I love books. I love children's books. But when it comes to reading aloud, a book has to meet certain criteria for me.
1. Repetition is great for kids - but not so great for the adult who is reading the same book over and over. One of Wendy's favorite books is "The Little Engine That Could," but reading it more than once a week is enough to drive me insane. Books with a lot of repetition tend to get "lost" in the back of the bookshelf...if you get my drift.
2. I really enjoy reading books out loud that have a rhythmic cadence. They don't have to rhyme, but if they do, that's even better. (I think perhaps I like that style of book because I love to sing.) The #1 book on my list below, The Gruffalo, is my current favorite for just that reason.
3. Sharing stories is one of the best ways to teach children about life - about morals, work ethic, consequences, manners, etc. The books I choose to read with my children are ones that SAY something - not just, "Look at Duck. Look at Duck swim. Quack, Quack, little Duck!"
4. Illustrations are a great way to involve kids in the stories being read. Wendy really pays attention to the illustration, and will ask questions about the things that she sees. Whether they are simple and vibrant, detailed and complex, or colorful and realistic, the illustrations play a key role in my selection of books for my children.
I've listed my top ten favorite read-aloud books for children from 2-3 years old. They fit all of my picky criteria above, and they can all be read in 5 minutes or less. They are the books that I turn to when Wendy asks me to read to her, and they are also the ones that she is most likely to look at and "read" on her own.
1. The Gruffalo
2. My Lucky Day
3. Click, Clack, Moo
4. Ten Apples Up On Top
5. Green Eggs and Ham
6. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, etc.
7. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
8. The Little Red Caboose
9. Richard Scarry books
10. Sandra Boynton books
6 comments:
great list! I haven't heard of some of these book before!
I'm going to check out hte Gruffalo! I'm w/you, I love rhythm & rhyme!
I have a little 2-almost-three year old daughter, too and I am agree that sometimes reading the same book over and over can get very old for me. I have a kids book blog that details our favorites to read together--I'd love for you to check it out!
www.mysillyeagle.blogspot.com
We share some of the same favorites like Ten Apples Up on Top and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. We also love Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney and If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff.
I love all of the Mouse books! We just got If you Take a Mouse to the Movies.
This is a wonderful top ten to share! It's so fun to see what others read to their children and you have given me some new ideas! Thanks!
Great list! A few new ones for me, so I'll definitely have to check them out. I totally understand what you mean about books getting "lost."
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