i love children's books.
when i find one with illustrations that pull me in i always feel like drawing.
they are just such a beautiful way to enjoy childhood.
i have great memories of reading with my kids.
annie is working hard to finish up something at school for points.
she has had all year to get points but now that it's the end of the year i am guessing there is
an ice cream party or something that has given her incentive to buckle down.
she has been reading each afternoon.
she is not really a sit down and read for an hour kind of girl usually.
that is ok.
i am not that kind of girl either… my dad wanted me to be so badly.
i thought i would share some of HER favorites today.
this is her stack she was working through that she carefully selected.
you can click on the link to find it on amazon.
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type ….. that duck is so funny!
Cowboy and Octopus …. very dry humor book but funny and has cool illustrations.
this was a book that Scott got during his preschool LOVE OF EAGLES phase.
he was obsessed with eagles for a few years.
i remember going to his classroom as the surprise guest and reading it to his whole class.
we love this pretty book.
Martha and Skits …. my dad gave us a whole collection of these books.
BEFORE they gave Martha a show on pbs.
my kids really liked these… all five of them.
Pirates Don't Change Diapers ….. my girls like these 2 pirate books but my boys loved them.
How I Became a Pirate….. and really David Shannon is a favorite of mine.
Too Tall Houses…. pretty book about friendship and competing. :)
Art & Max…. brillant book for anyone who likes art….super pretty!
Is Your Mama a Llama? …. i had this book memorized at one point.
so many years of reading it over and over.
who doesn't like a book with baby and mama animals?!
Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas…. all Fancy Nancy books are loved by my little girls.
she has quite the obsession with fanciness.
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes …. annie's choice at the book fair.
Emma Kate …. BEAUTIFUL book.
Patricia Polacco is one of Talby's favorite authors.
she did a report on her once!
there is something adorable to me about llamas.
Anna Dewdney ties toddlers and llamsas together perfectly. :)
Annie loved these two llama mama books…. always loves to say "i've done that…."
on the tantrum page. ha ha ha
The Three Snow Bears Jan Brett is famous… everyone knows her books.
this one is the story of the three bears but drawn so lovely.
and my kids make silly voice for all of the bears and it's very funny.
If You Take a Mouse to the Movies…. annie loves this one.
If You Take a Mouse to School… i loved this one…
the art and the thrill of going to school for little ones.
If You Give a Moose a Muffin but this one was our favorite to read as a family!
i have a moose voice that makes my kids crack up and i always use it he says
"do you have any old socks?" when he wants to make sock puppets.
love this book.
My Garden…. talby and annie love this one.
always…. EVERY TIME …. say "i wish our garden was like that"
Diary of a Spider ….cutest books!
i love every detail that is in these three Diary books.
seriously!
I'm The Biggest Thing in the Ocean…. LOVE these two books!
that googly eyed octopus is very endearing and silly.
I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean!
Yes Day!…. another book fair choice this year chosen because of our love of the grumpy book.
and all kids love the dream of a YES Day.
What Are You So Grumpy About?…. this is such a good one.
because kids get grumpy a LOT.
and this puts some wrods to their feelings in a funny way.
that was kind of a long list but it was fun for me to remember reading them all with my kids.
what are your favorite children's books?
i am sure everyone likes to find new great choices.
————————————————————————-
1.5 days till the half marathon!!!!!!!!
omg
cassidynoga - Amelia Bedelia?
cassidynoga - When she’s old enough, introduce her to the Babysitter’s Club Books (basically my childhood…) (I think she’s old enough for the BSC Little Sister books!). Also the Boxcar Children series. I’m 20 and I STILL love those. In 3rd grade, I got the second highest amount of Accelerated Reader points in the entire school because of those two series.
Also: I LOVE Click Clack Moo. I have a stuffed cow from that book.
TonyaElise - Currently in love with Sandra Boynton books. She really gets kid humor, and they RHYME! And I have some favorite Golden Books from my childhood that I love to read to my kids: The Poky Little Puppy, Home for a Bunny, Four Puppies. Those never get old.
Oh, and I think you should share a video with us in your moose voice, lol.
Victoria - Those are some of our favorite books too! Right now my almost 8 year old is into Amelia ______ books by Marissa Moss (I think American Girl puts them out). They are diaries of a girl named Amelia and she adores them.
I will check out those Kevin Sherry ocean books, they look like fun!
I hope your 1/2 marathon was awesome! You are a role model to all of us Mama’s!
Angela - I loved Owl Moon by Jane Yolen – I just got to meet her last week and she is an absolutely lovely woman. This was a special book for my Dad and I, just like the father and daughter in the book. I also loved Berenstein Bears.
Also, if Talby is looking for anything good to read, check out the auther Sharon Creech – particularly Bloomability. It is a great book. I have read all of Creech’s books and I love her writing.
Dena - A couple of my favorites from my childhood are:
Andrew Henry’s Meadow by Doris Burn
The Ernie and Bert Book by Norman Stiles
My daughter loves the Pinkalicious books (Pinkalicious, Purplicious, Silverlicious, etc) by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann
Couple others we love:
Katie Love the Kittens by John Himmelman
Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman
Wacky Wednesday and There’s a Wocket in my Pocket by Dr. Suess (but we love them all)
We love the Litte critter books by Mercer Mayer and the Berenstain Bear books also and for really little ones the Sandra Boynton board books are awesome.
One I would suggest for you that we like is Dog’s colorful Day by Emma Dodd. it makes me think of you and your love of color.
Meg G. - I love that Tom Lichtenheld’s books made the list! I used to work with him a few years ago at an ad agency here in Chicago and remember when he took a sabatical to write one of his books. He’s such a nice and talented guy!
mkpoggie - Great recs! I haven’t heard of a couple of these titles and I’m excited to try them out! A few books that were always a hit with my preschool class were “Falling for Rapunzel” (Leah Wilcox- the story of Rapunzel with a hilarious twist of misunderstanding…plus the illustrations are so creative), “Smiley Shark” (Ruth Galloway…a friendly shark has trouble making friends) and “Aliens Love Underpants” (Claire Freedman…Exactly what it sounds like. Aliens really, really like underpants. So silly).
Absolute favorite though? “A Bad Case of the Stripes,” by David Shannon. Gorgeous and a message that every child (and, frankly, adult) should hear. I met David Shannon once at book signing. And I cried like an idiot. It was ridiculous.
melissa@joyineveryseason - I love children’s books too, and can’t bring myself to clear the bookshelves even though my kids are older … we always loved anything by Robert Munsch … his books are CRAZY funny stories with hilarious illustrations … and also King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub by Audrey and Don Wood … also a crazy story with beautiful illustrations. And then there’s Holly Hobbie’s adorable Toot and Puddle books … very cute characters and beautiful, beautiful pictures. Happy reading to Annie!
Jen - I love this post! My girls are 8 and 5 and I recognize and know several of the books you listed well. I am always looking for more good storybooks and will now look for the others at our library. Thanks! My girls love Fancy Nancy books and Jan Brett books. Some of our other favs include:
Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard – this is MY favorite!
Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day – Jaime Lee Curtis
The Easter Egg – Jan Brett
Parts – Tedd Arnold
How to Bake an American Pie – Karma Wilson
Bethany - I see lots of our favorites here too. Right now it’s me reading to my little ones. I look forward to them enjoying our favorite books again when they are the readers.
IT Consulting Dallas - Nice books. Some of these are my daughter’s favorites too.
Christie - LOVE this post! Thank you for sharing!
“You Are My I Love You” is an all-time FAVORITE at our house! As well as about 10,000 other books!
Keep those darlings reading!
Happy, Happy Day!!!
Sarah - Please do a race report! I’m running my first half in a few weeks and I am trying to gather as much sane info as possible! I know now how much effort goes into the training and I’m amazed that you can fit it in alongside everything else you do! Cheering for you from afar!
Shaun - Love Pete the Cat…
Follow the link below to a live reading of Pete the Cat! Our librarian showed this one day…the kids LOVED it…so did I!! Enjoy!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUubMSfIs-U
Shaun
Sasha - I love all of your picks. My fave authors include Mem Fox, Rosemary Wells (esp, max cleans up), sam McBratley (Guess How Much I Love You), Keiko Kaszaa, Eric Carle…oh the list goes on and on. Ish, peter Reynolds. Press Here, Herve Tullet. Not a Box, Antoinette Portis.
If you haven’t read Mem Fox’s books for adults as well they are worth it too. Your kids might be a bit old for it to be applicable, but when you wrote that you make a terrific moose voice it just reminded me of her.
Congrats to Annie and best wishes to her as another school year comes to a close.
YOU GO, GIRL!
Kate - mad at mamma is one of my favorites. seriously awesome.
Tiffany - Good list, thanks for sharing. Pinkalicious is popular, her and Junie B Jones these days.
Kristen - We love “17 Things I’m Not Allowed To Do Anymore” by Jenny Offill. OHMY, it is a hilarious and an artistically beautiful book – such a cool mixed media format, and lots of fun with all-things-beavers. Not sure who requests it more, me or the kids… 🙂 Also love the whole “Scaredy Squirrel” series – I think I was Scaredy Squirrel in a former life. Dry humor and squirrels…a great combo! 🙂
Praying for you, runner girl…keep those Scriptures coming! YOU ARE AMAZING AND YOU WILL BE AWESOME!!!!! SO ADMIRE YOU!!! 🙂
Stephanie - I feel like I’ve been given a gift! Thank you for this list. I LOVE picture and children’s chapter books–maybe even more than my children do. Ha. My older kids have outgrown them, so thank The Lord I still have 3 little ones coming up that still enjoy them.
We just finished Charlotte’s Web with my 6 year old and are now on to James Herriot’s treasury. Then probably Wind in the Willows. Some of my faves:
100 Hungry Ants
Ruth Heller parts of speech books. Very colorful art!
Exodus and Joseph books by…..I forget the author’s name. Also colorful art.
The Cat in Numberland
100 dresses. (I love this book.)
The Little House. ( I AM that little house. One of my very favorites.)
Blessings to you during your run!
elma - We have that one:) Love it!!
elisa - My 7 year old son would probably like the pirate books. Good for Annie for reading. We are bookaholics over here.
Laura Conway - We have been huge fans of Skippyjon Jones in our house!
Michelle from Australia - Our Beloved American friend is a retired children’s librarian. So for Christmas and each of our kids birthdays, American childrens books arrived. My son absolutely loves the If you give a mouse…. and the If you give a moose books by Laura Numeroff. AND even better, when he takes them to school for show an tell, no one here knows anything about them so he feels extra special!!
Larissa - I love The Little House…I can still remember my mother reading Chicken Soup with Rice to Me….wish I could find my copy of that one.
Jenny - Anything by Oliver Jeffers. “Stuck” is our favorite.
Jenny - This is a fantastic post! I love children’s books too. I have two recommendations for you too. My friend just had her first book published she is the author and the illustrator. I love her painting style, it definitely inspires one to create! The story is great too, especially if you enjoy stories about grumpiness. it is called Maya Was Grumpy. Here is the link.
http://www.amazon.com/Maya-Was-Grumpy-Courtney-Pippin-Mathur/dp/1936261138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367007596&sr=8-1&keywords=maya+was+grumpy
And the Chester the Cat books by Melanie Watt were just introduced to us this year by my daughter’s first grade teacher. We love them! We have all three and don’t seem to be tiring of them.
http://www.amazon.com/Chester-Melanie-Watt/dp/1554534607/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367007976&sr=1-1&keywords=chester
jaimie - the kissing hand
Courtney Walsh - We love so many of the same ones, but I have to add two all-time faves: “When Moon Fell Down” by Linda Smith (who passed away–I’m not sure the book is even available anymore, but it’s BEAUTIFUL and sweet) and “The Remarkable Farkle McBride” by Jon Lithgow.
Brilliance. 🙂
Diane - Have you guys ever read Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus? HYSTERICAL!
Skippy Jon Jones books are fun too. Our family highly recommends these!
Heather Simnitt - My girls are past this age now, but we loved the “Diary of a…” books as well. Some of my favorite children’s book authors are Sarah Stewart (The Gardner brings me to tears), Mary Ann Hoberman (The Seven Silly Eaters was a fave), and Erin Dealy (Goldilocks has Chicken Pox – Love)!
And oh – ALL my kids and my students (K-2 grade) have LOVED Slugs in Love by Susan Pearson….there is usually a waiting list for it at the library!
jen - Great list! i spied a few of our favorites there!
I love the Berenstein Bears books. we read those all the times – they get into messes as all other families do but by the end the message is always the same – family is awesome! and there are always little life lessons in there too.
Amanda - Small Home Big Start - I have a kid’s birthday party to go to this weekend and I always like to include a new book in with the gift. I was just researching what to buy when I saw this post pop up in my reader. Perfect! Exactly the advice that I needed.
I’m going to bookmark this one for future gift ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Jody - Thank you for this list!! I love love to get new ideas for books!!!
I went right to my library site & reserved a bunch of them!!
We love “Yes Day” in our house & actually have our boys pick a yes day every year! they of course love it! (but when is Mom & Dad’s yes day?!)
My fav is “Henry in Love”. Very sweet book. by Peter McCarty.
Becky - The Moose is totally my favorite of the If You Give A… series, too!
With a house full of girls around these parts, we can’t get enough of Fancy Nancy either!
Enjoy your race! So inspired by your faithfulness in training.
Deb - Don’t miss all of the “Skippyjon Jones” books – our favorite is “S.J. in Mummy Trouble.” And a really neat one called “Anna’s Table,” about the nature items a young girl collects and displays on a special table. Great illustrations! And anything illustrated by Robin Priess Glasser (of Fancy Nancy fame) – she has a great one about the 50 states, I THINK written by Lynn Cheney. Happy reading!