What am I feeding my kid?!

Not food for eating, but MIND food. What am I exposing my child to and feeding his mind with?!

I thought I was doing pretty good, buying books for dear little boy. Books and more books. Baby loves the books. But then, as all my life changing ideas happen, I read a book. (This is how I ended up being a vegetarian when I was 12...story for another time). I read "The Read Aloud Handbook" by Jim Trelease and am currently reading "Honey for a Childs Heart" by Gladys Hunt. I really like the "Honey" book, it touches on how it is important to have non-secular books around for the kids (DUH!) and gives a list of said books. Books that are wonderful examples of storytelling and/or illustration (Maurice Sendak anyone? in the happier days)
Then I was at a playdate with baby and a friend, and the friend said "You know, it is sad how all the "Christmas" books don't say anything about JESUS!" And then it dawned on me that I HAVE to do something about this. NOW!
I have to make it a point to seek out nutritious books for the soul and mind!

So I sorted all baby's books for evaluation, they fall into 3 categories:
1) Peekabo
2) LARGEST category here- Pictures with words, not a story (ball, boat, etc.)
3) SMALLEST category here -storybooks.

Granted, my son probably has 100 books, but still. Very few were religious (they are here because they were mine when I was little).
Apparently I am obsessed with naming and labeling, so I guess I thought that would be good for baby. Its not bad, but he needs more books than these "labeling" books!

So with all that said, here are my book resolutions:

1) No more watered down, non original versions of perfectly good books. Example: Baby has the board book version of "Are you my mother?" Shortened version. Not the original. Bothers me that I didnt think twice about buying him a stunted version of this story. He might not be able to hear the whole story from originals all at once, but eventually he will know what a real story is!

2) No more stupid mindless "character" books that are crappy "versions" of the real thing. For example, did you know that "The Little Mermaid" is written beautifully...in 1836! As much as I liked the Disney movie, this is not what the author intended. Seriously.
Baby will not get a "Disney character" version of Winne The Pooh. The original is a beautiful, poetic book. And no more "Elmo/Dora" interpretations of stories.

3) Make it a point to buy Catholic baby/childrens books. If I don't expose my child to this world, who will? While I am at it, I will buy some for myself too! I found a wonderful store, Pauline books and media. It is pretty close to us and is run by Catholic Nuns. Walking in there was so nice, it was like a sigh of relief. I felt like I belonged, like I wasn't "weird" for seeking out religious books.

What are your favorite books for children?