Must-Reads for Little Ones

Reading is hands-down one of the top favorite pasttimes of both of our girls. They spend far more time with books than they do with toys! Teaching Kindergarten definitely spurred my love of children's literature & we had quite the collection of books started before our children were ever even born. Our family adores all of the classic children's books--Corduroy, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, & Goodnight Moon to name a few. But those were all books I was familiar with before having kids of my own. These books are all newer titles that have been some of favorites of Shelby's over the past couple of years. This is list is by no means all encompassing--I could literally go on for days & days about all of our favorite books! ;)  I always love getting recommendations of new books (for me & the girls!!), so hopefully you'll find something on here that catches your eye!

Our Picks for 3-5 year olds

Ally-saurus & the First Day of School: I first spotted this book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble a couple of weeks ago in their back to school display. Whenever I find children's books at Barnes & Noble that I like, I snap a picture of the book cover on my phone to remember the title/author so I can put the book on hold via our library's website when we get home. ;)  And I'm so glad I did b/c this book is a new favorite of my ours!! I love everything about it, especially the main character's imagination & the fact this book is about a little girl who loves dinosaurs!! As a mama of two girls who love princesses & things that are not so girly (ahem, SLUGS to name just one!!), it's so refreshing to read a book about a girl who loves dinosaurs! And it's a great story about making new friends at school!

The Book with No Pictures: This is by the actor B.J. Novak, and it such a fun book with--you guessed it--no pictures! ;) 

The Magic School Bus series: I don't know what age group these books are really intended for, but Shelby has been all about them for the last 6 months or so!

Red: A Crayon's Story: This is another one I first spotted at Barnes & Noble and then picked up at our library. This book is written by Michael Hall, and we have enjoyed all of his other books as well..especially It's an Orange Aardvark!.

Press Here: This book by Herve Tullet along with Mix it Up! are must-reads!!! Very interactive books!

The Elephant & Piggie series & the Pigeon Books: We are all about some Mo Willems in our house!!! The Pigeon books make great read-alouds (Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late & The Pigeon Needs A Bath are two of our faves!) for your kiddos, and the Elephant & Piggie series is especially awesome for beginning readers!

Steam Train, Dream Train: I love everything about this book!!! It is loved by all in our house! We also love Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, which is by the same author & illustrator. The illustrator is Tom Lichtenheld, and he has a few other books that we really love like Little Cloud.

Our Picks for Toddlers

The Feel Good Book: This one is written by Todd Parr, and he has a whole slew of books that we love! Shelby loved these when she was little bitty--I think she was drawn to all of the bright colors in the illustrations! I love the messages of all of Todd Parr's books. He has one called It's Okay to be Different that I always read in my classroom. 

My Many Colored Days: We of course love all of the Dr. Seuss books in our house, but this is one of his lesser known titles that is perfect for little ones! We read this one all.the.time to Shelby as a baby! I'm pretty sure that I can still recite it from memory! Perfect introduction to colors & feelings!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: Hands-down one of my very favorite books, and I think it's the perfect way to get your kiddos working on letter recognition without them even realizing it! This is by Bill Martin, Jr. & he also has another book I'd highly recommend for numeral identification/counting called Chicka Chicka 123.

Duck on a Bike: This one is by David Shannon & it's currently one of Hadley's favorites! Such a fun little story that is perfect for learning different farm animals & their sounds!

The Three Bears: Byron Barton has written several simplified versions of well-known fairy tales/stories like this one and The Little Red Hen. They are perfect for little ones b/c the text is short & simple, and the illustrations are bright! Byron Barton also has lots of other great books on different modes of transportation that are perfect for toddlers!

Llama Llama Red Pajama: This was another favorite of Shelby's when she was little, she loved the rhyming!

Blue Hat, Green Hat: If you're not familiar with Sandra Boynton's board books, you are REALLY missing out! I had never even heard of Sandra Boynton until a friend of ours from Keesler gave Shelby a couple of her board books for her first birthday. All of Sandra Boynton's board books are amazing, but Blue Hat, Green Hat and Snuggle Puppy are two of our favorites!

Happy Reading!