Toni’s Lists: Our Family’s Go-To Read-Aloud Books
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Are books a staple in your household?
Growing up I was a TV kid. You know those houses where the TV is always on even when no one is in the room? It was all I knew, the background noise, fill in the boredom with a show. I never knew anything different, but I also had such a love for books. I remember getting the scholastic magazines from teachers at school and circling through the whole thing like it was Christmas. My gift giving dad was always very generous with how much he would let me get and I treasured those books. Though I didn’t grow up in a household with read alouds or literature as a priority I still longed for it.
Though the memories are fewer, the ones around books and reading with my family are stronger and richer than the multitude of family movie nights or the post dinner TV show. Even as I type this I think of our firstborn who is now 6. Some of the quickest memories that come to mind are reading board books with him from newborn on. Whenever I read Little Blue Truck to my two year old twins, I’m quickly taken back to my oldest boy when he was just under one, and how much he loved it. Back to the sweet times cuddled up together and reading for the sake of connection and the sake of reading. It’s simple, it’s beautiful, and if we want to get practical it’s good for our babies and their ever absorbing minds.
Somewhere along the road of intentionally making reading out loud a priority in our family, I stumbled upon the one and only Sarah Mackenzie. If you know of her, then you’re probably just as passionate about read alouds and rich, beautiful literature in the household, and if you don’t, then go get yourself a copy of her book here or visit her podcast here.
Over the years my husband and I have made reading with our kids daily a staple in our home, and we are on a never ending hunt to find the most heart warming, beautiful, inspiring, hilarious, cute books we can find for our sweet babes.
Here is my list for you! This is far from all inclusive, but here are the absolute staples that come to mind:
Nanette’s Baguette by Mo Willems - Ok let me start off by saying you cannot go wrong with anything Mo Willems. Elephant and Piggie, as well as the Pigeon Books are also staples around here, but Nanette gets a special shout out today. This book is silly, it’s funny, and reminds us all of our helpless love for bread. We like to read this book on baking days when there’s a fresh loaf of sourdough going in the oven.
Home In the Woods by Eliza Wheeler - I love this book! I will preface by saying this might not be for everyone, but my goodness it should be! It’s so dreamy. The pictures are stunning, and it tells a heartwarming story of a newly widowed mom and her six children as they live in a shack in the Woods. Most of my dreams consist of being a home steading self sustained home school mom extraordinaire, so I can’t help but swoon over this book. I also love how the book takes you through the seasons of a year and throughout the book there’s a redemption of this little shack in the woods that doesn’t seem like much in the beginning.
My Friends by Taro Gomi - This one may seem random, especially to those of you who are more familiar with the ever so popular Everyone Poops. I just like this book. I’m a sucker for animal books, and I think the illustrations are really fun for the kids. They giggle at them and try to copy the impressions that the little girl does of the animals. I also remember this book as a young child, and you know how that Nostalgia goes.
Press Here by Herve Tullet — I love interactive books, and any of Tulle’s books are always engaging for the kids, I especially love this one for reading with mixed ages, it’s fun for my 6 year old, yet keeps our two year old twins engaged as well, and when you can turn reading into a game that’s always going to be a win in my book.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Phillip Stead - I told you I was a sucker for animal books. This book is so sweet and tells the tale of a zoo full of animals who go to take care of their friend, who is always taking care of them. Our kids are obsessed with this book, especially when any of them is sick, they go searching for it and we read it over and over.
Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick - I love when I come across a story that’s wonderful and true. This tells the story of the actual bear who inspired A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. We are huge Pooh bear fans in this house, so we were sold from the beginning. It’s a wonderful story with beautiful pictures.
We’re the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines— I love this book! There are many gardening kids books around, and some get a little science-y, some are sweet, some are more about the beautiful colors and pictures that come with a garden, but this one hits it all. I feel like I’m reading a parable when I read this book. It has a message of do hard things, and look what fruit can come of it. A message of not giving up, and also enjoying the fruit of your labor. Working together, family time, this book honestly hits every good point you could ask, and the art is beautiful! It’s long, but our kids are huge fans of it and we don’t shy away from wordy books here! It’s seriously a 10/10, but could we honestly expect anything less than that from the Gaines family?
The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones — This is my very favorite kid’s book Bible. The stories are told so beautifully and come to life in such a great way for everyone. There’s been many times when reading this with our family that my husband and I are ministered to by the beautiful delivery of these stories of our King. We also love the audible version of this book. This is one of our favorite narrations and many nights the kids listen to this as we are winding down and getting ready for bed.
My Favorite Things by Rogers and Hammerstein — This is a simple book, that’s really just pictures set to lyrics. This book is so special to our family. We all sing it as we read it, and by now it’s so nostalgic for us. The real life images are beautiful and it is one of those books that just makes your heart happy.
The Runaway Pancake by Mairi Mackinnon— This book is silly. We have the Usborne retelling of the story but there are many versions out there, I don’t know what it is about this story but my kids are obsessed and it is never out of rotation! In fact they have even became obsessed with the book “Gingerbread Baby”, which is essentially the same book but a gingerbread man instead of a pancake. They’ve got a style I guess 😅
Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller - This book is sweet. I love it because it goes through a girls journey in her mind of how to be kind when something embarrassing happens to a friend. It’s simple and sweet and beautifully illustrated. Cameron and I may or may not tear up on the very last page of the book, every single time.
A Kissing Hand for Chester Racoon by Audrey Penn— This book is so sweet. I definitely cried the first time I read it. It’s particularly wonderful if you will be separated from your child, think going back to school, maybe them staying with a grandparent etc. it’s just the sweetest.
On The Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman— Ok all of her books are heart warming, I just love them. And I love how they often have simple messages that point to scriptural truths, it can be hard to find well done childrens books that have these elements without being cheesy or focusing more on driving home a point than being a good book. These are lovely!
Here’s some other honorable mentions in our list, that I’m sure top your lists too!
The Man With the Violin by Kathy Stinson
Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall— This might be my favorite book of all time!
Go Dog Go by P.D. Eastman — We had an old copy of this from when Cam was a kid, I guess it was his favorite and all of our kids are so obsessed with this book, I don’t really get why, but it’s sweet they all have loved it!
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffre Numeroff— This is another one we really enjoy the whole series of!
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathman
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See by Eric Carl
The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Windfeild Martin
The Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson — We really enjoy the whole bear series
A Bird is a Bird by Lizzy Rockwell— We love anything by her!
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
When God Made Light by Matthew Paul Turner
Who Sang the First Song by Ellie Holcomb —This book is adapted from her song “Sing” which our family loves, and has very sweet illustrations.
How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World by Marjorie Priceman— I’m a sucker for a book with a recipe at the end, we love this book in the fall, usually when we do a little unit on apples and of course a craft, because I’m a fun mom about 4 times a year!
Amelia Bedelia Series by Peggy Parish— we love these books, the over the top literal imagery always makes us giggle. These are especially fun for little girls.
Chapter Books:
Here’s some chapter books that we have read and enjoyed. When our oldest turned 4 we started slowly reading some chapter book style books and these are all ones I’d recommend for 4 and up. Obviously that can differ from child to child, but so far our two oldest have engaged with these books from four and up.
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh — I love this one for testing the waters and seeing if your child is ready for a chapter book style book. It’s a nice hybrid to me. The story is engaging and tells of a boy who is tasked to walk over the mountain to see his aunt, his first solo trip over the mountain. The book is short and could be read in one sitting, in our home it usually is, and there are pictures on all of the pages, so it still has the familiarity of a picture book. Our kids really enjoy this one.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary— The kids really have enjoyed this one. It’s quick and features a mouse and a boy he meets, Keith, as the main character. There’s adventure and friendship, it’s an all around great story.
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne — There’s no better piece of literature written than Winnie the Pooh. Prove me wrong, I dare you. Cameron reads this to the kids and he has a different voice for each character. We laugh, we feel happy, cam and I cry. There’s none like it
The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson - Full disclosure here, I think we absolutely started this series a little too early with our kiddos (the oldest being 4 & 6 when we started ) it might have been a little more for us because we really love Andrew Peterson, (he’s such an inspiring creative with some great music as well as non fiction works for adults— go and buy God of the Garden now and thank me later ) but they love it! It’s funny at times, keeps you on your toes and full adventure.
Anna Hibiscus Book Series— I love these books, our kids actually listen to them on audible a lot, and the narration is just wonderful. These books touch on culture and diversity in a way that’s not agendas thrown in your face. They have a beautiful picture of family and living life together as the stories follow a family generationally living, and mainly a little girl named Anna who lives in Africa, and visits her grandmother in Canada.
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel — These are the sweetest early reader stories, again not really chapter books but also feels a bit more than just a picture book. We love their simple, silly, loyal friendship.
Little Bear by Holmelund Minarik- This is another series that falls into that Frog and Toad category for us, and we just love these books. There’s also an older kids show called little bear and it’s very wholesome, it’s one of the few ones we feel good about letting our kiddos enjoy.
Like I said this list is far from all inclusive, I mean there’s really no list that is! But here’s where I’m going to tell you to again go to Sarah Mackenzie’s site and browse through her lists, she’s put in so much work to give so many lists for various ages interests, even audio books, her resources are an absolute goldmine!