Ten in the Bed by Jane Cabrera

"There were ten in the bed and the little one said, roll over, roll over..."

I first heard this song on a cd full of all the old classic kids songs. However, it wasn't one I sang to my children until this book. If you're not familiar with this song, it follows the pattern of other songs such as monkeys on the bed and five little ducks where you start with so many and keep reducing it down to nothing.  Cabrera puts her own spin on the song by making the bed a new place with each loss, from castles to a stage to a pirate ship.

While I was tired of singing the repetitive verse (but children love it!) this book makes the list not only for the sing-song quality of its words, but for its colorful, imaginative pages.