There are few things in life more beautiful to me than watching my girls begin a love affair with the written and spoken word. It is such a treat to help them to discover literature that speaks to them. Whether it’s something that makes them squeal with laughter, learn the deeper meaning of friendship, opens them up to another culture, or makes a tiny window in their hearts as though it’s speaking just to them, the right book is a treasure.
What’s even cooler, is seeing each girl develop a sort of reading “fingerprint.” Ellie was fascinated with disobedience, injury, and goofy jokes from an early age. Lorelei has a serious thing going for cats and hats (but not for The Cat in the Hat, go figure!). She has also really started to enjoy books where there are small creatures in the illustrations that look like they are hiding, or when a small animal appears on multiple pages and you can try to find where it will show up next.
As you can imagine, learning your child’s taste in literature and finding books that make him or her beg to read them again and again isn’t always a slam dunk. The worst sin of all is running out of titles from a much-loved author. Then what do you do? So in an attempt to jump-start your own idea bank, here is what our family has been reading and loving.
Lorelei is fourteen months. You’ll notice that not all of her books are board books, and not all of them keep to just several ideas on the page. One of the strategies I use with books that have illustrations that I know will appeal to her, but might have too much text to hold her interest, is to pretend that it is a wordless book. We look at the pictures on each page. I will tell her what I see to develop the story (see the video below). I will also respond to her vocalizations or ask her questions. Then when it feels like time, I will turn to the next page. In this way you can open yourself and your child up to new titles and authors that can grow with your child as he grows.
Here are ten top picks for Lorelei right now, in no particular order:
Mama Cat Has Three Kittens | Rain Play | Eat Up Gemma | Each Peach Pear Plum | The Mitten | Hush! A Thai Lullaby | Blue Bowl Down: An Appalachian Rhyme | Uh-Oh! | The Golden Egg | Scaredy Cat
Ellie is six years old, and enjoys a mix of “picture books” and chapter books for read-alouds. I’ll focus on the chapter books here, since there is some overlap between her and Lorelei for other types of books. She especially loves mysteries and books that have something to do with animals. Here are Ellie’s top five (just because they last longer), also in no particular order.
One Dog and His Boy | Seaglass Summer | The Case of the Stolen Dummy | The Complete Little House Nine-Book Set | The Ramona Collection Vol. One
Go ahead, share the love. Tell me what your family is reading these days. We’d love to find some new books to turn into old friends!
honeydew / 7488 posts
Thanks for giving us mroe ideas on what to read! I love these lists.
My DS (21 mo) has no patience for words, so we do some wordless books (like Jungle Rumble), and he really likes Sandra Boynton books and will “read” aloud with me on the parts that he has memorized. He also likes lift the flap books a lot, so we have some Maisy and Elmo books. DD (4 yr) is reading the High Five magazines with me and she also really likes the Robin Hill School series (easy reader).
grapefruit / 4671 posts
Thanks for this, great ideas.
grapefruit / 4770 posts
What an awesome post! Bookmarking for future use. My undergrad degree is in English Literature, so I hope future kiddos love to read as much as I do!
pomegranate / 3858 posts
I just got LO her own library card (seems silly, but if I registered, I got a free copy of their “introducing reading from birth to five years” publication). LO is 6 months old. I pretty much just grab a few books that seem fun and read them together. She’s not super interested at this point other than wanting to chew on them. I’ve also started reading Heidi to her sometimes when she just wants a cuddle
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Noelle currently loves the book Llama Llama Red Pajama. It’s sooo beautifully illustrated, and flows really well. Just the right amount of text for my 2 1/2 year old. Another favorite of hers is Mushroom in the Rain. Neither of these are board books though.
pomegranate / 3008 posts
We read a lot of Giraffes Can’t Dance, Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site, Otis, and When the World Is Ready for Bed and have been reading them for the past year (1.5-2.5 y.o.).
grapefruit / 4669 posts
We have been doing Berenstain Bears! LO is too young to care, but I abridge the story and she looks at the pictures for awhile.
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Love this list so much! My just-turned-6 year old loves both Ramona and the Little House books, definitely going to add the others to our list for this summer:) She loves anything Beverly Cleary (I do, too:) Also love: anything from the Clementine, Ivy&Bean or Just Graces series.
blogger / nectarine / 2608 posts
@Lillian; We never really got into the “Just Grace” books, but Ivy and Bean and Clementine are a staple around here. In fact, Ellie and I now refer to Babybel cheese as “Beldeloon cheese in a special, just for you serving size!” Hope this turns up some new, fun reads for you and your daughter!