Growing up I was a serious bookworm. I loved to participate in those summer reading programs at our public library and would get pretty excited about it once school got out. My summers would be consumed with reading about the Babysitter’s Club, the American Girls series and the Sweet Valley High twins. I hoped to pass on this love to my kids so when Mr. Cheesecake and I decided to expand our family, I made sure to add a bunch of books to our baby registry.
Thankfully, StarCakes loves being read to. When I was pregnant with GemCakes, StarCakes would have me read to him while I rested on the couch. It was one of our most favorite shared activities. We even took him to baby storytime at the library in an attempt to have him socialize with other babies and hear some stories. But unfortunately he was always more interested in walking (or running!) around the room rather than paying attention to the book being read. Yet, when we read to him at home we had his full attention.
As GemCakes, got older her love of books grew too. Throughout the day, the kids will ask us to read books from their library and every night as part of our bedtime routine, they each choose a book and we read together before they go to bed. Below are the books that are currently trending at the Cheesecake home!
1) The Very Hungry Caterpillar & 2) Goodnight Moon – StarCakes requests these books so much that he has memorized them. I pretty much let him tell me and GemCakes the story while I turn the pages! He even has a caterpillar that he uses to act out the motions from book. GemCakes likes to put her finger inside holes on the food pictures.
3) Up – Up was Mr. Cheesecake and my favorite movie as a couple, so when StarCakes took a liking to it as a toddler I was ecstatic. He used to ask us to watch the movie almost daily! With him watching the movie so often, eventually GemCakes started to like the movie too. This book is a good condensed version of the movie with lovely illustrations.
5) Little Owl’s Night & 6) Little Owl’s Day – We received the first book as a present during our baby shower and since StarCakes loved the book so much I bought the second one. GemCakes like to point out the different animals listed in these books and StarCakes likes to count them.
7) Twinkle, Twinkle Small Hoku & 8) Down at the Beach – We bought these books during our recent trip to Maui. I wanted to get the kids a souvenir that would help them remember their time on the islands. Plus, GemCakes loves turtles and dolphins and there are a number of them throughout both books. Both books can be sung, rather than read; one to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the other to Wheels on the Bus.
9) Unloveable – I actually first encountered this book during my graduate program and loved the message that it conveyed: you are lovable just as you are. At first when StarCakes asked me to read the book to him, I wasn’t sure if he would understand what the book was saying. But after reading it to him a couple times I saw that he understood the emotions behind the pug’s actions and would comment that he was sad or happy at different times in the book.
10) A is for Activist – StarCakes’ godmother bought him this book for Christmas one year and it was one of his favorite books to read for quite some time (and mine too!). I love that the illustrations show a diverse array of people from different communities and that it portrays social justice and activism in a positive light. As my kids get older, I hope to use this book as a starting point for discussing issues of bias, privilege and injustice in order to help them understand how they can advocate for others and acknowledge their own privilege.
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What books are currently trending at your home?
pomegranate / 3393 posts
I love these! My LO loves A for Activist, he loves finding the kitty on every page! I’m thinking of getting the other books in the series next.
blogger / kiwi / 588 posts
@MoonMoon: We love finding the cats too! We’re always on the look out for books with valuable messages for our kids.