As a parent to a 3 ½ year old, we tend to get in book ruts. We have dozens of books on Jack’s bookshelf, but he will request that I read the same books over and over again.
It got so bad that I had to hide a couple books because if I had to read them YET again, I would scream.
So, as a service to the other parents, aunties and kiddo friends out there, I have a list of four books that are so awesome I don’t mind reading them a million times. Get ahead of the Christmas rush and order a few for your gift giving. Believe me, the parents will love you!
#1: Starlight Sailor by James Mayhew & Jackie Morris
Buy it here: Starlight Sailor
This board book had just the right amount of words on each page so I don’t feel like I have to “accidentally” skip any of them. The illustrations are beautiful and even after reading this probably a hundred times it looks as good as the first day we cracked it open. As an added bonus, on the last page of the book there are instructions for folding your own paper boat.
#2: How do Dinosaurs Clean Their Room? By Jane Yolen & Mark Teague
Buy it here: How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Room?
There is a whole series of the ‘how do dinosaurs’ books, but this is the only one we have. I can totally see buying a few of them as a really fun kid birthday or holiday gift because they are cute AND super reasonably priced. Jack loves the illustrations of dinosaurs doing human kid things, like hiding teddy bears under his bed and putting his matchbox cars in rows. I love that it is a quick read and still hasn’t gotten stale after a straight year of being on our heavy rotation list.
#3: The Diggers by Margaret Wise Brown
Buy it here: The Diggers
You may recognize the author’s name because she also wrote the super popular Goodnight Moon book. If you have a kid who likes diggers and trains, you NEED to buy this book. You get to see how all sorts of animals, people and machines dig holes for different reasons. The amount of words per page is totally manageable for a bedtime story session and the illustrations are so pretty.
#4: The Prince’s Bedtime by Joanne Oppenheim and Miriam Latimer
Buy it here: The Prince’s Bedtime
I’m pretty sure that this is my favorite book that we have. The rhyming couplets are just so fun to read aloud and when Jack tells me that it’s my turn to pick a book I usually go for this one. The story is about a prince who can’t go to sleep, so everyone in the kingdom tries to figure out ways to make him sleepy. Believe me, I get it! It’s a little silly, a little sweet and all around one of my absolute favorites. It even comes with a CD if you’d like to hear it narrated by Jim Broadbent… we’ve just never actually listened to it.
Do you have a favorite children’s book that you can read over and over again?
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Enjoy this time it goes so fast! When my 2nd was little we had to read a calendar over and over! (Even with stacks of great books!)
Great book recommendations!
Oh my gosh, that is too cute!!
Oh! We have the Prince’s Bedtime but hadn’t gotten around to trying it yet. Can definitely sympathize with trying to get a toddler sleepy…We also love the Little Blue Truck books. We’ve been reading those to him since he was around 6 months and somehow now that he’s 2, we all still love them! They are just short and cute enough that it doesn’t seem too horribly repetitive. Lately we also love Dragons Love Tacos (cuz come on, who doesn’t love tacos) and Hello Ninja.
Oooh, awesome. I’ll have to check them out! Do you guys have Little Blue Truck Christmas? It was our favorite holiday book last year! =)
Nope, I’ll have to put it on my list. Thanks!!
This is my favorite kids book ever – came out last year and I bought it for EVERYONE I know with a kid.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Pictures-B-J-Novak/dp/0803741715
Awesome, I’ll absolutely check it out!