Our Favorite Books

I've been reading to Landon since the day he came home from the hospital. We read tons of books all day long and it's nice now because Landon has a better attention span and can sit still longer if he wants to. I also read to him while he's eating meals, random times during the day, and before bed. I carry a few small board books around with me in the diaper bag for him to read at restaurants or when we're running errands. In music class the other day, the teacher brought out a basket of books to distract the kids while each one took their turn swinging in the "hammock" which is a blanket the teacher and parent gently swing with the child in it. The kids usually LOVE this, but once the books were out, not one of them wanted anything to do with the hammock! It makes me so happy to see my son loving books and I hope he always does. I wanted to share some of our absolute favorites right now :)

All pictures are from the Amazon links provided.

1. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

I read this book so many times to Landon each day that I have it memorized. Landon LOVES it (to the point where if I start reciting some of the lines he will go to his book bin and grab it so I can read it to him) and it's such a cute book to introduce lowercase letters.

2. Little Blue Truck.

This book is so cute for teaching kids about being kind to others, helping their friends, being a good person, animal sounds, etc. We also have "Little Blue Truck Leads The Way" and read both quite often.

3. Alphabet Rescue.

I really love the illustrations in this book! We also have "Alphabet Adventure" and "Alphabet Mystery" by the same author. These books are great for learning about lowercase letters and the stories are just too cute!

4. 10 Little Ladybugs.

This book is adorable and great for counting backwards and I love that it rhymes. We always count the ladybugs on the cover before reading, and Landon loves that he can actually feel the ladybugs on each page. There's also a super cute tadpole book from the same author that we own. 

5. Anything by Sandra Boynton.

Landon adores these books! They rhyme, they're silly but educational at the same time, the drawings are great, and they make him laugh. His absolute favorite is "Moo Baa LaLaLa" and he sings "Lalala" and says "no no" at the appropriate times. He also likes "Birthday Monsters," "Barnyard Dance," and "The Going To Bed Book." You really can't go wrong with any of her books though. We have like 12 of them.

6. Llama Llama Time To Share.

All of the "Llama Llama" books are cute, but we like this one a lot right now because I am trying to get Landon to understand the concept of sharing/taking turns on a very basic level. We also really like the bedtime and holiday books.

7. How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?

There's a whole series of these books that cover various topics such as being sick, going to school, going to sleep, etc. We have several of them and they're just fun reads. Jeff actually hates these, but I think they're adorable, especially if you have a kid who loves Dinosaurs.

8. Yummy Yucky.

Jeff found this book at Barnes & Noble and he thought it was awesome because Landon was putting everything in his mouth and he though it might help him learn what is/is not OK to eat. We now have maybe 6 of this author's books because Landon enjoys them and they're cute. There are books that cover the potty, big/little, quiet/loud, the bathtub, etc.

9. Harold and the Purple Crayon.

A friend gave Landon this book at my baby shower and Jeff and I love it so much! I think we enjoy it more than Landon! It's such a creative, fun book and I love how the whole narrative is supported by Harold drawing with his purple crayon. So cute! I want to get the other Harold books at some point.

10. From Head to Toe.

We own and enjoy pretty much all of Eric Carle's books (I love the ones that deal with matching colors, numbers, animal sounds, and shapes, along with the classics), but Landon is obsessed with this one lately. He knows almost all of his body parts, so he likes when I ask him to do what the various animals are doing (shaking their head, stomping their feet, wiggling their toes, etc). He thinks it's hysterical and I get a kick out of him enjoying this book so much.

11. I Love Trucks!

Landon has been getting into trucks lately, so this book appeared in his Christmas stocking. It's one of those books that's really mindless for me to read, so I try to discuss the colors of the trucks, count the number of trucks on each page, etc, but Landon really enjoys it, so we read it quite often.

12. Who Said Moo?

This was another one we got from my baby shower and Landon has loved it for as long as I can remember. It's a super cute book that involves a rooster trying to figure out which animal says "moo" and you get to lift flaps to see which noise each animal makes as he asks them if they were the one who said "moo." 

We also love pretty much any touch & feel book, especially the "That's Not My..." series, but I try to read books with more substance for Landon now so he can learn more. The touch & feel books are good for when I'm busy and he needs to entertain himself for a few minutes or when we're out running errands and I can't really read to him. 

What books are your kids loving? I'm always looking for new recommendations!