Our Favorite Kid Reads

What is one of the best activities you can do with your kiddos?  Reading!  I love to read and always have.  In my childhood photo albums, you will find many pictures of me leafing through a book or being read to.  It is an activity that I have always enjoyed and something I hoped to pass along to my children as well. 


We began reading to our kids when they were babies and it became the center of our bedtime routine.  We still spend about 15-20 minutes each night reading to the kids before bed and they thoroughly enjoy this time.  All of our kids were "reading" their favorites aloud before they were two.  Those are some of the sweetest memories I have.  They were all so proud (and so were we!).  


Books can be found all over our home in baskets, on bookshelves in each of their rooms, and in their "on the go" backpacks that we take in the car and to church.  We have books for all seasons, holidays, and major life events it seems.  I guess that's what happens when your mom was a former early childhood teacher and had boxes of books before the kiddos even came along!  We add many books to our collection each year and we all think they are a perfect gift to give and receive.  Now that the kids are getting older, I have begun to add books with audio CD's to their collections so they can listen to stories at quiet time.  This has been a big hit, as well as the TAG Junior and TAG reading systems.


While many of our books are worn, torn, and loved, we definitely have a handful that are the favorites of each child.  Today I thought I'd share some of those titles with you, as you may be looking for some new material for your kids or a good gift for a child.  Another day I will share with you our favorite authors for a variety of ages.  It can be so hard to narrow them down!  


Here are some of our favorite book titles:


Pete the Cat:  I Love My White Shoes and Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by James Dean (the audio that goes with these books is awesome!)
Dini Dinosaur by Karen Beaumont (this was a great find at the library)
Giraffe's Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
Freight Train by Donald Crews
The Goodnight Train by June Sober
Goodnight Moon by Margarent Wise Brown
Pinkalicious by Elizabeth Kann
Little Blue Truck by Alice Shertle
Knuffle Bunny series by Mo Willems
Silly Sally by Audrey Wood
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Corduroy and A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman
The Snowy Day and A Letter for Amy by Ezra Jack Keats
Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom Deluise
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberly
Press Here by Herve Tullet
I Love You, Blue Kangaroo by Emma Chichester Clark
The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood
I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak


There are some definite classics in this list, but there are some great new books out there as well.  We look forward to finding some more new gems and adding them to our collection!  

Some of Our Favorites