Reading Together: Sharing Together

I'm a huge fan of reading and so is my Hubby. We've both loved books for as long as we can remember and so we hope to pass on that love of reading to the boy-o. I still remember many of my childhood favourite books like "Coral Island" and "Goblins in the Castle." The fact that we love to read is certainly no secret to our family and friends, and I'm very proud to admit that the boy-o already has almost an entire two shelf bookcase in his room full of wonderful books! Some are pre-loved, some are new, some are for when he's a little older and some are in a second language.

Books: Not just for reading! Om nom nom....

I try to read with him everyday (or ever other day at least!) and so far it seems like he's got some personal favourites too. At the moment we're mostly reading board books because he's at the stage where he wants to grab and pull everything into his mouth, and a regular book would run the risk of giving him a paper cut as well as getting ripped. So it'll be board books for a while yet!

 Some of our current favourites are:

1. The Barnyard Dance: This book is a silly rhyming story about a group of farm animals doing a country dance. The images are really cute and the rhyming simple. The boy-o loves the sound of this story and we read this one every time we sit down together to do some reading. Boynton has a bunch of really great books, but this one is our favourite.

2. Noisy Farm: This book is a super simple one, but the boy-o loves when I make the noises and he likes looking at the bright colours. He also really likes trying to lift up the flaps, although he doesn't really have the dexterity yet to manage that!

 

 

 

3. B is for Bear: We read this one so often that the boy-o has started to learn which pages have something to touch and will start to reach for it before I even bring his hand to it! The letters are large and clear and the book has a nice rhyming scheme. The pictures are large as well, and there's a lot of different textured spots for baby to touch and feel. The boy-o also gets really excited by all the large human faces in the book.

 



 

 

 

4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar: This one is a classic favourite, and is a frequent read in our house! The pictures are simple but lovely, the story a beautiful one of transformation, and it provides some opportunities for basic counting and "name that object" style playing.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Grumpy Bird: This is an excellent book that talks about feelings and friends. It's a nice repetitive story that allows your little one to anticipate what's coming next and it provides an opportunity to practice counting by keeping track of how many friends Bird has. It has a good message at the end and the pictures are very cute.

 







 

All of these books are available through Amazon or Chapters in board book format!

 

 

We actually like the idea of reading to the boy-o so much that we had bought a book that was meant to be read to him in utero! We decorated his nursery in Dr. Seuss theme, so when we stumbled upon this book we just couldn't resist! It's an adapted story from various Dr. Seuss books and it's really super cute with all the rhyming tongue twisters you'd expect to find in any other Dr. Seuss book!

 

 

 

Reading with your child is a great way to bond and spend some quiet time together. And the best part is, it's never too early or too late to start! If you don't already read with your little one pick up some books today and get started! It's a life-long love that you'll be passing on.