books for kids

Books are a huge part of our lives.
I've been a book worm since as long as I can remember. I was reading (I'm pretty certain) by the end of Sr. Kindergarten because my best friend had learned to read and if she was reading, then darn it! So was I! (Competitive, much?)
And every birthday and Christmas until I got into high school and more into clothes I always got a ton of books.
Then I met Jamie.
Another bookworm.
And it seems as though we have two children who both love books as well!
I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but one of the biggest things we'll miss when we move to Uganda is our library. Oh we love our library. We are there several times each month taking out huge stacks of books and maybe a movie or two.
I figured it was about time to let you all in on a few books that are standard favourites and a few that we are reading right now.
This is books for kids (stay tuned for books that Jamie and I like).

Some of our standard favourites and ones that we read on a regular basis are the following:

The Jesus Storybook Bible

I love reading this one. I've been known to cry reading almost all of them one or two of the stories. We've made our way once through all the stories and now we're back for round two. The pictures are gorgeous and I have never read a Bible story book like this before. The small caption is "Every story whispers His name" and it's so true. In every story that's in this book, the end always ties it back to our Redeemer and Saviour Jesus and it's so completely beautiful.

Big Truths for Little Kids

We had put this one away for awhile but I recently pulled it out again and as soon as I did Noah said, "Oh I love this book, Mommy. I really love this one." Basically it's a book full of catechisms to read through with your child and then there's a story that follows each set of questions. There aren't very many pictures and I haven't started the "story" part of the book, but I imagine we'll get into that shortly with Noah as he can handle books with almost no pictures these days.

The Story of Easter

I recently purchased this board book and I love it. It tells the true story of Easter with great pictures for kids without getting too graphic or sugar coating it either. I've read this with both Jude and Noah. This is one that will stick around in our kids library.

First 100 Words

We received this one when Noah was a baby and now it's a favourite of Jude's. Most kids love this book for the colourful pictures that they can identify. Jude now points to almost everything in this book and can name it (which all of a sudden helps me realize that he's got over 100 words. that's crazy.). He'll sometimes sit and point at the page with pictures of babies/kids and shout "baby! baby! babeeeeee!"

And here are our current library faves:

Boy of Mine

Oh this one may have to be purchased. I absolutely adore this book and so do both boys. It's a board book and a sweet one to read before bedtime. It's part lullaby, part poem. Noah practically has it memorized and Jude looks at it and says, "boy - mine!" We all love it. (That's it. I'm convinced. I'm buying it.)

Benny the Breakdown Truck

This is an adorable British series and I love that they call a tow-truck a 'breakdown truck'. There's also a 'bonnet' instead of a trunk and 'petrol' instead of gas. I love it. Noah's really into cars and tow-trucks and so this series may be one that becomes more popular in our household. 

Hands are not for hitting

I got proactive about Jude's habit of hitting (and blogged about it here) and looked up some books that I could read to him about proper uses for our hands. This one is simple and corrects bad behaviour in a positive way by showing what hands are for (hugging, saying hello, etc.). 

Little 1

This is a sweet book about numbers. I think I may like it more than Noah does, but it's both beautifully illustrated as well as sweet and educational. Bonus! 

I would love to know books your kids like (and books you like reading to them since they usually want them read over and over and over again) so make sure to leave a comment.

research

my personality, in general, is one of a researcher. when i'm insterested in something or passionate about something i research. i read, read, read - books, magazines, articles, blogs, anything i can find on that particular subject/thing/issue.
when i was pregnant with noah i read a lot. i read books on pregnancy, birth, and labour. i asked people for their birth stories and found some online too*.
i read books on parenting philosophies including everything from babywise to attatchment parenting.
jamie's nana even wrote out her birth stories for me which i absolutely and completely loved!
i loved hearing the horrible worst-case-scenarios and the oh-my-gosh-it-was-perfect stories. i wanted to know everything.
but at some point all the research combined with some PPD made for one overwhelmed, anxious and paranoid mama who didn't have any confidence in her own maternal instinct.
research is so great and valuable, but at some point you need to take what you've read, glean the principles and mold them to your situation. because your situation is completely unique in at least some way and it's going to look different for everyone.
it took me going across the globe to africa, away from all my precious books and dependable internet for me to learn how to trust my instinct and my God-given ability and privilege to be noah's mama. picked out specifically for noah and he for me. noah was 6 months old at the time and it was the best thing for all of us.
since then i've occasionally referred to books or online resources for different questions i've had but nothing like my initial frenzy of reading.
but now i find myself compeltely depleted of wisdom and knowledge of how to navigate these murky waters of preschoolerhood that i find myself in. so it's back to the books.
this time, however, i'll be able to take it all in with a grain of salt and figure out how to balance what i know of my child with the principles and ideas presented.

also, funny story: on my way out of the library as i'm wrestling to keep two very rambunctious, hungry and somewhat cranky boys under control i am sure the librarian was totally chuckling to herself as she scanned these books out for me. it also might explains why she was so helpful by putting my many books into my bag for me (never once has a librarian done that for me). regardless, i was thankful.

thanks to those so far who have recommended ideas and books to me. i'm likely going to at least skim everything i can get my hands on and then delve deeper into the ones that seem to hit it home with me. keep 'em coming!


*the blogs i've linked to are all ones i found around the birth of jude, not noah. but they're good ones. if you like birth stories, read 'em! the first link is hilarious (caution, much swear-age occurs), the second one is amazing and terrifying, the third one i love how she writes and um, also, the last one (nella's birth story) is absolutely heart-breaking. read with caution. i bawled. (i actually just re-read it and bawled again. so that's that.)

we love books

noah has always been fascinated by books (and television, but that's for another day).

in general, he's a very visual learner. 

he watches things and people in a new situation before jumping right in.

he loves pictures and looking at them and he's always enjoyed having a book read to him (i started when he was 3 months old as part of our bedtime routine).

i have been a book worm and a lover of books for as long as i can remember (dating back to senior kindergarten!).

i devour books at a ridiculous pace and then i'm sad when they're done (if they've been a good book/series - i am currently halfway through the last book of the harry potter series).

and so i must give praise to the library system in guelph.

there is a kid-friendly play area in every single branch of the guelph library.

you get email reminders when your books are due back.

you can request things online and then get an email when they are ready to be picked up.

and um, you can spend the hours between nap and dinner there. 

and then walk home super hungry.

not that that happened to me today or anything...

The one where I talk about children's books

I love the library. The boys do, too.

We've got a great system here in Guelph and I love that the closest branch to us is less than a 15 minute walk away.

Today we returned our huge stash and took out another huge stash to last us a couple weeks.

Truth be told, I totally take out books that look interesting or fun/funny for me to read {because I know I'm going to be reading them 50 billion times in the next few weeks} as well as the ones Noah picks out. And I'm always surprised at the ones that Noah takes an interest in.

With our last "stash" it was "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus!" which I find absolutely hilarious. Now while he didn't exactly get the humour in it, he certainly managed to memorize most {if not all} of the book. I heard him "reading" the book to himself during his room time this morning. I just think he liked saying "NO!" to the pigeon every time he asks the reader if he can drive the bus. It's a great book. You should take it out of your library. Even if you don't have kids.

This time around he's already taken a liking to "Big Red Lollipop" which is a book about siblings and ... well, a big, red lollipop {and that is the part that draws him in, I'm sure}.

And of course, the Cheerios book.

Because who doesn't like playing with your food?

Yes, he really is eating the Cheerios right off the page.