Bookworms

I have always loved to read. I remember reading countless numbers of books as a child and it is something I definitely want to pass on to my kids. We have read to them since they were very young in hopes of instilling a love of reading in them at a very early age. Luckily, I think it is working. Adah is our resident book worm (hands down), but Peyton, Sam, and Luke love to listen to stories and "read" books by themselves as well. Being that we love our books around here, I thought I would share some of our favorites.

Best Books for the Little Ones (0-2 yrs)

Gossie, by Olivier Dunlea:  Cute set of books about a gosling and her many adventures. There are several books in the set. We like Gossie and Gertie and Gossie's Busy Day (a tab book, which the little guys really love).

Sandra Boynton books:  Any of these board books are great. They are quick and fun reads with lots of rhyming words you'll quickly find yourself repeating all day long. Our favorites are Pajama Time, The Going To Bed Book, and Barnyard Dance.

Eric Carle books:  Any Eric Carle book is a classic and the pictures alone make the books worth it. My kids have read these over and over and still read them today. The best of the bunch are The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown:  If you have kids and don't have this book, you must live in a barn. With no electricity. And no contact with the outside world. Quite simply the most well-known book for babies ever.

Best Books for Toddlers/Preschool (2+ yrs)

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Laura Joffe Numeroff:  This book is quirky and fun and the kids love to follow along once they know what the mouse will do or ask for next. Numeroff has a whole series of these books. We also like If You Give A Pig A Pancake and If You Give A Moose A Muffin.

No, David, David Shannon:  The illustrations in this book are awesome and it is a funny and short read for those with short attention spans. This was one of the first books Luke would sit still for and he still absolutely loves it. I have often caught him reading it to himself and laughing. Shannon had some other David books, but we have yet to read them yet.

Llama Llama Red Pajama, Anna Dewdney:  The triplets fell in love with this book a little over a year ago and I think they know the entire thing by heart. It is an easy, fun read with lots of rhymes. Each of the Llama Llama books (there are several) centers on Llama dealing with everyday problems like a fear of the dark, starting school, or dealing with being mad at his Mama.

Best Books for Preschoolers (3+ yrs)

The Hello, Goodbye Window, Norton Juster:  We love this book because it is about a little girl and what happens when she visits her grandparents' house. The illustrations are beautiful and it brings back great memories for me about times spent with my grandparents at their homes. We change the names in the story to match with the names of our kids' grandparents, so they love reading about their own grandparents through this book.

A Treasury of Curious George, H.A. Rey:  There are too many Curious George stories to count and my kids love them all. This book contains eight well-loved monkey tails (haha!) and they love them all. I don't know what it is about him, but that monkey is timeless.

City Dog, Country Frog, Mo Willems:  This is my favorite book right now. A sweet, cute story about best friends and loss with an ending that will make you cry (but the kids don't really get the sentimentality of it quite yet). They love their "Crunchy Frog" book almost as much as I do!

My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts, Susan Hunt:  This book was recommended by my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group and it has been awesome. There is a bible verse for each letter of the alphabet along with a story to go with the verse to explain it and apply it practically. We are having our children memorize scripture verses as we feel it is a good foundation for the values and character that we want to instill in their hearts. They are doing great and have memorized about 8-10 verses so far, which is just amazing to me. Now if only they were as good at the practical application of the verses ...

Future Books We Hope To Read

I am really looking forward to the day when the kids are old enough to sit and listen to simple chapter books that we can read together. I recall my 2nd grade teacher reading us chapter books every day after lunch and it was one of the most special times I remember from school. I plan on reading them books like James and the Giant Peach, Charlotte's Webb, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (never read this, but heard it's great), and all of the Ramona books. I'm sure I will come across some more as we go along as well.

Well, there you have it. Hopefully some of you book worms will appreciate these suggestions. I always find it useful to get book recommendations instead of just perusing the book shelves at B&N hoping to find something I like. Please, please, please give me any suggestions if you have books that weren't on my lists. Happy reading!