What do you think are the best books for babies?

Babies enjoy short, repetitive books with simple arithmetic progressions - we have one where the mouse builds a house, then the frog comes there and lives in the house, followed by a rabbit, then a fox, then a wolf and finally a bear. When the bear walks in, the house collapses and they have to start over. Each time a new animal is added, they repeat the list. Nursery rhymes, simple fairy tales and stories with animals, colours or numbers are good.

The best books for children learning to read?
Books that don't use a vocabulary that is too wide and aren't too long. Dr. Seuss books are great for this purpose because they fit the bill perfectly. Richard Scarry books are great, too - Cars and Trucks and Things that Go and books like that which have a lot of cool pictures with labels next to different cars and things like that helps build vocabulary (the flip side of Dr. Seuss, so to speak).

The best books for older children?
Adventure books where children solve mysteries or something like that - Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, and fantasy books like the Chronicles of Narnia or Harry Potter. Historical fiction, like Johnny Tremaine, is also popular. Treasure Island, Dumas books (), Where the Red Fern Grows, Bridge to Terabithia, How to Eat Fried Worms, Beverly Cleary books, Encyclopedia Brown, simplified books about history and ancient myths are popular, too.

Books that you read over and over and never seemed to tire of?
When I was a kid? Cars and Trucks and Things That Go - it's still perhaps the best book I've ever read.

Books that actually taught something?
How to Eat Fried Worms taught me how to eat fried worms, should I ever choose to do so. For the most part, I didn't find children's books very edifying beyond simple morals of right and wrong.

Most importantly, what books instilled a love for reading in you?
I think really any of the books I mentioned above.