We brought home a haul from the library last week. Ellen got a little time in public, and I helped her pick out books that were not Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs or Sophia the First: The Perfect Tea Party.
I just can’t read them one.more.time.
Here’s what we got. Here’s what we thought.
A Pet’s Life: Cats
Kids’ guide from @ASPCA. Basic facts about #cats and how to care for them. Has a glossary. Ellen just likes the pics. #NoWeCantGetaCat
A Thump from Upstairs
Pretty sure this book would scare Ellen more than help fear of dark. Weird book. Bumps in the night & cats throwing surprise bday parties.
The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot
Alien/robot take on #TheThreeLittlePigs. Super cute. Ellen was scared of this one too despite her love of robots. She might have issues.
I Read Symbols
LOVED this book. We are working on teaching Ellen street signs, and this helps a ton. Big, simple images of road signs. #homeschooling #preK
Five Little Kittens
Kitties. Porridge. Cat baths. Pretty much every element Ellen ever wants in a book. #BroadenHerHorizons #ButSheLikesIt
Cookiebot!
Whenever we go to the library, Ellen demands robot books. Don’t know why. This one she liked. Prob bc it involved cookies & inventions.
Getting a Haircut
Just now realizing how many fears my kid has. Have feeling she’ll hate haircuts. Hoping this helps. Step-by-step guide: getting haircut.
Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake
Adorable. Teaches patience. Has chocolate cake. Now I want cake. Maybe I shouldn’t read this book anymore. Mmmm. Cake.
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So, here’s the recap:
Ellen loves kitties, bunnies and certain robots. She hates other robots, the dark and probably haircuts. But, that’s not the point. The point: Let me know your fave kids’ book. Give me a quick review if you’re feeling fancy. And, feel free to stop by my Lila Rose Giveaway and win an awesome hair accessory!
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We love Little Blue truck and Chicka Chicka boom boom
We just got Chicka Chicka Boom Boom too, and Ellen loves it! And I have heard great things about Little Blue Truck! Thanks for the recs!
I tried reading her the ” No David” book. She hated it! Knocked it right out of my hands.
Sass. So much sass.
Jan Brett books, charming stories all richly illustrated with an added bonus of side panels documenting the activities of another character like Hedgie.
Babybug magazine for the Tom and Pippo stories and more
Richard Scarry books are darling stories of anthropomorphic animals on daily adventures. Some stories ask questions, some have you search for characters like Goldbug.
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. Ducks with rhyming names born and raised in Boston’s Public Gardens with the swan boats. Beautiful charcoal illustrations.
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Animalia by Graeme Base. Enjoy searching for items beginning with the letter of the alphabet on each page. Phenomenal art.
Thanks for all the recs! I remember Richard Scarry from when I was little :) And, I am thinking Ellen will really love Animalia and Jan Brett books!
Thanks for the recommendations! :) I need to start buying more books for my little 6 month old baby. :) The only books that we have now are cloth books.
Any book counts, I say! And hit up the goodwill for great prices :)
I’m a life-long lover of reading and books and it all began as a toddler. It warmed my heart to read this. :)
I’m so glad. Nothing better than finding a book that you are constantly trying to find time to pick up again.
We’re gonna have to check out The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot. That’s an awesome twist on The Three Little Pigs. My kids will probably love it. Thanks for the reviews. My daughters are twins and they love this book All About Twins. Ancient as hell. Interviews fraternal/identical twins. Talks about famous twins. Helps them not feel different I think.
How cool is that. It may be that I am just not in the know, but I don’t see many books on twins.
My daughter and I read together all the time! I’m not sure what our favorite books are…right now she is really into the “froggy” books. But it changes from week to week :)
Sign of a true book lover!
My kids love to read. My sister is a teacher and is always bring up new books she loves. My kids enjoy reading any of the pirate books. Pirates first day of school, pirates don’t change diapers. They are cute
ooh. What age level are those?
I don’t think there is any age limit. We read them to the kids. They seem pretty simple. Our library has a ton of them. I would check it out. They are fun
Will do. Thanks for the reply, Jen!
We LOVE “Goodnight Gorilla.” Definitely a favorite of ours:) Thanks for the recommendations!
That is one we have never read!
I don’t have children but have very fond memories of visiting libraries and bringing home tons of great books to read.
Rachel recently posted What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Elephants
Reminds me of the movie version of Matilda :)
I don’t have kids yet, but I love the kinds of books for kids that can introduce them to a real-life event, so Getting A Haircut would be a winner for me!
I love that your daughter loves robots – that is so cute!
-Becky
She even has a robot voice: “Daddy. Robot. I. am. done. with. dinner. Clean. me. up.” Love her!
A great selection of books there. My kids used to devour books when they were little, falling asleep with great piles of them up and around them on the bed! I think any and all kids books are good – a variety and particularly anything they show and interest in – like robots!! :) My favourites were always the Dr. Seuss books!
Isn’t it the best to see your kid sleeping in a pile of books?
We love the Little Blue Truck, too! Our favs are The Jesus Storybook Bible, anything Dr. Suess, and anything Eric Carle.
All of those! Have you ever done an Eric Carle type art project?
My daughter was obssessed with Clifford the Big Red Dog and Clifford the Small Red Puppy when she was little. She had them so well memorized when she was 2 years old that she could recite them word for word and people actually thought that she was reading.
hahaha That is how we are with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!
My youngest son loves all by dr. Seuss. I bought all of them from Amazon. I might need to check out your book list later. Thank you for sharing
Awesome! Did they come as a lot or a collection?
My daughter is always choosing weird and wonderful books from the library. I think she would have picked up five little kittens for no other reason than it has kittens in it,….lol
Sounds just like my kid!
My little ones are older, but I work with 2nd graders. We like Jan Brett books too. We also celebrate Clifford and Dr. Seuss. So I love seeing all the new books out. Maybe I will start collecting for the grand children one day.
Or just for yourself! Kids’ books are so fun :)
I am SO glad I found you through the commentathon! I love your blog- and started following you! Those books look so lovely- and this would be such a great resource for mamas of little ones!! Wonderful recommendations!
Thank you, Christine. That makes this momma super happy. I am really looking forward to getting to know you better. Don’t be a stranger!
So cute! Love your theme and colors!
Shout out to my designer: Santa Clara Designs!
My kids are 12 and 10 so these books are a little young for them. But, boy do I miss that age! How they cuddle up next to you when you are reading…My 10 year old did that the other night when I was reading the book of Malachi to her. I know it won’t be much longer when she will not do that at all anymore. Great post!
I’m so glad that you are still able to read to your kiddos. Have you done fiction/chapter books too?
Oh how I miss reading fun books to my kids. They grow too darn fast. Thankfully I have a slew of grandchildren that I can read to whenever they visit. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Have You Got Enough Room:-)
Oh Goodness! We just picked up Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I think I have already read it 50 times!
Love your theme and layout! I buy and read books with my grandchildren and your blog will be so helpful to me when trying to decide on new books for them, thanks.
Oh I’m so glad to hear that. And, I have to give a shout out to my designer for the theme and layout: Santa Clara Designs.
What a selection! My daughter prefers to read educational type books – like children’s encyclopedias or books that explain all about airplanes. Last year she brought home a book about the history of St. Valentine’s Day. Grant you, I learned while she read to me every night after school, but it was quite a dry read!
ha! You know, I find that I often learn the most when I read something that is designed for a child. Kind of embarrassing, but honestly, sometimes adult material is written in a confusing way just because it is for adults. There is nothing wrong with being plain and simple!
My daughter is a BIG reader and would love every single one of these books!
Oh awesome! If you do check any of them out, let me know how she likes them.
Great idea for a book review. Concise and to the point. Well done xx
Thanks, Linsey! When I read a book review, I just want straight to the point. I will decide if I want to read it myself :)
I love how you condense your reviews into tweets!
I think they are so much more fun to read that way. I know I don’t usually read long, drawn out reviews ;)
One of our favorites is The Monster at the End of This Book (Sesame Street). So much fun and the kids loved it! I’ve kept a copy for each of my children. Maybe they will read it to their own children some day.
You know, now that you mention that book, I am pretty sure I had a copy of that growing up. Is that the one with Grover?
Yes! LOVE that book. There was another one called Another Monster at the End of This Book with Elmo. Also fun!!
I don’t have any children of my own yet, but my 4-year-old nephew loves any book about cars, trucks, trains, Star Wars, or Angry Birds. Total ecstacy if a book can combine two or more of these topics!
You are an awesome aunt then! Try the robot books too. Robots are always a huge hit with boys and girls. Bonus points if you talk in a robot voice.
I use to read Little Blue Truck from my previous career. This September, I’m back at school, LOL. But loving the change and going for a different career.
Now I have to know what you are going back for. I am a former teacher myself, although I did high school. I changed careers and got my degree in changing diapers ;) I like it better this way!
Seriously cute blog. The best I’ve seen on commentathon thus far. This is a unique idea and I loved the reviews. I’m going to have to subscribe to you. Love it.
Oh I’m so glad that I will be hearing more from you then :) Welcome and don’t be shy! I love new blog friends.
Oh how I miss the days of my son going to the library and picking out books. I had to laugh when you said you helped pick out books. It remind me of the time my son picked out 3 tongue twister book at one of our visits, needless to say we return visit was much sooner than normal. Great idea for a site, I love it.
hahahaha! We went to a book sale yesterday, and it was $5 for a bag of books. I told Ellen she could put a few in. When we got home, I had all of these weird manufacturing and business manuals…
While I don’t have any children yet, I am looking forward to this type of thing. You paint it in a slightly comical light, which makes it so cute. I can’t wait to do this with my future children.
You’re kids are going to love you for it. Going to the library is such a good way just to get out of the house, and you feel like your kids are getting something out of it too ;)
Love this idea for a post-I think I’ll try something like it on my blog! We’ll definitely have to find that 3 little aliens book. My boys will love it!
Let me know if you do! Modern Mrs. Darcy does a Twitterature link up each month (she did one today!), and it’s a fun way to discover even more books!
So many fun books!
Thanks, Carly! Do you have any faves? (for adults or kids? I’m always looking too!)
My children are grown and I have very fond memories of all the wonderful books we read together. Not only was it great for their vocabulary, it was time spent quietly together, learning what we thought wa funny, sad, and some life lessons through speical characters and stories.
Elle
I love that too :) One of my favorite things is when we get to an emotional part of a book, and I can see a reaction on her face! Did you kids have any faves growing up?
Great selection and variety to expose her too. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by, Lisa!
Such a clever way to do book reviews! I don’t have little ones, my girls are reading chapter books, but we loved You are Special by Max Lucado
You know, I started doing it one day when I saw it on Conversion Diary. Then, Modern Mrs. Darcy started doing a Twitterature link up (once a month, I think), and it kept me going. I don’t think most people want to read a huge drawn out review anyway!
Love the way you do your book reviews. I love books. Our elementary is having their book fair tomorrow… I think I’m more excited then my kids. :)
Very cute list and loved the hashtags. :) My girls are a bit older and reading chapter books, but they still love to have me read their little kid books at night. I’ve been wanting to do a larger book and read a few pages or so each night throughout the year. Considering something like the Chronicles of Narnia or Anne of Green Gables.
We love our local library too. My girls like to check out huge stacks and “read” them every day. Cats and bunnies are popular here too.
Nice information. Will share it with inlaws who have kids and love to read.
My son loves books, and we have taken up regular trips to the library to keep us from going crazy reading the same books too (and of course he enjoys it as well). He just grabs books off the shelf, so you never know what we’ll come home with. Some of the things people put in children’s books blows my mind– seriously, how did they get that published? Anyway, his favorite from our current batch is one about Matchbox cars racing to find pirate treasure. One book that was given to us that my son really enjoyed, and I surprisingly heard girls enjoy as well, is called Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs. Happy reading. :)
What fun – I love hearing what books other people’s kids love. How old is your daughter? My son is 3 1/2 and I think he would really like the 2 robot books you mentioned and the Symbols book. If you’re finding that “bad guys” in books are scary to your daughter, you might just try sticking with nonfiction for a while. We have found tons of great books at the library about animals, planets, the human body, and (of course) all kinds of trucks. Basically anytime he asks a question I don’t know the answer to, I try to make a mental note to get a book on that subject next time we’re at the library.
This is so cute! My son is 11 and in 6th grade so he’s into The Hunger Games and stuff like that right now (good news is I can read his books when he’s done and enjoy them too!) My daughter is 22 months so we’re still in the nursery rhymes and board books stages there. One of my all time favorites from when I was little though is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Thanks for the book suggestions! I’m always on the lookout for books to read to my niece and nephew. :)
Looks like you got a great stack of books! Happy Reading :) ~ Renee
Thanks, Renee! Are you reading anything right now?
We just left the library too! Lots of Junie B. Jones (I think the last 3 that we haven’t read yet) and a few Fancy Nancy since we’ll be needing to find a new series now.
Wonderful! How old are your kids?
We just visited our library yesterday too. We homeschool, so we always end up coming home with an enormous bag of books!
Perfect :) Do you let the kids pick out whatever they like, or do you pick out books based on a theme unit? Or both?
A great selection of books you have :) The library is perfect for book reads! A few books I like: http://www.slideshare.net/chiarawang/sheep-in-jeep (sheep in a jeep) When I worked in childcare, the kids really liked/laughed at this one, and the other book is Goosebumps series books!
Ooh! Thanks for the recs. I remember loving Goosebumps as a kid too!
My son is obsessed with books right now. Finally he hit that stage. Right now we’re reading Halloween books, Max’s Halloween, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hallween and a fun touch and feel book.
Oh! Love the seasonal books. Now, is this the Max from Max and Ruby fame?
Yes it is! My son has a speech delay but it is one of the shows that has gotten him to start talking and when he says “Max”, momma can’t say no :) They recently released a Four Seasons Of Bunnies DVD too.
I will definitely look for I Read Symbols at our local library. We have a five-year-old and a two-year-old at home that love learning; this would be perfect! What a great idea to have “library hauls”!
We like to go there every once in a while and load up. My daughter loves it because she can take home whatever she wants…unlike at the store!
I Read Symbols is going on our list! I love your “tweet” reviews!