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May 2016 Moms
proudparent2b
member
Favorite Baby Book Recommendations
proudparent2b
member
I'm looking for recommendations on story books to create a reading library for my kid. I've been struggling a bit because so many little kid books seem to be too sappy or overly repetitive.
I enjoy Dr. Suess, Amelia Bedelia, Bernstein Bears, Magic School Bus, and Where the Sidewalk Ends, but those are more like preschool/early elementary reading.
I enjoy Dr. Suess, Amelia Bedelia, Bernstein Bears, Magic School Bus, and Where the Sidewalk Ends, but those are more like preschool/early elementary reading.
Re: Favorite Baby Book Recommendations
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
Bear Snores On/Bear Wants More/other in the series
The Big Red Barn
Annie and the Wild Animals (Jan Brett book)
any of the Sandra Boynton books
How Do Dinosaurs series
Married: 1/2008 ~ DD#1: 3/2012
TTC #2: Started 4/2014 BFP 7/30/15 MC 8/3/15 BFP 9/4/2015 EDD 5/16/2016
I hear you on the creating a library. Every time we go to the Goodwill I load up on kids books.
First Pregnancy
Second Pregnancy
- BFP: 09/11/2015
- EDD: 05/25/2016
Baby Born04/15/2016
PGAL
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Bernstein Bears- I grew up on them so cant wait to introduce to Harper! We got a Christmas book and a collection of 5 different titles.
A few Dr Suess books
Fairytales- Princess and the Pea and Cinderella.Ill continue this collection as I find more titles
We picked up a lot of random titles too that I just cant think of at the moment.
I have the following on my registry
Goodnight Moon
Pat the Bunny
Love you Forever
The Bremantown Musicians
Ferdinand
Harry the Dirty Dog (and other books in the series)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Dr. Seuss, anything
Daniel Tiger, anything
Curious George, anything
Snowy Day
Nursery Rhymes (Hey Diddle Diddle is a good book of them)
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Look and Find books
These are all favorites in our house that get multiple reads per day-- especially the first two.
Married: 1/2008 ~ DD#1: 3/2012
TTC #2: Started 4/2014 BFP 7/30/15 MC 8/3/15 BFP 9/4/2015 EDD 5/16/2016
Dragons love tacos
The paper bag princess
Tacky the penguin
If you give a mouse a cookie
... I usually go to the book store and see what makes me laugh.
Others:
Only One You
The Giving Tree
Giraffes Can't Dance
Put Me in the Zoo
The Fish with the Deep Sea Smile
The Lorax
Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes
There are many more, I'll have to look at DD's stash when she wakes up from her nap.
Goodnight Moon
Brown bear, Brown Bear
We also have tons more but we also bought nursery rhyme board books, and a manners series that has books called "Sorry" "Thank You" and "Please"
I really think those were awesome to have. We get compliments on DD's manners all the time. She learned them from those books!
Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?
The Going to Bed Book
My girls loved (and still do) the Touchy-Feely books that expose multiple senses. You can just see their brains working!
Mama to Three Girls:
Twins born March 2014 at 26 weeks due to preterm labor
and our 37weeker born May 9th, 2016!
The Napping House (DD's favorite...so much so that she has memorized it at 2)
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
The Adventure's of Winnie the Pooh
Goodnight Moon
Caps For Sale
have you signed up for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library? It's awesome. Now that DD is older she gets so excited when her new book comes in bc she has mail.
Been married since 2009.
Unicornuate Uterus (yes I menstruate glitter)
Several MCs
DD born 2013 (our miracle "you can't have babies" baby!)
For new babies, they can't usually sit through a whole book, but for my kids and my niece and nephew, the books that stood the test of time have been Goodnight Moon first then The Very Busy Spider. Goodnight Moon its the first book any of those kids could sit all the way through, and they're fascinated by the spider since i do all the noises and voices of the animals.
We read every day, several times a day, and my kids love it! Even when they're little its ok that they can't sit through a book without grabbing it and trying to eat it. Its worth it. Definitely get some counting books too. The little ones like the repetition very early on.
@yogahh These are the ones we have! They were very much loved as they're short and sweet and she loves pigs!
Thanks for the suggestions!
Newborn:
Baby Animals Black and White by Phyllis Tildes
Farm Animals by Phoebe Dunn
It's Time for Bed by Mem Fox
Look, Look by Peter Linenthal
6-12 months:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or really any Eric Carle books
Tails by Matthew Van Fleet
Where's Spot by Eric Hill
Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
Chicka Chicka ABC (the baby version of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) by Bill Martin, Jr.
Daddy Hugs by Karen Katz
I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak
12 months-18 months:
My First Words: Let's Get Talking by DK Publishing
Hands Can by Cheryl Willis Hudson
Families by Star Bright Books
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
The Wheels on the Bus by Paul Zelinsky
School librarian here.
More than anything else, ladies, READ TO YOUR KIDS. Doesn't really matter what. Read from Day One. I packed A Child's Garden of Verses in my hospital bag and read it to DS that first night in the hospital, when we were alone together in the room and both up all night. We've read books together every day of his life. People comment all the time on his advanced vocabulary for his age, and I fully credit the amount of time we spend reading and talking as being responsible.
ETA: I saw someone above posted Mo Willems. Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times! The pigeon books, Elephant and Piggie, and Knuffle Bunny are all awesome!
For babies especially, rhymes and short poems are great because they fit their attention span well, and the rhythm of the language is interesting. Definitely pick something you don't mind reading 500 times, though, because under-1s LOVE familiarity and repetition.
Dinosaur Kisses by David Exra Stein
ANYTHING by Jane Yolen
Anything by Audrey Wood (King Bidgood's in the Bathtub is my fav)
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood
The Underpants books by Claire Friedman
Charlie the Ranch Dog series by Ree Drummond
Again by Emily Gravett
The Pout Pout Fish series by Deborah Diesen
Anything by Jan Brett (Trouble with Trolls is my fav)
Penguin series by Selina Yoon
I know it's been said but seriously, ANYTHING by Sandra Boynton
I'm sure I'll think of more later.
Ladies, quick question... I figured I'd ask this here instead of making another post since it's about books.
When did you all start reading to your babies? I know brain development is critical in just the first few months, so did you start right away? How do you plan to interact with baby and stimulate brain activity, etc?
Immediately after she was born a read a story to her every night. I forget the app I used for development (brain and otherwise) but it was awesome. It talked about the milestones and what you can do to help foster your child's development at that particular stage.
I'll come back when I recall the name of the app!
My friend and I have been getting our husbands to read to the futurebabies that aren't even born yet. At this point, it isn't so much about actual vocabulary building (their brains aren't developed enough for that yet) as just acclimatizing them to the sound of the husbands' voices. There have been studies showing that babies who heard their fathers' voices regularly in utero are more familiar with those voices and more easily soothed by the fathers after birth (which is going to be a BIG THING because hell yes he better be able to calm the baby down in the middle of the night when I need some sleep -- so that's the real reason we're doing this right now!).
It's been pretty trippy though. The frog creature actually moves over to whatever side is closer to my husband when he's reading, and it always gets more active when it hears his voice. At first I thought this was just a coincidence or I was imagining it, but it kept happening, so then I was like "hmm maybe it is actually for real."
The first time my husband felt the baby kick, it was because I knew it was going to move while he was reading, so I just told him to put his hand on my tummy and leave it there while he read, and sure enough, within a few minutes he got a big kick right in the middle of his hand.
My friend said the same thing happened with her baby: it always moves more when her husband is reading to it. So, you know, totally anecdotal and it's a sample size of two, but I figure, can't hurt/might help, right? No harm in doing it, and there might be some real benefit. Plus it gets the husbands in the habit of reading, which also can't hurt for when the baby actually comes along.
Edit to add QBF
I've been playing one particular song to my baby girl every day, hoping she'll come to know it and will find it comforting after she's born.
Her song is "Rewrite" by Paul Simon, a sweet song with a soothing melody and lots of beautiful instrumentals.