One of the things my husband and I are most looking forward to doing with our son is sitting him in our laps and reading him stories. At the moment, he’s too young to understand them, so we’ve had to find books that would appeal to his senses. Therefore, any books that make sounds or have things for him to grab at have been the first books we’ve introduced to him. Here are a few of my favorites:

Cow and Horse Peek-A-Boo Pals from Softplayforkids.com.

Cow and Horse are friends that are looking for each other on the farm. These cloth books have lift-the-flaps that my son loves to grab at. They’re not machine washable though, which is unfortunate because my son also loves to kiss cow and horse and drool all over them. They’re meant for 6+ months, but I started showing them to my son around 3 months. He doesn’t really understand them, but he is intrigued by the crinkly sound of the flaps.

Finger Puppet Books

I have 8 of these cute-as-can-be finger puppet board books from Chronicle Books. They’re small (palm-sized) and each book has a finger puppet built into it. The stories rhyme and are short — perfect for a baby’s attention span.

Good Night, Sleep Tight — Scholastic books

This is the very first book I bought my son. I had these sweet dreams of reading it to him every night before bed, and he would help cover up the little animals going to bed in the story with the little blanket that comes with the book and say, “Good night! Sleep tight!” Yeah right… maybe in a year or so!  It’s still a great story, and the blanket that comes with it is such a great idea, I can’t wait until he does start to understand what it’s for.

Maeve Binchy is my favorite author ever, so when I discovered she had a book out all about writing, I had to get it. A while ago, The National College of Ireland held a writing class and called it “The Maeve Binchy Writers’ Club” because every week of the course, Maeve would send them an informative letter about some aspect of writing, from inspiration to publishing to writing in the various genres for the various markets. She also called on other writers like Marian Keyes, and publishers and editors in the industry to contribute a letter for the students about their fields of expertise. How lucky was that group of writers in that course? I would have LOVED to been there. Fortunately, the National College of Ireland decided to gather all the letters together and publish them in a book, along with a short story written by Maeve especially for the book called, fittingly enough, ‘The Writing Class’. So, in lieu of taking on the NaNoWriMo challenge this year (my 4 month old forbid it. He said, “Mommy, don’t be crazy. Hold me instead. ALL THE TIME.”), I would go to bed at night and read a letter in the book before going to sleep. It helped me feel like a writer.

The tips and advice in the book are good, though the contributers focus on Ireland quite a bit (ie. Irish writing competitions, the Irish publishing industry, the Irish radio market, etc.), but the main ideas still apply to anyone who wants to be a writer. As for the short story at the end, I’m sad to say it because I do love Maeve so, but it falls a little flat, being a bit too contrived and obvious. But overall, this is a good book to keep on your writers’ resource shelf to pull down and flip through when you need some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing.

Wow, it’s been a long time since I reviewed any children’s books. Luckily for me, I have a little baby boy that likes looking at books, so I’ve had opportunity to read them again. Also lucky is that my husband loves reading and fully supports book-buying for our son. Perhaps not so lucky for the bank account, though ;)

Board Books for Babies

 

 

 

 

Rainbow Fun — Amazing Baby books

Great book for introducing baby to the colors of the rainbow. I sing the words to my son and point out the colors and pictures.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? – Bill Martin, Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle

Another concept book that can be sung to your baby. Introduces colors and animals. Great illustrations from the great Eric Carle.

Five Little Monkeys — Eileen Christelow

Five little monkeys jump on the bed and one by one they each fall and hurt their heads. Teaches numbers 1 – 5 and has good repetition.

Peek-a WHO? – Nina Laden

Teach your child words that end in -oo. Fun book with cut outs that the child looks through to see what’s coming up next.

Cars and Trucks From A to Z — Richard Scarry

A concept book with real and made up automobiles that help teach the alphabet. Fun illustrations.

Preschool and Picture Books for Young Children

 

 

 

You Can Do It, Sam — Amy Hest, illustrated by Anita Jeram

It’s winter time and Sam and his mother bake some warm cakes to take to all their friends. When it comes time to deliver the cakes, Sam’s mother tells him he can do it all by himself. A nice story about mother-son relationships. Could be a nice Christmas gift with the winter and gift-giving themes.

Little Quack’s New Friend — Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Derek Anderson

Little Quack and his siblings meet Little Ribbit, a frog looking for new friends. Because he’s different, everyone but Little Quack say he can’t play with them. But when they see how much fun Little Ribbit and Little Quack are having, they all want to make friends with him. Teaches about friendship and accepting differences.

Froggy’s Day with Dad — Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remiewicz

I love the Froggy books! Froggy spends Father’s Day with his dad at the amusement park. Great book for a child to give to dad for father’s day.

Dazzling Diggers — Tony Mitton and Ant Parker

Fun story teaching all about the various things that diggers and other construction trucks do. Great for little boys who are into trucks!

 

 

 

 

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake — Laura Numeroff

Part of the fun series that explores all the silly possibilities that might happen if you give a treat to an animal. Other books in the series include If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Melvin Might? –  by Jon Sciezka, with David Shannon, Loren Long and David Gordon, illustrated by Juan Pablo Navas

Part of the Truck Town series, this story is about Melvin, a truck that worries all the time. He worries that bad things will happen or he can’t do something. But he learns that when something is really important, you just might be able to do more than you expect.

Something Good — Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko

Tayya goes grocery shopping with her father, brother and sister.  Her dad wants to buy nothing good, like bread and milk. So when Tayya keeps trying to fill the cart with something good, like ice cream or chocolate bars, her dad tells her to stay still and not move until they’re ready to leave. So Tayya stands perfectly still and is mistaken for a doll and put for sale, and dad ends up having to buy something good after all. Such a fun story! All the Munsch books are fun.