"Is Maisy in the henhouse?"

Where's Maisy? by Lucy Cousins

Actually, no. That's not in the top ten or top 100. I do use that line to strengthen my patience. Can I say it yet one more time with eager curiosity instead of twisting the tail and zapping it back in?

"But the wild things cried, 'Oh please don't go—we'll eat you up—we love you so!' And Max said, 'No!'"

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

I like almost every line in this book, but these in particular. There's a rhythm that's set up and then Max's "no" cuts it short just like his reply cuts short the wild things. It surprises and pleases me every time.

"With the hook on the string and the string on the stick and the cake in the box in his hand, George went back to the lake."

Curious George Flies a Kite by Margret and H.A. Rey

I'm so sick of Curious George, as a friend calls him "that damn monkey." But these lines always make me smile. It's the surprise again, the break in the rhythm.

"They found themselves standing on the very edge of the Wild Wood. Rocks and brambles and tree-roots behind them; in front a great space of fields, hemmed by lines of hedges black on the snow, and, far ahead, a glint of the familiar old river, while the wintry sun hung red and low on the horizon. They trailed out on a bee-line for a distant stile. Pausing there and looking back, they saw the whole of the Wild Wood menacing, compact, grimly set in vast white surroundings; they turned and made for home, for firelight and the familiar things it played on, for the voice of the river they knew and trusted, that never made them afraid."

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

It's so beautiful I could weep.