you're in there, you'll notice a good supply of poetry books for your use. The book then offers you stories for 3 year olds -- like The 3 Bears, The 3 Little Pigs, The 3 Billy Goats Gruff. Little children love to hear these kinds of stories over and over and over again. If you don't know them by heart when you start, I'm sure you will soon.Then you'll find several short stories for the Familiar Stage -- stories of animals and family. 
 
By the time a child is four, they're bridging into the Imaginative Years. Raggedy Ann is a favorite story that is part real and part imaginative as is Uncle Wiggily. You'll find more stories in the online library. And you'll find pictures of Raggedy Ann you can look at or print out for a literature gems page. The pictures themselves become an instant trigger for remembering the story and can be used to let your child re-tell parts of the story. But don't let it become a chore! 
 
Paperback 5.5x8.5 352 pp.