World Book Day!

I've posted before about the importance of reading to your little ones to help foster a love for reading from an early age, help develop language skills, and stimulate the senses with bright pictures or "Touch and Feel" books. But with today being World Book Day it seemed like an opportune time to visit this important topic again. We read to the boy-o every night before bed, and sometimes during the day too when he's willing to sit still long enough for a little cuddle. Some of his old favourites are still strongly preferred, but we've introduced some new favourites into the mix as well.

Currently the boy-o's favourites include: The Belly Button Book, The Barnyard Dance, and B is for Bear. We have a lot of Dr. Seuss books that we read pretty frequently as well. There are so many excellent children's books out there it can be hard to choose which ones to buy--which is why I'd suggest that if you don't already, register your child for a public library card and go speak to your local librarian! They're excellent at providing age appropriate books that will be of the most interest your little one. 

Some of my favourites that we don't currently have which are aimed for more of a pre-school audience are:

1. Oink-A-Doodle-Moo: My sister was actually the person who introduced this book to me and I think it's so fantastic it's now become my go-to book gift! It's basically barnyard telephone gone horribly wrong! It's very short with only a few words on each page and full page pictures. It provides lots of opportunity to be silly and explore how the game of telephone can go wrong..

2. The Llama, Llama Series: There are several books in this series and they're all fantastic! They help teach concepts like patience and feelings in a fun way. The Llama Llama books are very creative and are written in a simple rhythmic style that helps to keep the attention of littler littles. The illustrations are also wonderful and you'll certainly enjoy accompanying Llama Llama on his adventures.

3. The Lady With the Alligator Purse: This book was always a big favourite at the daycare I used to work at. There's an accompanying song you can sing the book along to, but even just reading out the rhymes is great fun. It's a silly book with excellent illustrations that stretch the imagination to the world of the impossible. 

Canadian Authors:

Guy Gavriel Kay:

And finally, being Canadian I have two Canadian authors whose work I really love that I'd like to share with you as well. The first is an adult author, and I own ALL of his books and eagerly await the announcements that a new one is coming out. Guy Gavriel Kay writes Fantasy books and the worlds that he creates are truly astounding. I've listened to him do a book reading before where he explained that his books are loosely based on historical cities and civilizations and that makes me love them even more! My favourite books by him include The Finovar Tapestries, Ysabel, and Tigana. 

Melanie Watts:

The second Canadian author that I'd like to share with you is Melanie Watts. She writes children's books and is quite well known for her Scaredy Squirrel series, but she also writes a fantastic series about a cat named Chester! We have two of the Chester books so far, and although these are definitely meant for pre-school+  I look forward to being able to read them to the boy-o one day because they are quite funny and very creative. Chester the Cat likes to try and take over the story and "re-write" it as it goes along with his red marker. I highly recommend this series to everyone! 

But most importantly, whatever kind of book it is you enjoy reading today on World Book Day pick it up and do some reading--and read to your little ones. The love for reading starts early and as parents we should do all that we can to help that love grow!

Your Turn: What's your favourite book and who introduced you to it?

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.