A Plethora of Books

We are a book family. We have books piled on the nightstands, covering most of the surface area on the desk, I have one in my purse and one in the glove compartment of my van. My 6 year old has two stuffed into his sock drawer for safe keeping. Our library box (yes, I said box, we outgrew a bag years ago) overflows while it sits next to the couch in the living room. The baby has bathtub books, and books made especially for him to teeth on. And that’s not even counting the eight bookcases we own that are bursting at the seems. One can never have too many books, in my humble opinion.

Reading is important to us. And I’ve found that the best way to encourage reading is to provide ample opportunities. We do family read alouds at lunch, bedtime stories at night, and audio books in the car. Our kids see my husband and I reading to ourselves all the time. And because of these things, I’ve noticed some important benefits. #1 My kids are interested in words at an early age. #2 That interest motivates them to read at an early age. My 6-year-old taught himself to read when he was three, and is now reading on a fifth-grade level. My 4-year-old is reading on a first-grade level. #3 More importantly than their reading level though, is their vocabulary. As we read together, we come across words they don’t know, and we talk about them. Then they start noticing those words in other places and using them in sentences. A larger vocabulary helps them to communicate more clearly. And these are just a few reasons why reading with your kids is important. For more, check out this blog, where she goes into greater detail.

 

Not sure how to get started reading to your kids? It might surprise you, but not all books are created equal. And some books don’t make as good of a read aloud as others. There is a great book out there that I will highly recommend called The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. Basically, his premise is that kids can listen and understand a book of greater difficulty than they can read, and why that’s important. My family has found this to be true. We’ve read some fairly “hard” books for family read alouds, such as The Hobbit, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, etc. and my kids have really enjoyed them. Keep in mind that all my kids are under the age of 7. The last half of the book is an awesome list of books, listed by “listening level” that make great read alouds for families. I promise you this book is well worth the $9.00 or less that you’ll pay for it. Check it out!

 

And lastly, I thought it would be fun to list each member of my family’s favorite books. Seeing what other people like to read inspires me, and gives me new titles to add to my To Read list.

Husband’s Top 5 – In no particular order

1. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

2. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

3. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King

4. Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage

5. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Six-Year Old’s Top 10 – In no particular order

1. The Geronimo Stilton series by Geronimo Stilton

2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone & Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

3. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

4. The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

5. My Father’s Dragon series by Ruth Styles Gannett

6. The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

7. Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish

8. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

9. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

10. Little House series by Laura Ingals Wilder

Five-Year Old’s Top 10 – In no particular order

1. Classic Fairy Tales by Scott Gustavson

2. The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

3. Press Here by Herve Tullet

4. Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss

5. Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

6. Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss

7. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess

8. If you Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff

9. How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

10. The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

Three-Year Old’s Top 10 – In no particular order

1. Alice the Fairy by David Shannon

2. Bedtime For Frances by Russell Hoban

3. One Hungry Monsters by Susan Hayboer O’Keefe

4. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

5. Jessie Bear What Will You Wear by Nancy White Carlstrom

6. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

7. Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

8. Jamberry by Bruce Degan

9. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

10. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson

My Top 16 – Because I couldn’t limit it to just 10 – In no particular order

1. These is My Words by Nancy Turner

2. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

3. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

4. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

5. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

6. The Help by Katherine Stockett

7. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

8. The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin

9. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

10. Wild Swans by Jung Chang

11. Farm City by Novella Carpenter

12. The Chosen by Chiam Potek

13. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

14. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

15. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

16. How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown