Both of my daughters absolutely love books.
My oldest is now five and we've gone through quite the collection of board books, picture books and early reader, chapter books over the last few years. Every night before bed, she picks out three books that we read together (and occasionally, she'll sneak an extra one in there). Getting to sit in our big chair and read with her each night is the best part of my day because of how excited she gets when we bring out a new book or one of her favorite regulars.
We also have a one year old who has recently become enthusiastic about reading as well. Give her the option of a new toy or a new book, she'll pick the book a hundred times out of a hundred. Although her attention span isn't very long, we've found a number of shorter, board books that she is now obsessed with. At this point, I think my wife and I could probably recite them all from memory!
Getting the chance to pick out new books for our daughters is really fun. We try to make regular trips to our local library and usually come home with 15-20 books that will last us a few weeks. Normally, both of our girls will latch on to a hand full of titles that we read over and over until it's time to return them.
Since we typically are looking through more than a dozen new books each week, we wanted to share some of our favorites with all of you! Each week, make sure to check our "Bennett's Favorite Books This Week" section of our site to see which new books we've started reading in our house.
For this week, we've mixed in a little bit of comedy, science and some fun with imagination in our nighttime reading. Read more below!
We Are Growing!
Authors: Laurie Keller & Mo Willems
Anytime we bring home a Mo Willems' book, it's sure to be met with a lot of smiles.
In We Are Growing!, Willems' popular Elephant and Piggie characters get things started by introducing us to one of their new favorite books! The story itself is about Walt and his other grass friends who have just learned that they are growing. Each friend is a bit unique and gets to boast about being the something-est, that is except for Walt. Walt isn't the tallest, or pointiest, or curliest. Surely, Walt does something the best?
When the friends get met with a lawn mowing surprise, they not only learn that they will grow again, but also that all of them are uniquely special.
My daughter loved this book because it has Willems' trademark comedy throughout. The tone of the book is really lighthearted, but also carries with it an important message. The theme of being special and unique is straightforward and presented in a way that will easily be understood by preschool and young elementary age children.
I Wanna Be a Cowgirl
Author: Angela Di'Terlizzi
Recently my daughter has started to develop a love of horses. She's constantly looking at pictures of them and has even recently begun taking horse back riding lessons. So, when we were at the library, it was an easy decision to select I Wanna Be a Cowgirl from the shelf.
The illustrations in this picture book were enough to get my daughter instantly interested. The art work follows along a story of imagination, as we see a little girl dream of all the different things she'd get to do as a cowgirl. She gets to put on her cowboy boots, learn to lasso, and, yes, ride her horse. With each page, we made sure to stop and take in the vibrant illustrations by Elizabet Vukovic.
Author Angela DiTerlizzi's repeatable, rhyming text is also great for early readers. Since my little girl is currently getting an intro to reading at school, this book made for a great addition to our bedtime story routine this past week.
Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure
Author: Camille Andros
There may not be a more topical children's book for present day than Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure.
The story takes place in the woods where a recent malady has started to make all of the animals sick. Charlotte, a bunny with a lot of enthusiasm about science, decides she is going to figure out what's going on and help get everyone better. Throughout the book, we see her collecting data, running tests and studying her results to help find the source of the illness. Once she discovers a fungus that is causing all of the carrots to go bad, Charlotte is able to alert the town and develop a cure to remedy the ailment.
As expected, my daughter made the obvious association between this book and the current coronavirus pandemic. What I appreciated the most about the book's presentation was the use of introductory terms to explain how science solves problems. All of it was written at a level that my five year old could grasp. The book even includes a glossary at the end to help explain words like "hypothesis", "malady" and "clinical trial."
Admittedly, trying to answer my daughter's questions about COVID-19 has been challenging, but Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure really helped with some of our recent conversations thanks to its relatability. For parents of inquisitive elementary children, I would definitely recommend giving this one a read.
Princesses Save the World
Author: Savannah Guthrie
Princesses Save the World is a New York Times best seller by Today Show host Savannah Guthrie. It's easy to see how most people's initial interest may be because of the celebrity author, but this picture book brings a lot to the table.
Princess Penelope Pineapple is out to help her friend Princess Sabrina Strawberry. With all of the Strawberry Kingdom's bees recently disappearing, Sabrina is worried about growing her fruit. But with a friend in need, all of the neighboring princess join together to help get bees over to the strawberry kingdom and save the day.
The book's rhyming text and detailed illustrations were immediate attention grabbers for my daughter. She loved seeing the different princess characters, and the dominant theme about the importance of bees was something she found interesting. The end of the book also includes a great description that discusses why bees are so important. Although reading through all of the princesses alliterating names were a bit of a mouthful at times, we still really enjoyed this clever, award-winning story.
That's Not My Duck...
Author: Fiona Watt
Parents of infants are likely familiar with the Usborne Touchy-Feely book series already. Our house is full of these interactive books because they're great at holding the attention of really young children.
For those that haven't seen these books before, they come in a board book format and each page has a different texture for the child to touch. No matter what subject you're looking for, there's a pretty good chance it exists in the series. There are more than 60 different versions of these touch-and-feel books.
With my youngest daughter's vocabulary still limited to just a few words, we opted to get a book where she could say her new favorite word, "duck." Admittedly, my wife and I both really just wanted to hear her keep saying it, so we love reading this one with her whenever we get a chance. That said, you can't go wrong with any books in the series if you're looking for some quick entertainment for your infant or toddler.