What books do you read to your kids?

My mom is a kindergarden/1st/special ed teacher and reminds me of the importance of reading the same book over and over. SO! I pick my nighttime rituals carefully...

What do you recommend? Remember, I will be reading it 10,000 times :huh:

 

I started with "Goodnight Moon" and my 2 yr olds sill love it, now we have to look for the moom everynight Now they each get to pick their own book, but we still do that one often.
Good luck with your decision.

 

We read a disney collection of first stories. There are 12 - 16 in there, although I have them all memorzied already. We start at the first one, and keep going.

 

Good night Moon, Runaway Bunny, Guess How Much I Love You. All great nighttime books.

 

How could I forgot our new fav - "you are all my favorites" about 3 little bears who are all special.

 

the napping house (is good one for extending, they can find the flea, say what's next, make the animal sounds), the little mouse the red ripe strawberry and the big hungry bear (any books by audrey wood are super cute and good illustrations), if you give a mouse a cookie , where's babies bellybutton, everyone poops,
I love you forever (you'll cry everytime!) 3 little pigs, goodnight gorilla, 5 little ducks, Brown bear, Brown bear, Sandra Boynton books

Alyson

 

Our fave board books that we have read at nighttime for the last year include:

*Goodnight Moon
*Goodnight Gorilla
*The Very Hungry Caterpillar
*Going on a Bear Hunt
*Five Little Ducks
*Daddy Kisses
*Mommy Hugs

In the last two months, they have finally started to enjoy listening to an entire story. The board books above were just short enough to keep them interested.

 

We do the going to bed book (sandra boynton), good night moon (margaret mead) and on the night you were born (nancy tillman)
on nights when all else fails we read dr. seus's sleep book!!!

 

QUOTE(axpan @ Aug 9 2007, 10:55 PM) [snapback]363718[/snapback]
on nights when all else fails we read dr. seus's sleep book!!!


I was just about to mention the sleep book!! I can't read that book without getting sleepy and it worked like a charm with my older kids. I've read it a few times to the girls already.

 

We read a book called 'Peepo'...it starts of like this:

Here's a little baby
one, two, three
stands in his cot
what does he see?

Then there's a hole on the other side of the page and the word Peepo and then they go on to tell what he sees.

It goes through his whole day until he goes to bed.

I used to read it to my youngest brother and now I read it to my kids.

 

All good suggestions so far. I'd add Pat the Bunny as that is pretty interactive which is something you're looking for at that age. Also find ones with words your children understand and can say (if they're talking) and find books with those words in it. My boy loves to point out cars, balls, dogs, babies, mamas and dadas to me as well as some other animals so any book with a combination of those is a hit in his eyes.

After awhile, he'll find the book he wants me to read to him and bring it to me.

I'd also suggest hard books as those little fingers tear the paperback books too easily at that age.

 

I agree, it's annoying for you, but the repetition is important to them. Once they were old enough to start bedtime rituals we started reading Goodnight Moon. They LOVE it and really look forward to it. Before, they would just crawl around the room and not seem to be paying attention. Now they both sit really still and listen. They start giggling on the last page b/c they know as soon as I say "goodnight noises everywhere" they're about to get kisses and snuggles...

Stacy

 

You read almost the same books everynight?!?!! Are we supposed to? We have a bunch of books and we read them a different one every night - I think I would go insane if I was reading the same one every night!! The ones we have I have only read 10 times each hahahhahaha

 

Love the Touch and Learn books! They are great because they don't sit still long enough for a story, and so I just point to the pictures and say their names, and there is something to feel on each page.

 

QUOTE(christineinhk @ Aug 10 2007, 08:46 AM) [snapback]363790[/snapback]
You read almost the same books everynight?!?!! Are we supposed to? We have a bunch of books and we read them a different one every night - I think I would go insane if I was reading the same one every night!! The ones we have I have only read 10 times each hahahhahaha


This is me too! Why should we always read the same book? My girls already love to listen to all the different stories. What does repition do? I know when I was little we always read different books and I loved it! Now I'm a huge reader!

 

We read "Goodnight Moon" and "I love you all the time" every night. In addition we read another book or two each night that varies. Some of my favorites are "The giving tree", "Oh the places you'll go", "The velvetine rabbit", "Where the wild things are", "Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day", "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs", and "The ugly duckling".

 

QUOTE(mandyfish3 @ Aug 10 2007, 09:05 AM) [snapback]363816[/snapback]
This is me too! Why should we always read the same book? My girls already love to listen to all the different stories. What does repition do? I know when I was little we always read different books and I loved it! Now I'm a huge reader!


I'm a kindergarten teacher and can't stress the importance of this, especially when they are toddlers. It's not as import to read the same book when they are infants, but it is important for them to be read to. When children are read the same book, they actually learn to read it through memorization. When it's time to learn to read, they are able to distinguish between a word and a sentence quicker (a huge struggle for children who are not exposed to books at a young age). If you want them to get another step ahead (around age 4) point to the words as you read them.

For infants, I like to read books that make me laugh and keep me interested. My favorites are "My Truck is Stuck" and "Web Files". For toddlers, any book that has large print and less than a sentence on each page is great.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a know it all, but a Kindergarten teacher can tell you by the end of the first week of school who was read to as a child and who wasn't. The difference is shocking!

BTW: all of the above books in pp are great suggestions!

 

Their absolute favorite is "Hooray for Fish" by, Lucy Cousins.

I love anything by Todd Karr

 

My favorites for when they're a little older- I Love You Stinky Face and How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night. I think I've read these a zillion times!

 

unhealthy wolf,

brown bear brown bear what do you see,

i love you stinky face

twas the night before christmas

itsy bitsy spider..

and so many others.. those are just theones i have memorized.. lol

 

QUOTE
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night.


Great book! My 3yo loves it! He is my dinosaur!

 

My five year old son loves the "Little Critter" and "David" books.

 

Anything and everything by Sandra Boynton is great for little ones. Also, all the previous suggestions are good -- there are only a couple we don't have, and I plan to check them out!

My DD loves the Apple Tree Farm books published by Usborne.

 

We have always read 3 bedtime books to our girls each night during our routine. Why 3? I don't know, but 3 it is. We have the entire Sandra Boynton collection and they love them...thehippos, the Belly B book, etc etc. I also really love Good Night Little Ducklings with Little Quack and Barn Cat. Our girls love us to read to them. We now read 2 books at nap time and 1 book at wake up time in the morning, Sandra Boynton's The Wake Up Book. Our girls also take books and look through them a lot on their own and bring them to us during the day to read stories. By the way, most of our books I bought at the local used book store and they are like brand new at a fraction of the cost!

 

These are our favorites...

All of the Sandra Boynton books - she has two greatest hits sets (4 books each)
Karen Katz books - Toes, Ears & Nose, Where is Baby's Belly Button, Where is Baby's Mommy?
Eric Carle - Polar Bear, Polar Bear and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar
the "Diaper David" books - David Smells, Oops, Oh David
Byron Barton books - Planes, Trucks, Boats, Trains, etc.
Touch and Feel books (Farm, Shapes, Animals, ABC)
Fuzzy Bee and Friends
Big Red Barn
Goodnight Moon
Hush Little Baby
I Love You As Much..
Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo
Good Night Gorilla
I Love You, Little One