Almost 300 Good Things

Today, Rich and Lynn Matheny sent me the list of books they’ve collected to donate to the DC Public Library in Hudson’s memory. There are 276 titles on the list, and there are multiple copies of many of them. I am, as ever, utterly overwhelmed by the love, kindness, and generosity shared with us since Hudson died. The knowledge that nearly three hundred books with our sweet Hudson’s name in them will be enjoyed by children here in DC for decades to come—well (and this doesn’t happen often), I can’t really even express in words how that makes me feel. Reading, playing with, and talking to her books were some of Hudson’s favorite pastimes, and one of our favorite activities with her, too—many of her most beloved titles are on this list. It is difficult to imagine a tribute more fitting to her spirit of curiosity and her love of books.

Thanks so much to Rich and Lynn for conceiving of such a wonderful idea to remember our girl and for all their hard work coordinating with the library system, collecting all the books, and creating and placing all the bookplates. And thanks to all of you who donated books in sweet Hudson’s name. We’re just so grateful to everyone who took part in this beautiful gift for our girl.

I wanted to share the list with you not only to say thanks, and not only so you could marvel with me at how amazing it is, but also in case there are some titles you haven’t seen before that you might want to share with the little ones in your life.  And maybe you could tell them Hudson’s story, too.  Thank you, everyone.  Thank you so much. 

Each Peach Pear Plum	Janet & Allan Ahlberg
Baby Einstein: First Words	Julie Aigner-Clark
A You're Adorable	Martha Alexander
Heaven is Having You	Giles Andreae
Dinosaurs Galore!	Giles Andreae
Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood	Mike Artell
Once Upon a Curse	E.D. Baker
Humbug Rabbit	Lorna Balian
The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher	Molly Bang
And If the Moon Could Talk	Kate Banks
The Donkey's Dream	Barbara Helen Berger
Pelle's New Suit	Elsa Beskow
Franklin's Birthday Party	Paulette Bourgeois & Brenda Clark
Barnyard Dance!	Sandra Boynton
Belly Button Book	Sandra Boynton
* Hippos Go Berserk!	Sandra Boynton
Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs!	Sandra Boynton
The Going to Bed Book	Sandra Boynton
Your Personal Penguin	Sandra Boynton
What Can You Make of It?	Franz Brandenberg
Hand Rhymes	Marc Brown
* Goodnight Moon	Margaret Wise Brown
Goodnight Moon 1, 2, 3	Margaret Wise Brown,
The Little Island	Margaret Wise Brown & Leonard Weisgard
Little Beauty	Anthony Browne
A Little Princess	Frances Hodgson Burnett
Choo Choo	Virginia Lee Burton
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel	Virginia Lee Burton
* The Little House	Virginia Lee Burton
The Dark, Dark Night	M. Christina Butler & Jane Chapman
The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily	Dino Buzzati
Princess in the Spotlight	Meg Cabot
Biscuit Goes to School	Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Eric Carle's Very Little Library	Eric Carle
My Very First Book of Shapes	Eric Carle
My Very First Library	Eric Carle
* The Very Busy Spider	Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar	Eric Carle
The Very Quiet Cricket	Eric Carle
Alice in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll
Eugene the Brave	Ellen Conford
Miss Rumphius	Barbara Cooney
Maisy Takes a Bath	Lucy Cousins
Maisy's Big Flap Book	Lucy Cousins
Maisy's First Game Book	Lucy Cousins
Chasing Red Bird	Sharon Creech
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type	Doreen Cronin
You Are My I Love You	Maryann Cusimano
The Story of Babar	Jean de Brunhoff
Bluebird's Nest	Dorothea DePrisco
Llama Llama Red Pajama	Anna Dewdney
Neela: Victory Song	Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Shore Road Mystery	Franklin W. Dixon
The Gruffalo	Julia Donaldson
Leo the Lightning Bug	Eric Drachman
Hello, Tilly	Polly Dunbar
Go, Dog. Go!	P.D. Eastman
Sam and the Firefly	P.D. Eastman
Color Zoo	Lois Elhert
Olivia	Ian Falconer
Olivia Saves the Circus	Ian Falconer
Olivia…and the Missing Toy	Ian Falconer
Opposites	Nina Filipek
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11	Brian Floca
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge	Mem Fox
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes	Mem Fox & Helen Oxenburg
* On the Day You Were Born	Debra Frasier
Blueberry Girl	Neil Gaiman
Christina Katerina & the Box	Patricia Lee Gauch
Envy	Anna Godbersen
My Friends	Taro Gomi
Rules for School	Alec Greven
Bad Dog, Marley	John Grogan
Is Your Mama a Llama?	Deborah Guarino
Daddy Cuddles	Anne Gutman & Georg Hallensleben
A Good Day	Kevin Henkes
Misty of Chincoteague	Marguerite Henry
I Like Black and White	Barbara Jean Hicks
Where's Spot?	Eric Hill
Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway	Kirkpatrick Hill
If You Were My Baby	Fran Hodgkins
Garmann's Summer	Stian Hole
Everything on a Waffle	Polly Horvath
Peekaboo Morning	Rachel Isadora
The Littlest Christmas Tree	Janie Jasin
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?	Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Mommy Loves Me	John & Wendy
The Phantom Tollbooth	Norton Juster
A Mother for Choco	Keiko Kasza
A Potty for Me!	Karen Katz
Where is Baby's Mommy?	Karen Katz
The Snowy Day	Ezra Jack Keats
Nancy Drew: The Clue in the Diary	Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew: The Clue in the Old Stagecoach	Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew: The Clue of the Dancing Puppet	Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew: The Hidden Staircase	Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew: The Moonstone Castle Mystery	Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Fire Dragon	Carolyn Keene
* Nancy Drew: The Secret of Shadow Ranch	Carolyn Keene
Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Golden Pavilion	Carolyn Keene
My Senator and Me	Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Jeff Kinney
Life-Size Aquarium	Teruyuki Komiya
Life-Size Zoo	Teruyuki Komiya
We're Riding on a Caravan	Laurie Krebs & Helen Cann
Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes	Annie Kubler
The Philharmonic Gets Dressed	Karla Kuskin
Cora Cooks Pancit	Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore
* The Story of Ferdinand	Munro Leaf
Wee Gillis	Munro Leaf
Wave	Suzy Lee
An Undone Fairy Tale	Ian Lendler
Henry's Freedom Box	Ellen Levine
I'll Always Love You	Paeony Lewis
Owl at Home	Arnold Lobel
Froggy Learns to Swim	Jonathan London
* Put Me in the Zoo	Robert Lopshire
Fergus the Sea Dog	Tony Maddox
The Feelings Books: The Care & Keeping of Your Emotions	Lynda Madison
The Laughing Dragon	Kenneth Mahood
George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends	James Marshall
Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?	Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle
* Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?	Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?	Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?	Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do you Hear? (oversized edition)	Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle
The Babysitter's Club	Ann M. Martin
I Spy: A to Z	Jean Marzollo
Elmo's Big Lift-And-Look Book	Joe Mathieu
Guess How Much I Love You	Sam McBratney
Blueberries for Sal	Robert McCloskey
* Make Way for Ducklings	Robert McCloskey
Elmer's Colors	David McKee
Just Like My Mom	David Melling
I Love You As Much	Laura Krauss Melmed
How High is the Sky?	Anna Milbourne & Serena Riglietti
Baby Faces	Margaret Miller
Little Bear	Else Holmelund Minarik
Sesame Street Elmo's Favorite Places	Carol Monica
Anne of Green Gables	L.M. Montgomery
Lighthouse - A Story of Remembrance	Robert Munsch
Love You Forever	Robert Munsch
The Three Questions	Jon J. Muth
Daughter of Venice	Donna Jo Napoli
Helping Our Animal Friends	National Geographic
The Boys Start the War	Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Tax and Sugar - A Big City Kitty Ditty	Barbara Johansen Newman
Fancy Nancy Favorite Fancy Words	Jane O'Conner & Robin Preiss Glasser
Junie Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed	Barbara Park
The Family Book	Todd Parr
The Peace Book	Todd Parr
The Kissing Hand	Audrey Penn
Bradley and the Great Swamp Mystery	Ruth Lerner Perle
The Big Orance Splot	D. Manus Pinkwater
Mommies Say Shhh!	Patricia Pollaco
Peter Rabbit's Giant Storybook	Beatrix Potter
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck	Beatrix Potter
* The Tale of Peter Rabbit	Beatrix Potter
An Extraordinary Life - The Story of a Monarch Butterfly	Laurence Pringle
Where is Bear?	Tish Rabe
Baby Beluga	Raffi
How Full is Your Bucket?	Tom Rath & Mary Reckmeyer
Goodnight Gorilla	Peggy Rathmann
I Am a Bunny	Ole Risom
My Big Animal Book	Priddy Roger
The More We Are Together	Tanya Roitman
Oliver Finds His Way	Phyllis Root
Little Pea	Amy Krouse Rosenthal
I Love You Through and Through	Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince	J.K. Rowling
All in a Day	Cynthia Rylant
*All the World	Liz Garton Scanlon
Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever	Richard Scarry
Skippyjon Jones	Judy Schachner
Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble	Judy Schachner
Skippyjon Jones in the Dog House	Judy Schachner
Skippyjon Jones: Shape Up	Judy Schachner
The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls	Valerie Schaefer
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown	Charles M. Schulz
What Makes a Rainbow	Betty Schwartz
Where the Wild Things Are	Maurice Sendak
Green Eggs and Ham	Dr. Seuss
Horton Hears a Who!	Dr. Seuss
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!	Dr. Seuss
If I Ran the Zoo	Dr. Seuss
* My Many Colored Days	Dr. Seuss
* Oh, the Places You'll Go	Dr. Seuss
* One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish	Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss's ABC	Dr. Seuss
Sneetches and Other Stories	Dr. Seuss
The Cat in the Hat Comes Back	Dr. Seuss
The Foot Book	Dr. Seuss
The Lorax	Dr. Seuss
Black Beauty	Anna Sewell
No, David	David Shannon
The Complete Tales and Poems	Ernest Shephard
* The Giving Tree	Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends	Shel Silverstein
Fred	Posy Simmonds
World's Greatest Mom	Kath Smith
Encyclopedia Brown Mystery Collection	Donald J. Sobol
So You Want to Be President	Judith St. George & David Small
Millie Waits for the Mail	Alexander Steffensmeier
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble	William Steig
Dinosaur Roar!	Paul Stickland & Henrietta
Where, Oh Where Is Huggle Buggle Bear?	Katherine Sully & Janet Samuel
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat	Simms Taback
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly	Simms Taback
Flossie Flounder, a Tale of a Flat Fish	Suzanne Tate
Katie K. Whales, a Whale of a Tale	Suzanne Tate
The Cay	Theodore Taylor
Hope Is An Open Heart	Lauren Thompson
Wish: Wishing Traditions Around the World	Roseanne Thong
* On the Night You Were Born	Nancy Tillman
Baa Baa Black Sheep	Iza Trapani
Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee	Chris van Dusen
If I Built a Car	Chris van Dusen
The Circus Ship	Chris van Dusen
Cat	Matthew van Fleet
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile	Bernard Waber
Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?	Martin Waddell
Can You See What I See? Treasure Ship	Walter Wick
Are You Ready to Play Outside?	Mo Willems
City Dog, Country Frog	Mo Willems
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!	Mo Willems
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!	Mo Willems
I Am Invited to a Party!	Mo Willems
I Will Surprise My Friend!	Mo Willems
* The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too!	Mo Willems
The Pigeon Loves Things That Go!	Mo Willems
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy	Mo Willems
Today I Will Fly!	Mo Willems
The Velveteen Rabbit	Margery Williams
"More More More," Said the Baby	Vera B. Williams
A Chair for My Mother	Vera B. Williams
The Bog Baby	Jeanne Willis & Gwen Millward
The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear	Don and Audrey Wood
Spring Pearl: The Last Flower	Laurence Yep
The Wheels on the Bus	Paul O. Zelinsky
123 Sesame Street
ABC and 1, 2, 3: A Sesame Street Treasury of Words and Numbers
Aladdin
Baby's First Quack
Big Cats
Bolt: Luxury Edition
Curious George - What Do You See?
Goldilocks and Other Fairytales
If You're Happy and You Know It
Just for Mommy!
Little Golden Book: The Boy and the Tigers
Little Golden Book: The Fire Engine Book
Little Golden Book: The House that Jack Built
Little Golden Book: I Can Fly
Little Golden Book: I'm a Truck
Little Golden Book: The Jolly Barnyard
Little Golden Book: Kitty's New Doll
Little Golden Book: The Pokey Little Puppy
Little Golden Book: The Saggy Baggy Elephant
Little Golden Book: Seven Little Postmen
Monarch Butterfly Mini Book
Noisy Peekaboo!
Ocean Tails
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Percival the Plain Little Caterpillar
Peter Rabbit: I Love You
Safari Pop-Up
Snow White and Other Fairytales
Ten Baby Animals
The Cheerios Halloween Play Book
The Little Mermaid
Things That Go
Toy Story 3
* Multiple copies