My 4 children are currently ages 8, 7, 4, and 2, at the time of this post. My older girls do enjoy longer read-alouds and chapter books, but for the most part I’ll focus on easier reads. Here are 10 books they love right now:
1. Tintin and the Picaros (Hergé)
My two older girls have actually read the entire set of Tintin books (minus Tintin in the Congo, which is currently not really accessible where racism and some other issues are a little too much to try to discuss at this point). My husband had these books as a child, and their entry into the world of Tintin began with his childhood copy of this book, which subsequently spurred on our now 7-year-old to become a voracious reader.
2. Frog and Toad Together (Arnold Lobel)
We love all the Frog and Toad series, but this collection (“A List,” “In the Garden,” “Cookies,” “Dragons and Giants,” and “The Dream”) takes the cake. (Or in this case, the cookie!). This is definitely one of my favorite easy books to read aloud.
3. The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear (Don and Audrey Wood)
I remember reading this book as a child, and was thrilled to find a used copy for our children. We all love it, especially during the younger ages, but it’s a frequently quoted book for everyone.
4. Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak)
I never really understood the appeal of this book prior to having kids, but Justus really loved it the first time he read it, and loves to look at the pictures, especially.
5. The Seven Silly Eaters (Mary An Hoberman)
A friend gave us this book a few years back, and we absolutely love it. The adults love to read it because we can relate with the growing parental exhaustion. And our kids love the rhythmic verse and beautiful illustrations. Definitely a winner!
6. We Are in a Book! (Mo Willems)
Our 2-year-old is really into this book right now, which we picked up from the library. We love pretty much all of the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems, and they each have a fun flair to them.
7. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs (Mo Willems)
This is one of those books that is really fun to read as a parent, but is also funny for kids.
8. The World of Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A. Milne)
A classic, of course, which typically ends in uproarious laughter.
9. The Napping House (Audrey Wood, Don Wood)
We have this in board-book edition, and love the funny rhyme and style of the illustrations.
10. The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson)
This was a book we stumbled on by accident, but find quite funny. It’s not uncommon to hear someone quoting “There’s no such thing as a gruffalo!”
What are your favorites? For you? For your kids?
Right now Emma is all about “Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear” – a story of how Winnie the Pooh came to be. It’s a little on the long side but we’ve been reading it nearly every night for a few weeks now https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0316324906
Thanks, James! Awesome! I’d seen ads for it recently, but just ordered it via your link! 🙂
Thanks, Keren! We’ve read several of these, but will check CLT’s library system for the others. Have you stumbled across “Give your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time” by Jamie C. Martin? Amazing resource with hundreds of book titled listed by kids’ age range and continent.