Our favorite Books to Read, to Buy, to Gift

Rhinos Don't Eat Pancakes by Anna Kemp

***(Book lists are at the bottom of the post) ***

My three year old loves, loves, loves to read!   She was "reading" her first black and white, no word,  books as soon as she was born.  I'm not going to lie, I read waaaaay to much information while I was pregnant and I was the mom who packed one  of those black and white books in our hospital bag as one of our necessities.   Because a baby's retina is not fully developed at birth they can only see large contrasts between light and dark.  That's why you will see a lot of black and white books for newborns or infants.   According to Dr. Sears of Ask Dr. Sears, "black and white contrasts register powerfully on baby's retina and send the strongest visual signals to a baby's brain.  Stronger signals mean more brain growth and faster visual development."  So there you have it!  I wasn't crazy as it turns out!  My little book worm hasn't stopped reading since the day we shoved a big, scary, black and white book in her little, precious, newborn, jaundiced face!  From the looks of the worn, chewed and missing spines, I think she actually really liked them!  So, here we are almost 4 years later and she is still a book worm.  Although she doesn't chew on them any more (sad mama face) she does devour them.

We make a point of fitting a trip to the library into our weekly routine.  Most weeks we come home with at least 15 to 20 books.  And if I let Isabella have her way, we would bring our wagon and fill it!  The limit is 30 ( I know, I asked).   Now that we have a new addition to our family our weeks sometimes get really crazy and we know we don't have time to make a proper library trip. Don't judge, but in these times we fully utilize the book reserve system.  We scour the Internet, book lists and friends' recommendations for books we want to check out.  We then go online and reserve them at our desired library branch.  That's it!  When the books arrive, we get a text letting us know they are ready to be picked up.  Daddy usually swings us by the library on our way home from soccer practice and I run in to get our reserves while he stays in the car with the kids.  It's that simple!

Our book worm at 11 weeks.

Isn't this how you read your books?  17 weeks 

Reading her black and white book at 17 weeks.  

Books have always been a big part of our three year old's life.  On her first birthday, I was super excited and way too emotional to read Baby's Birthday by Eloise Wilkin and Patricia Mowers to my little love.   That special book was given to me, on my very first birthday, by my beloved grandparents.   I know they would be so happy to know that we continue to read that book each year on her birthday.  

In honor of our love of books, we decided it might be fun to share some of our favorites with you.  Check back often as we will continually add to our lists.  As we could give you hundreds of recommendations for each category,we are only listing a few for this first post.

Please share your favorites with us too!  You can never have too many book recommendations!!!!

Book Lists

Favorite Black & White Newborn Books (no words)

Hello, Bugs! By Smriti Prasadam

Baby Animals Black and White by Phyllis Limbacher Tildes 

Look, Look! by Peter Linenthal

Favorite Board Books 

Llama Llama Hoppity Hop by Anna Dewdney

Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton

Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

I'll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words by Michael Frith and P.D. Eastman

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  Check out our Very Hungry Caterpillar Party.
If Kisses Were Colors by Janet Lawler
If Animals Kissed Goodnight by Ann Whitford Paul

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andrea
I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle  & matching plush blue truck 
Farmer Dale's Red Pickup Truck by Lisa Wheeler

Favorite Non-Traditional Princess Books

The princess and the packet of frozen peas by Tony Wilson
Prince Ribbit by Jonathan Emmett

Favorite Gift Giving Books 

Uni the Unicorn by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - for the strong smart wonderful magical little girl in your life
If Kisses were Colors  by Janet Lawler
God Gave us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren
I Love You as Much . . .  by Laura Krauss Melmed
Guess How Much I love You by Sam McBratney
I'd Know You Anywhere, My Love by Nancy Tillman
Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman
You're Here for a Reason by Nancy Tillman
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
I Wish You More by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin
I Love You So . . .  by Marianne Richmond
If I Could Keep You Little. . . by Marianne Richmond
I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
Take Heart, My Child A Mother's Dream by Ainsley Earhardt
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
I Love You More by Laura Duksta
I Love You This Much by igloobooks
I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak
Will You Still Love Me? by Carol Roth

Favorite Adoption Books

God Found Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren
Take Heart, My Child A Mother's Dream by Ainsley Earhardt
The Not In Here Story by Tracey Zeeck
Happy Adoption Day! by John McCutcheon
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis
I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose A. Lewis
My Adopted Child, There's No One Like You by Dr. Kevin Leman

Favorite Books For Soon-to-Be Big Brother or Sister

Will You Still Love Me? by Carol Roth

Favorite Bedtime Books 

Bedtime blessings by Marianne Richmond 

If Animals Kissed Goodnight by Ann Whitford Paul

The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton

Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton

Llama Llama Nighty-Night by Anna Dewdney

Favorite Books about Dads

I Love You Always and Forever by Jonathan Emmett



Other Favorites

Dance by the Light of the Moon by Joanne Ryder
The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown
Miss Rumphius by Barbar Cooney is a lovely story about doing something to make the world more beautiful.
Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback
Joseph had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick
Martha in the Middle by Jan Fearnley is a book that will help middle siblings feel special.
I Love You Just Enough by Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen



Favorite Books with Activity Ideas

How to Bake a Book by Ella Burfoot great for teaching kids about the elements of a story.  We cut pictures of characters, settings, and actions from magazines and threw them in a large bowl.  We then give them a big stir and pull several pictures out.  We use a rolling pin (just for fun) to roll our pictures out into one delicious story.  We keep our bowl handy so we can add pictures to it often.  A juicy story is never too far.  Click here to see our book activity.

Henry's Map by David Elliot is a cute book about animals making map of the farm.  You could make maps of your house, school or neighborhood to teach kids about map making, map reading and directions.

Henry's Stars by David Elliot is a book about finding shapes in the stars.  Great for sparking imagination when looking at the star.

Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk is a great book to teach kids about writing stories.  It would be fun to let kids make tiny, mouse sized, books.

Library Mouse: a Friend's Tale by Daniel Kirk is another great book about writing stories.

Library Mouse: A Museum Adventure by Daniel Kirk is a book that teaches kids about all the wonderful things they can see in museums.

Library Mouse: A World to Explore by Daniel Kirk is about exploration, research and writing.

Library Mouse: Home Sweet Home by Daniel Kirk is the different kinds of places people call home.  A fun activity is to use sugar cubes to build igloos, castles and other types of homes. Click here to see our book activity.

 Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood by F. Isabel Campoy is a great book for teaching kids about art, murals , coming together and transforming the world with art.

Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal  We made breakfast sushi and then played an chopstick and pom pom activity to strengthen hand-eye coordination, dexterity, pre-writing skills and writing skills. Click here to see our book activity.  

Painting Pepette by Linda Ravin Lodding is a sweet book that takes place in 1920s Paris.  Little Josette takes her beloved stuffed rabbit, Pepette to Montmartre to get her portrait done.  Along the way, they meet Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, and Dali.  This books is great inspiration for littles to paint a portrait of their favorite stuffed friend while learning about some famous artists and their styles.  Click here to see our book activity.  

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback inspired us to learn about size words, big, bigger, biggest, small, smaller, smallest.  Click here to see our book activity.  

Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss.  Make a batch of oobleck and learn about several of the states of matter.  Click here to see our oobleck science lesson. 

Ugly Pie by Lisa Wheeler-  We love reading this book and then making the pie recipe at the end every Thanksgiving.  Click here to get our fun shopping list.  


Favorite Kid Books with Recipes

Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison and 
Apple Cake: a recipe for love by Julie Paschkis
Ugly Pie by Lisa Wheeler See our Ugly Pie post for a fun shopping and recipe activity. 


Miss 4's Picks

Rhinos Don't Eat Pancakes by Anna Kemp.  She picked it for two very important 3 year old reasons; there is a giant purple rhino on the cover and she is in LOVE with pancakes.  Seriously, my girl will eat an entire adult size portion by herself and ask what's for breakfast after she is done!  This kid loves her carbs!  Anyway, the book is a really cute story about a little girl and an unexpected house guest.  While the book is comical and very entertaining to your littles it also provides a gentle eye opener to parents and caregivers who might get too wrapped up in daily life to really see what's right before their eyes.  

What's your book pick this week?

Please share it with us in the comments below.

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