Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. This book is by the author of the classic Goodnight Moon. It is very popular with the babies because they love all the pictures of the animals, they love for me to point to and name the animals as we go along and make the animal sounds. The story goes through the animals' day on the farm and incorporates the various animal names, their sounds, their colors, as well as the concept of little and big (i.e. very big horse and very little horse). The text itself has a soothing, lulling rhythm to it and is perfect for a quiet read before bedtime. The illustrations are beautifully done as well. All around a great book.
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle. The babies love the singsongy-ness of this book and all of the sounds both animal and mechanical (Moo! Beep! etc.). It is both fun to read aloud and fun to listen to. The illustrations are gorgeous. This is such an endearing little story about a friendly blue truck who greets all the animals as he drives by and his willingness to help out another truck in a bind. It has a message about the importance of being caring, friendly, and kind. Obviously this goes over my babies' heads at this particular moment, but I have a feeling this will be a favorite for years to come. In terms of educational value it features lots of animals and their sounds throughout the book.
What's Wrong, Little Pookie? by Sandra Boynton. We are huge Boynton fans in our household, so it is no surprise that she would make our list of favorite books. A lot of her books don't necessarily have a traditional plot structure, so this book was a fun surprise for me. For mothers, this story will be familiar and heartwarming to read. It features a mother and her child who is upset for some unknown reason. As the mother attempts to figure out what's wrong she goes through a list of all the typical suspects (hungry, tired, etc.) to no avail. Finally she starts making up outlandish and funny possible problems to get little Pookie to see how silly they seem. By the end Pookie has been distracted and doesn't even remember what was wrong. As a stay at home mom of two toddlers, I often read this book when we ourselves are having a "moment". The bright colors and words usually distract my own little Pookie and it is a reminder to me that sometimes there is no "reason", and that's OK.
Where is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz. This is a Lift-the-Flap book and it is a bright, cute, easy, and quick read. It is a lot of fun for the babies because they love figuring out how to lift the flap and discovering the body part they are looking for (i.e. baby's eyes, feet, hands, etc.). It is helpful for familiarizing your baby with the names and locations of different body parts, and with developing their fine motor skills in manipulating the flaps. Great for independent play since lifting the flaps and discovering the picture underneath keeps them entertained for a while. Chloe is particularly good at lifting the flaps and you can tell she is always delighted when she finds a picture under the flap and proud that she was able to do it herself. This is a great bedtime book for nights when you are exhausted because it has high entertainment value for baby and is quick and easy for Mom and Dad.
Little Quack's ABC's by Lauren Thompson. This book is part of a series featuring the same duck characters. Other books in this series include Little Quack Counts, Little Quack Loves Colors, and more. The babies are obsessed with the little ducks in this book, and this is the book that is responsible for one of their first words being "duck". The colors are vibrant and the illustrations in these books are great. The stories are simple and cute and incorporate something educational (i.e. counting, colors, opposites, ABCs). I think my favorite so far is this ABC's book because it names a different object or animal for each letter of the alphabet. You would think this takes a long time but they manage to use two or three letters per page so it goes pretty quick. It is nice because you can point and name the object, the letter, and talk about the sound it starts with. By the end of the book the little ducklings are Yawning and drifting off to sleep Zzzzzzz. Too cute!
Well, those are a few of our favorite books. Of course there are many more but these are a few that we read more frequently than most. Have a great Tuesday and happy reading!
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