Friday Favorites:Favorite Children's Books

Before I became The Brother's Mama I was an elementary school teacher. I graduated from my master program during a season in which teachers were not being hired and so I became a substitute teacher. Eventually my substitute work led to a long term job as an elementary school reading specialist three days a week and I continued to substitute teacher elementary classes the other two days. During this choppy and inconsistent season of jumping from classroom to classroom day after day I found some calm and cheer in my small reading groups. I fell in LOVE with teaching reading as well as rediscovering a passion for children's literature which I had not dwindled in since my undergraduate studies.

Books are imaginative, creative, adventitious, encouraging, suspenseful, humerus, eye opening, and educational. I hope books are the at the start of every child's personal story, engraved and etched into their little minds so they grow a love for reading. Today I am sharing my top picks for Infants and Preschoolers. They are what The Brothers love and I hope you do too!

Favorite Books for Infants

Good Night, Gorilla is a goofy book about a gorilla who takes the keys from the nightwatchman at the zoo and breaks himself and all the other animals out of the zoo. Mostly comprised of illustrations with very little wording, this book is wonderful for language development. Infants can point and identify various pictures to grow and expand their verbal skills. I also recommend books  like this to ESL students. 

Good Dog, Carl is one of a series about a dog named Carl who is playful and adventurous and gets into all kids of mischief. Just like Good Night, Gorilla, this book comprised of illustrations with very little wording, this book is wonderful for language development. Infants can point and identify various pictures to grow and expand their verbal skills. I also recommend books  like this to ESL students. 

Best Word Book Ever is just as the title says! It has over 1000 labeled illustrations to grow your child's vocabulary. Talking to your child teaches them first hand but if you want to show them a snowman in summer, a pumpkin in winter, and an ocean beach when you live in Colorado books like this help bridge the gap. Again, I recommend books like this to ESL students and this book grows with your child. Shane is three now and still loves to read this book because he can identify every object or person in the pictures. However, Keith, who just turned one also loves reading this one. It is hardback but the pages are paper as opposed to the board book style so it is one that offers good quality reading time with adults. 

Peek-a WHO? is a book I don't know I would have recommended before I had kids however, both The Brothers loved this book. I can't explain how much they adored this from about 6 months on. The pages have a cut out in them so you can get a peek at the next page and the last page has a mirror on it and most infants I know, including my own, love to look in the mirror at themselves. The design of this book as well as the rhyme gets little ones excited about books and reading. As a mom to little ones it is a goal to get them into reading from an early age.

Baby Faces, or any similar book, is a great way to start and teach important emotional vocabulary to your little ones before they hit two. Keith can mimic silly, happy, angry, stinky, surprised, and shy faces already. If I ask him to make a silly face his nose scrunches up and his tongue sticks out. I know this is such an important skill set to be able to associate emotional words and phrasing with facial cues so that Keith can start to verbally express himself as well as understand  facial expressions when mama or other adults make faces.

Favorite Books for Preschoolers

I am a Bunny was given to Shane as a gift when he turned one and it quickly became one of his favorite books. He loved the illustrations, the description of the seasons, and the length of the book is perfect for toddlers. Children this age love to hear the same book over and over again because it  allows a child to remember and retain the meaning of new words. Where parents may get tired of reading the same book a dozen times the repetition of the phrasing and structure of the story will help your child grasp onto new vocabulary! This one I have read easily 100 times and I still love it!

Harry the Dirty Dog is a classic book about family and friendship. Harry, who does not like baths, runs away to play and becomes so dirty his family does not recognize him when he returns home. Harry finally convinces them to give him a bath, which he hates, just so his family knows he is home. Shane love this book! It is a cute story and gets Shane excited about reading. 

Little Blue Truck is one of three in a series that has a great theme of friendship. I love Little Blue Truck Leads the Way as well which talks about not cutting, taking turns, and being kind. Some books are goofy and for fun but these two have such great lessons in them that they are the kind I want to fill my home with. Shane can recite this whole book to me word for word but more importantly is the conversation that follows about what a good friend looks like and how Shane can be a good friend to others. I also like the different animals to continue to grow and expand both The Brother's vocabulary. 

Let's Be Thankful  and several other books from P.K. Hallinan I have linked and referenced a couple times in my short time blogging. I adore the illustrations and the rhyme makes children engaged with the words. Shane had this book memorized before he turned two because we read it over and over and his vocabulary grew immensely. Shane often asked "what is that" when reading this one which is exactly what I want kids to be asking when reading with parents at this age. He learned about fireflies, cotton candy, shooting stars, and so much more. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is such a sweet and classic book. It is visually appealing, it has a fabulous array of vocabulary, the cutouts of this book make the layout unique and exciting, and the repetition of the wording lets children quickly become familiarity with the book. I also like how students can work with food, days of the week, sequence, and the life cycle of a butterfly. This is my favorite book of all time for so many ways. I have a copy Brian gave me for Christmas the first year we were dating and this was the theme for Shane's first birthday party! 

Today I am linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals. Some of these are personal favorites from reading with the boys and some of these are book I studied and learned about from my BA in Family and Child Psychology or during my Master in Teaching Studies.