As a bookworm parent, one of the things I looked forward to most with my daughter when she was born was reading to her. Many of my fondest memories as a child involve books and what they allowed my imagination to do.
I was an early reader at the age of four, and I was able to read before I could write! Instead, I would write squiggly lines in a notebook or on a piece of paper and then have to make up a new story every time I "read" it to someone (that someone was usually my parents or little brother).
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When Lydia was born, I had a small stockpile of books that I had bought or got from my baby shower that were special for her. Over the past year, her collection has grown a bit (we have two small bookshelves almost full) and we certainly have a few fun favorites amongst the collection. Typically in a day, I try to read at least one educational book and one story book to her. I find this balance helpful, since I wanted her to develop knowing that reading is both for learning and for enjoyment.
Top five favorite educational board books:
1. First 100 Box Set: These books by Priddy Publishers are wonderful for teaching your little one first words, animals, numbers, shapes, and colors. It is a box set of three books (I bought them individually) but they are full of colorful pictures that teach Baby the basics. Not featured in the box set is their First 100 Numbers book, which I also greatly enjoy reading to Lydia.
2. Ten Little Ladybugs: This is definitely one of Lydia's favorite books that we have. I used to keep it out for her (until she ripped a page on accident) and she would constantly go through all of the pages, close the book, and then go back through over and over again. There are ten little ladybugs that are raised so that they are 3D and they are very fun for little fingers to go over.
3. My First ABC: When it comes to learning the ABC's, this book is top-notch. It has multiple examples of each letter with pictures so that Baby is able to see different objects and animals that have names starting with that letter. It is also compact, so it fits nicely in the diaper bag for on-the-go learning!
4. Little People Big Dreams - Marie Curie: I found this book at Barnes & Noble and thought it would be a great example for Lydia so that she could see a woman pursuing a career in science. This book goes through a very high level synopsis of Marie Curie's life, but is still a great read for little girls nonetheless. I have also found that Lydia did naturally gravitate towards this book on her own, therefore it has become a favorite of hers! We also have the Amelia Earhart story from this series that we also like, but Lydia still prefers the Marie Curie story.
5. Baby Explorer - Leaves: Since Lydia was born, she seems to really like leaves! I would take her for a walk or we would be outside and she loved looking up at the leaves. When I found this book at the Bookery, I was excited to be able to read it to her so that she could learn more about leaves and what they can do. This book did not disappoint and is very thorough on the descriptions and diagrams of how leaves work and help trees.
Top five favorite board books:
1. Where is the Green Sheep?: This sweet and silly story is about trying to find a green sheep while going through all the other kinds of sheep you can see. We enjoy the pictures and very silly sheep that we meet along the way to finding out where the green sheep is!
2. Bear Snores On: We love the Bear Books! These books follow Bear and his woodland friends through the different seasons. The story rhymes and has a nice flow to them, as well as adorable pictures and characters. The stories are cheerful and Lydia loves when we read them to her with different voices for Bear and his friends. We also have Bear Wants More and Bear Can't Sleep.
3. Little Blue Truck Leads the Way: Little Blue Truck books are always a great go-to for us since they have colorful pictures and have a great message to them about being kind to others. We received this book in an Amazon Prime Book Box for kids! We also enjoy the original Little Blue Truck and Little Blue Truck Springtime.
4. That's Not My Sheep: These books are cute in that every page has a different texture to feel as you go through the animals or objects that are not quite what you are looking for. Lydia loves going through and feeling soft, scratchy, and sticky textures! We also have That's Not My Fox and That's Not My Bee.
5. Too Many Carrots: This sweet story is about learning how to be a good friend and not taking advantage of your friends. I like that it also teaches kids to share their abundance rather than keeping everything to themselves. Sharing is caring, after all! The pictures for this one are very cute as well.
Top five favorite bedtime books:
1. Thank You and Goodnight: This was a book that we received in an Amazon Prime Book Box for kids and we love reading this story before bed! It is a very cute story about three stuffed animals and what they want to do before having a sleepover and going to bed.
2. Goodnight Farm: With the touch and feel aspect, this is a fun story for bedtime that is interactive. Lydia enjoys touching the different textures of the animals in the book.
3. Snuggle Up Sleepy Ones: A sweet story about various animals going down for bedtime! This is a great story to help her learn about different animals as well as using new vocabulary to describe going to bed.
4. Time For Bed: This classic is another story that uses animals to narrate going to bed. We love the soft pictures displayed in the book and the gentle tones of the words used, which seem to be soothing for bedtime.
5. Ten in the Bed: This is a book that I vividly remember reading when I was a child and it was one of my favorites! My mom let me borrow it from her stash of saved books and we love reading this to Lydia. It has a cute sing-song way about it and we love the playful aspect.
What a selection! I had such a hard time picking some of these favorites and was going to add a list of some of our favorite picture books, but that will have to be for another post. There are so many that we have enjoyed reading to her, that I would need to compile a list and then really think about it before sharing.
Comment below with what some of your favorite board books are as well as your favorites to read at bedtime with your little ones! We love other recommendations and hope you found a new book or two from our list!
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