Read To Me!

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This time of year always has me feeling nostalgic.  Earlier this week, a friend told me that she wanted to buy her daughter some books for Christmas and asked me what my kids’ favorite books were when they were 2.   I couldn’t help but start thinking of those magical memories from reading to my children during their early childhood years. All week I’ve slept thinking about children’s picture books. Beautiful images just keep running through my head. Oh, the memories!

Reading to our children when they are young is about so much more than just choosing a book and reading it.  It’s watching the joy shine on your child’s face as they begin to grasp new concepts. Your child morphing into the animal in the picture.  Oh, how I loved listening to them mimic the sounds animals made as we read through certain books. I loved listening to them pronounce different colors.  Their excitement as they would say “brown” like the bear when they really began to comprehend what “brown” meant. Not everyone understood why they would say “like the bear”, but I understood.  They were relating items in the real world with pictures they saw in a favorite book we read every day.

From the day I found out I was pregnant with my first child, I have collected children’s books.  I’m a little embarrassed to admit how many FULL bookshelves I currently have in my house. I always joke that half of the reason I have an in-home daycare is simply because I’m not ready to give up reading and collecting children’s books!  The simplicity, the messages of kindness, the beautiful illustrations, the purity. The memories that go with most of the books on my shelves are priceless. Even though my youngest isn’t very young anymore, we still enjoy cuddling together on the couch and reading some picture books every now and then.  I will share with you some of our family’s favorites.

I’ll start with my daughter’s favorite books:
1. Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You Hear
Oh, the memories with this book!! From learning colors, to what the animals would say, this book always brought a smile to my face. I cannot look at it without remembering my sweet moments reading it to her.

2. Love You Forever
Oh, her sweet little voice as we’d sing this together!

3. Anything by Sandra Boynton
These books were so much fun. So catchy and fun to sing and act out too! Although we had many, her favorite was definitely Barnyard Dance.

4. Anything by Richard Scarry
These books were so much fun. Her obsession with them continued well into her elementary years. At first, she’d practice saying each word. As she got older, she loved to copy the words on to paper and draw the pictures.

Next I’ll give my oldest son’s favorite books when he was really young.
1. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
This quickly became a classic in our house. We even found a DVD of it and he just loved it. He’d “read” the book for hours a day. This is how he learned his alphabet and to recognize each letter.

2. The Little Engine That Could
My son was absolutely obsessed with trains from the time he was an infant. I was always so surprised with how much he loved this book. He knew it by heart from pretty much the day he could talk. When he started collecting toy trains, he would use them to act out this story almost daily.

3. All the Froggy books
Oh, how he loved these! I can not even count how many times I’d be another room and hear him yelling FROGGY! His nickname was Bullfrog and these books had a small part in that. It also is what started his collection of stuffed frogs. From the time he was 1 on, he knew exactly where these books were in the library and every week, the first thing he’d do when we arrived was to race there to see if they had any.

4. Are You My Mother
I am not sure why he chose this book either, but not a night went by when I didn’t have to read it to him before bed. This was his chosen bedtime story throughout his early childhood years.

Now for my 2nd son
1. King Bidgood’s In The Bathtub
This book was so catchy and fun. Ever my goofy boy, this book was the perfect fit for him. Not a bathtime went by where he didn’t act it out!

2. The Baby BeeBee Bird
Another super fun book. This book drove us all nuts, but oh, the joy it brought to my son! I dreaded having to read this to him, but yet it was a daily necessity.

3. If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
This was another book he just loved. The fun we had with it!

4. Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
I loved reading this one to him. He’d get so excited and jump about making cow noises!

I thought for sure my youngest son would also love the same books the older kids did. Although he enjoyed all books, he definitely had his own favorites!
1. Llama Llama books
His favorite was definitely Llama Llama Red Pajama. He had his little red pajamas he wore every night and every morning as soon as he’d wake up, he’d jump into my lap with this book. Our days usually started with snuggles and this book.

2. Curious George
He loved these books! I was surprised because he would always choose them, even when I thought he was too young to understand them. When the older kids were doing school work, he was always reading one of these books. Every week when we’d go to the library, he’d pick out a few.

3. Go Dog Go
He loved this book! This was the first book he learned to read. He would sit at the table while the others were doing schoolwork and copy the words out of this book before he could possibly even understand what he was writing.

4. Dear Zoo
This book was his go to book anytime we had to go in the car. With 3 older siblings, that was quite often. It was always in his carseat with him and in his hands in the stroller too.

Now, I have to add in my favorites. Having been a mom now for many years, working in daycare centers and now, having an in-home daycare, I’ve done A LOT of reading! I love almost all books, but these would have to be my all-time favorites!

1. Anything by Eric Carle
I love(ok, have a small obsession with) Eric Carle. My favorite will always be The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

2. Rainbow Fish
I was first introduced to this book when I worked in a daycare when my daughter was a baby. I loved it from the first day I read. All of my children loved it too!

3. Corduroy
No list could ever be complete without this book! I fell in love with it as a child and sharing it with my children always brought me such joy! There’s just something about this adorable little bear.

4. Stellaluna
I’m not sure what it is about this book, but I just love it. All of my kids did too. It led to a short unit study on bats almost yearly. We loved it as a family so much, that our youngest dog is named after it.

Reading favorite story books to children is such a unique bonding experience. The looks of delight on my older children’s faces when I asked them what their favorite books from when they were really little were, was just precious. The memories they shared with me from these early years refreshed my heart.
There is no wrong time to sit down and snuggle up together and read. Whether it’s first thing in the morning, after lunch, when they’re so tired and cranky you want to scream, or right before bed. Just grab a book and savor these moments while you can!

Do you have a favorite picture book that I didn’t mention?

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