Favorite Picture Books With Dads

With Father's Day coming up in a couple of days, I wanted to highlight a few of our favorite picture books with dads in them.

At the top of the list is Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems. It's the story of a dad, his daughter, and a missing  It's been a favorite in our house for a long time.

My two-year-old's very favorite book right now is We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. Everyone in the house has it memorized. I'll read it to him occasionally, but besides featuring a dad, this is the favorite book for dad to read out loud in our house.

I recently featured Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie. It features a great father/son relationship.

Daddy Hugs by Karen Katz is a cute board book for your littlest readers and their daddies.

What are some of your favorite picture books featuring dads?

Spring Break with Books

Today is the first day of spring break here. My kids slept in (except for the toddler, he was up before 6:00 so I was too). We've been to Target and the library, watched a movie, played with play doh, and they're currently playing with a ball in the house. We'll see how well that last one turns out.

Some years I have great plans for all the fun stuff we're going to do, either at home or away. This year I've been too busy to make plans. Which doesn't bode well for having time to do fun stuff. But books are always on my brain, so I've come up with some book related activities to do with kids over spring break (or any random Tuesday). The list is followed by some links and more detailed ideas.

What do you plan on doing over spring break with your kids?

Find your local independent book store at Indie Bound.

Book making ideas from Growing Book by Book.

Comic book template from Kids Activities Blog.

Story stones ideas from Fun a Day.

Book mark making ideas from Play Ideas.

Find book craft ideas on Pinterest and on No Time for Flashcards.

Read a book and watch a movie with these movies currently on Netflix: Boxcar Children, Charlotte’s Web, A Wrinkle in Time, To Kill a Mockingbird, Room on the Broom, Chicken Little, Curious George, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Winnie the Pooh, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk

Books About Love to Share With Your Little One

With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought I'd share a list of some of my family's favorite picture books about love and caring. It's nice to have a significant other to share Valentine's Day with, but I also like celebrating the holiday with my kids.

I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
At bedtime, a young boy asks his mother if she'd still love him if. . . My kids love reading this one with Dad because it makes him say funny words like "stinky face." But it also teaches them that we'll love them no matter what.

Bunnycakes by Rosemary Wells
At first glance, this book might not seem like it's about love. But Max and Ruby show their grandma how much they love and care for her by each making her a cake.

My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems
Another less than obvious choice. But this Elephant & Piggie book demonstrates that spending time with those we love makes us happy.

Penguin and Pinecone: A Friendship Story by Salina Yoon
Another story about friendship, Penguin and Pinecone stories are fun and sweet.

Daddy Hugs by Karen Katz
A board book that's good to share with even your littlest reader. She also wrote Counting Kisses.

You Are My Sunshine by Jimmie Davis
My kids love this board book because I sing the song to them as we turn the pages. The illustrations are bright and, well, sunshiny.

Mommy, Carry Me Please by Jane Cabrera
Baby animals ask their mommies to carry them. My kids love this sweet book about mommies and babies. And the author's dedication page to her unborn baby that she's carrying gets me choked up a little.

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
Speaking of getting choked up--okay blubbering like a baby. I love the message in this book, but I literally cannot read it because it makes me cry. So they save it for daddy to read because he's less emotional than mommy.

What are some of your favorite picture books about love that you share with your little ones?
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Your library and your local independent bookstore most likely have Valentine's displays for you to check out this week too. This list contains affiliate links to the books on Amazon.

Mickey's Christmas Carol

You most likely know what this book is about. I like Mickey's Christmas Carol, both the book and the cartoon, because it introduces young children to a classic Christmas story. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is familiar to us all through retellings and lots of different movie versions. Last year I finally read the original and even though Dickens can be difficult to read, I can tell you that A Christmas Carol is worth your time (and significantly shorter than his other books).

Or you can stick to the children's version like Mickey's Christmas Carol with your kids. Do you have a favorite version of Dickens's classic Christmas tale?

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Mickey’s Christmas Carol

By Disney Enterprises

Adapted from Charles Dickens

Publisher: Sandy Creek

Year: 2010

Info: Full color illustrations

Ages: Picture Books

Themes: Christmas, Classics

Give the Gift of Books

There are lots of lists of gifts for book lovers. I would love a purse made out of a book cover or socks that look like a library check out card. But the best gifts for book lovers is more books.

While I was growing up, every Christmas we got a stack of books. I've continued this tradition with my kids. And even though books can be expensive, they don't have to be. Most of the books I get for my kids are from garage sales and a kid's consignment store.

The kids in your life will like different books than mine do, but here are five things to think about when choosing books as gifts.

1. Choose books that are a little ahead of their age. My first grader isn't quite ready to read chapter books on her own, but I loved the Ramona books and anticipate her enjoying them too sometime in the next year. If nothing else, we can read them together.

2. Get them books with characters they like. If you know a TV show or movie they like, get them a book that goes with it. Even if they're not a reader, they will be drawn to a character they already know. (My daughter loves Curious George.)

3. Look and Find books are great for kids to look at on their own. They're fun to read together, but they also get kids to spend time alone with a book before they can even read.

4. Get them a book you love. If you're excited about it, it can help them get excited about it. I love literature and love giving the BabyLit Board Books as gifts to my own kids and as baby shower gifts.

5. Get them a nonfiction book about something they like. My daughter wants to learn to cook and so a kids' cookbook is a great option for her. For kids who aren't as into fiction, there are lots of nonfiction titles to find about something they're interested in.

Bonus: If you have no idea what kind of book they'll like, give a bookstore gift card. My kids each got a bookstore gift card last year and it was a special experience for them to get to go and pick out whatever book they wanted.

Listen to the Silent Night by Dandi Daley Mackall

Listen to the Silent Night by Dandi Daley Mackall is one of my favorite Christmas books. The story imagines the night of Christ's birth and how it was likely "not such a silent night." And it's illustrated with beautiful paintings by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.

My daughter's know it as the "book that sometimes makes Mommy cry." Having given birth myself, I can't help but tear up at the page where "Mary groaned in pain, Joseph by her side. A shout rang out--Baby Jesus cried!" It hits close to home--the pain of giving birth and the joy of the baby's first cry. It makes the long-told story and the people in it seem very real to me.

This is a great read aloud book for Christmastime. Are there any books your family reads together every Christmas?

___________

Listen to the Silent Night

By Dandi Daley Mackall

Paintings by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher

Publisher: Dutton’s Children’s Books

Year: 2011

Info: paintings

Countdown to Christmas with Books!

For the last few years, my family has done a countdown to Christmas with books. I wrap our Christmas books and every day counting down to Christmas we get to open one and read it.

Normally we start on December 1 and have 24 books to countdown to the day before Christmas. This year we're going out of town for Christmas, so I wrapped enough books to start the day after Thanksgiving and end the day before we leave for our Christmas vacation. You could easily adapt it to fewer days if you don't have that many Christmas books--it took us a few years to collect so many.

Besides the fact that it's fun to open a present every day, it demonstrates to children that books are a gift.

Do you have any Christmas traditions surrounding books? What is your favorite Christmas book?

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss

Are we allowed to talk about Christmas now? Good. I indulge in Christmas songs, books, and movies before Thanksgiving. But we do reserve decorating for Christmas until the day after.

Last night my three-year-old chose "Mr. Grinch" for her bedtime book. It was followed by a discussion about why Mr. Grinch doesn't like Christmas and why he takes all the presents. Her takeaway? Maybe Mr. Grinch likes Halloween because he's a monster. Great works of literature inspire different thoughts in everyone.

I can't imagine that anyone out there doesn't know the story of the Grinch. It's part of our cultural tradition around Christmastime. If someone is being a Grinch we know what it means just as we know what it means to be a Scrooge. But when was the last time you read the book? I think the cartoon that came from the book is much more familiar than the book itself. Did you know or remember that the drawings are done in only black, white, and red? A green Grinch came out of the cartoon. I hope everyone gets a chance to read the book this Christmas season--and that you get to sing "He's a mean one, Mr. Grinch" in the deepest voice you can manage.

__________

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

By Dr. Seuss

Publisher: Random House

Year: 1957

Info: Black, white, and red illustrations

Good Night Books

This is the time of year when it's especially hard to live far away from family. I've been known to complain about it. I've also been known to complain about the temperature still being in the 80s in November. But this is also the time of year to remember what we're grateful for. I'm grateful for books, obviously. I'm also grateful for all the experiences I've had by living in many different places. There are certainly downsides to moving a lot, but there is much to be thankful for too.

We celebrate some of the places we've lived with the Good Night Books. My sister who lives in Minnesota got us our first one so my kids could know a little bit more about where their cousins live. And we have collected more of them for some of the places we've lived: Florida, Oregon, Washington, and Utah. (We've also lived in Idaho, but they don't have that one yet.) Each book takes kids through a day around the state, eventually saying good night to the things and places that make the state unique.

Before moving to Florida I never even wanted to visit the state. But if we'd never moved to Florida, we would not know the friends we have now. We would have never picked an orange off a tree, dipped our toes in the warm water off the coast, witnessed awesome thunder and lightning storms, or cooked our Thanksgiving turkey on our charcoal grill.

What are you thankful for about where you live this Thanksgiving?

__________

Good Night Books
By various authors
Click here for more information
Info: board books, color illustrations
Ages: Young Children, Picture Books

Sharing the Bread by Pat Zietlow Miller & Jill McElmurry

I feel a bit like Charlie Brown: "We have another holiday to worry about. It seems Thanksgiving Day is upon us!" I actually love Thanksgiving, but it snuck up on me this year. Christmas is at the top of my list, but Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season for me. We don't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but I do listen to Christmas music well beforehand. If there were more good Thanksgiving songs, I'd listen to those.

There are also a lot more Christmas books than Thanksgiving books. I was looking at the library for a Thanksgiving themed books to read with my kids. The first one I got was written in the 1950s and I wasn't comfortable with the way it portrayed Native Americans. Recently I found this book, Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Pat Zietlow Miller & Jill McElmurry.

There's only one brief reference to the first Thanksgiving when the young boy makes Pilgrim hats. But it focused on what I love about Thanksgiving: family, food, and gratitude. I appreciated how this old-fashioned Thanksgiving dinner had the whole family working together to make the meal. It's how I remember Thanksgiving as a child. My grandmother may have most of the side dishes, but Grandpa was always in charge of making his famous potato rolls. And on the other side of my family, Grandpa made the pies. Everyone shared in the work as well as enjoying the meal together.

Do you have any favorite Thanksgiving books?

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Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving
By Pat Zietlow Miller & Jill McElmurry
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Year: 2015
Ages: Picture Books, Young Children
Themes: Thanksgiving, holidays, food, family, stories in rhyme
Info: Full color illustrations

Halloween Stories

I'm not big into Halloween, sorry if that offends you. I love watching my kids have so much fun dressing up. But the gross, gory side of Halloween is enough to keep it off my list of favorite holidays.

My favorite Halloween story is It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. (I also love the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving story. The Charlie Brown Christmas Special is my favorite Christmas story after that one in the Book of Luke. Do you see a theme here?) I love this story so much that this happened for Halloween this year:

That's me as Linus and my 16 month old son as Charlie Brown. I love those two or three years before they choose their own costumes when you can dress them up however you want. I tried to convince my three year old to be Snoopy, but she really wanted to be a princess. Oh well.

Do you have any favorite Halloween stories, books, or movies? Any that you recommend as fun and not too scary for little kids?