Happy Anniversary Harry Potter!

Today is the anniversary of the first Harry Potter book being published! Today my daughter also asked me if I had read Harry Potter when I was a kid. Nope! I was a teenager when it was first published in the UK and wasn't introduced to the series till my college roommates gave them to me to read.

It is pretty magical to know that my children will get to grow up with them. My daughter and I started reading them together this year. We're doing it the right way--read a book, watch the movie. It is so fun to see her reactions to story lines and plot shifts that are so familiar to me.

Harry Potter means a lot to a lot of people. And it's amazing to know how one person's imagination created a story and a world that has literally changed the world.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury has been such a favorite in our family that we are on our second copy of it. It's a great read aloud book with repetition and sounds that young children love. When my daughter was two, this was her favorite book for Daddy to read to her--they even had actions to go with it and they would recite it together while going on walks around the neighborhood.

This book has been forgotten on our shelves for a while, but I think it's time to bring it out again. My son is almost two and I'll bet he'd love to read it with his Daddy.

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We're Going on a Bear Hunt
By Michael Rosen
Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Year: 2009
Themes: Family Favorites, Picture Books, Young Children, Read Aloud

You can buy this book on Amazon (affiliate link) or at your local independent book store.

Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne

We just finished reading our first Magic Tree House book out loud together. In these books siblings Jack and Annie go on adventures and get to travel to different times and places. I've heard about them for a while and I wanted to start with #1, Dinosaurs Before Dark.

A quick perusal of the Magic Tree House website shows that the series was originally written by Mary Pope Osborne and she was joined by her husband Will Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce in writing later books and spinoffs. The first 28 books are short and have large type, so they're the best ones for early readers to start with. Later books are written at a higher reading level so young readers can advance along with the book.

It was perfect for reading out loud together. The chapters were short enough to keep even my three-year-old's attention. The chapter endings made my kids gasp and ask what was going to happen next.
The writing was simple and perfect for early readers. My first grader read a few pages with me and I think this series will be perfect as first chapter books for her to read on her own. If you're looking for good books to read aloud or for your early reader to start chapter books on, check out the Magic Tree House series.

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Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark
By Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2014
Info: B&W Illustrations
Ages: Early Readers, First Chapter Books
Themes: adventure, time travel, siblings
Source: our public library

The Importance of Bedtime Stories

I'm grateful to have a mother-in-law who makes reading books with my kids a fun part of every visit.

A recent article in The Guardian discusses the importance of bedtime stories in literacy. And they weren't just talking reading stories to your youngest children. The concern was that once children can read alone, their parents stop reading aloud to them. Continuing to read aloud to them helps cement a love of reading and is great bonding time.

I was lucky enough to have a mom who read out loud to us all no matter how old we were. Her voice introduced me to Little House on the Prairie, Where the Red Fern Grows, and other classic books for children. Her example helped me become a mother who reads to her children. We read a bedtime book to each of them each night and I've started reading aloud from a chapter book to help during the transition from being at school and being at home.

My children are still small, so bedtime stories are an easy part of our routine. But this article was a good reminder to continue to read aloud to them even when they learn to read on their own.

Is reading to your kids a part of your bedtime routine? If you have older children, do you still read books out loud with them?

Charlie and the New Baby by Ree Drummond

My daughters (ages 3 and 6) love the Pioneer Woman. They watch her Food Network show and tell me that everything Pioneer Woman makes is delicious. The bad news: My cooking will never measure up. The good news: They'll try new foods if it's a Pioneer Woman recipe.

Ree Drummond is the woman behind the wildly successful blog and cooking show. She also writes children's picture books starring her bassett hound Charlie. Charlie is King of the Ranch.

We love all the Charlie the Ranch Dog books that we've found at the library. This week, we chose Charlie and the New Baby. These books are fun to read aloud because you can read them in a lazy, country, ranch dog voice. Daddy does it best. The kids love reading along with the parts they know and joining in when Charlie dozes off, snorts awake, or howls.

The classic Charlie books are our favorites, but there are also some easy reader books that my first grader enjoys when she reads aloud to us.

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Charlie and the New Baby
By Ree Drummond
Illustrated by Diane deGroat
Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens
Year: 2014
Info: full color illustrations
Ages: picture book, young children
Themes: animals, dogs
Source: our public library