kids books we’re into lately

I haven’t talked up the kids books that we love in awhile. Here are some of the newest obsessions around here.

This is the first book Brandon “read.” And of course by that I mean he remembers what I’ve read to him, memorizes it, and then repeats it back to me, word for word, correctly turning the pages as he goes along. If you heard him read it, you would love this book too. It is a quick read and silly and so much fun.

Bring your patience for Morris, it’s 63 pages. But I remember loving it as a kid, as does Steve, as does Brandon. You cheer for Morris – somehow he learned all he needs to know in one day of school. If only we could all do that. And if only all we had to do in life was count our pennies and exchange them for gumdrops.

Another book I loved as a kid. Brandon loves knowing this about books, and then saying, “hey, you liked this when you were a kid! And I liked it when I was a kid, too!” The Golly sisters have a couple books – they are funny and fun. These are those very short chapter books like the Fox books, but of course we always read the whole thing because it’s quick. The chapter about the sisters in the storm always makes me smile.

Not all the books we read are from back in the day. Some are newish. And although sometimes I think I’m too unique to read some of the really mainstream stuff (hello vampire books and Harry Potter), I also know that sometimes what is popular is popular for a damn good reason. This original Fancy Nancy book made me smile in the first two pages – Nancy’s plain room and then it after she fancified it. She introduces kids to new vocabulary words by calling them fancy versions of plain words. Nancy is the fun kid version of Sheryl Sandberg.

Let’s talk about Holden for a minute. He reads books, too. Mainly he grunts and points at things and babbles what he must think are the words for pictures. But onomatopoeia never fails him. This book is pure onomatopoeia and pure delight – he shrieks and laughs when dad and I attempt the airplane sounds. And in praise of the board book format for a second – Holden destroys books with pages so this is perfect in every way.

We used to read this all the time when Brandon was Holden’s age and it is so cute to see Brandon read it now, recognizing the letters and telling me what they stand for. And you really can’t go wrong with these boys and trains.

This is the first book that we got from the library that I had to go and buy. Brandon had a crying fit when I returned it so I drove straight to a consignment store and bought it. We love Syd Hoff since he writes about anthropomorphized animals (duh! Always a hit with kids!) and has a great picture to words ratio. Why is that so tough for authors and illustrators to get that right? Syd Hoff has it down to a science and never disappoints.

This is one of those repetitive books like “Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly” but somehow, this one doesn’t annoy me. Jack is the kid who lives in this building who caused all the ruckus beneath him. This book is fifty years old and still delighting little ones.

We love all these Numeroff “If you Give a…” books, but it all started with this one. And my school teacher friend told me that they have plush toys of the pig, moose, mouse and dog at Kohls, so we now own all of those. The mouse came to our library once and I thought Brandon would be excited about it, like spotting a celebrity, but instead he was petrified of a giant mouse in overalls. Thinking about it now, I get it. That is super bizarre.

This one just started this week. Dad told Brandon this was his favorite book when he was a kid so now, of course, it’s Brandon’s too (Brandon often says dad is his hero). Although I don’t love the word to pictures ratio, it keeps Brandon’s attention and he loves Poky. I found him a plush Poky online since I love to buy my kids stuff and encouraging reading is my jam.

There are so many other books that Brandon reads that I don’t particularly enjoy (Caillou is too whiny, Froggy is a bit disrespectful for my taste, Maisy is generic and dear Lord! When will “Circle Square Moose” go away?) There are books I’ve tried to get Brandon into that he’s not digging. But these ten books are kid and mother approved. We would love your suggestions too!