Nicholas and I have challenged ourselves to read 100 different books between now and Christmas. Follow along here with our progress, and feel free to share your favorite children’s book titles and recommendations with us. Happy reading!
1. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, 9-6-08
2. I Love You, Stinky Face, 9-7-08. “Mom, that was a funny one!”
3. Wemberly Worried, 9-9-08. Nicholas is my little worrywart, so this book was right up his alley, and he got a kick out of it. Maddie, she just wanted to lick the pages.
4. Oh Bother, Somebody’s Grumpy, 9-10-08. And no, it’s not me!
5. Ten Timid Ghosts, 9-11-08. This one is great for beginning readers, since Nicholas was able to read a good share of the words along with me.
6. Read All About It!, 9-12-08. Nicholas really liked this one. It didn’t hurt that the main character, Tyrone, likes the monkey bars as much as Nicholas does. You can read my review right here.
7. What Makes a Rainbow?, 9-13-08. Nicholas loves rainbows; what kid doesn’t? This was a good one for him to be able to read along with me.
8. Love You Forever, 9-16-08. One of my favorite books that we’ve been reading to Nicholas since he was born.
9. Ah-Choo, 9-17-08. Nicholas read this one to his sister tonight. Word for word. So very proud.
10. Stanley and the Class Pet, 9-18-08. The folks at Candlewick very kindly sent us this book to review, so a more complete write-up will be coming soon over at The Voice of Mom, but in the meantime, this one was a hit, particularly because Nicholas took a few trips to school over the summer to help care for one of the class pets.
11. Dogs Don’t Wear Sneakers, 9-20-08. This one was a recommendation from Sweetnicks’ reader Nikki - thanks much! Had three kids in on this one, and it was deemed “a cute story.” Nicholas had fun visualizing all the different scenarios.
12. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, 9-23-08. This was a fun one, and Nicholas laughed out-loud at the kissing references.
13. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 9-24-08. You gotta love a kids’ story that references Gorgonzola. We both like this one, a cute and funny tale of a town that doesn’t rain rain or snow snow, but instead, it rains orange juice and pancakes and snows mashed potatoes (and more!).
14. The Runaway Bunny, 9-26-08. There is a reason that this classic is still going strong since it first came out in 1942. Such a great message for kids … no matter what you do or where you go, your mom will always be here for you. Love it.
15. Night Night Baby Bundt, 9-29-08. Nicholas read this one to Maddie tonight. When I first read him the title, he cracked up. “Baby Butt? Baby Butt? Who calls their baby ‘butt’?!” Needless to say, he had a hard time concentrating after hearing the title.
16. Clifford the Big Red Dog, 10-1-08. Nicholas loves the Clifford books, since they remind him a lot of his own overgrown dog, Eli. He was able to read most of this one along with me.
17. Five Pesky Pumpkins, 10-3-08. With Halloween coming up, this one is perfect. Very similar to the five-little-monkeys-sitting-on-a-bed-type tale, Nicholas was a fan of this one. And so was Maddie, until she got in trouble for ripping one of the pumpkins off. Oops.
18. Bedtime for Frances, 10-5-08. After I read this one, I told Nicholas that it reminded me of someone. “Who?” he asked. “You!” “I don’t do that,” he protested. “You sure do. You don’t get out of bed for the reasons that she does, but you definitely find your own.” A fun read that both kids and parents can relate to.
19. Harold and the Purple Crayon, 10-7-08. How did I manage to go an entire childhood of my own and six years of Nicholas and miss a book children’s classic that has been around for over 50 years? Geesh.
20. Yesterday I Had the Blues, 10-10-08. Interesting book and a definite break from the norm. Nicholas got a kick out of it. You can find a more thorough review from me right here.
21. How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, 10-12-08. Nicholas and I love this one and read it often. It’s funny, cute and what boy doesn’t love dinosaurs?
22. The Little Snowman, 10-14-08. We read this one for Maddie. She loved watching the snowman finger puppet head wriggle around and kept trying to bite it.
23. The Runaway Bunny. We went back and reread this one. A family favorite with a good message that we don’t tire of hearing.
24. A Fly Went By, 10-31-08. Nicholas got this as a gift on Halloween from a neighbor. We love Dr. Seuss, but I somehow have missed this one. The way the text is written, you find yourself speeding up and reading the story faster and faster as it gets more exciting - we all loved this one. Thanks, Kim!
25. What to Do About Alice?, 11-3-08. We received this one to review from the folks at Scholastic. A fun story deeply rooted in history. A little above Nicholas for now, but we’ll be definitely keeping this one on hand to bring history a little more life in the future (more detailed review can be found here).
26. A Leprechaun on the Loose, 11-4-08. A little out of season, but cute nonetheless.
27. Feely Bugs, 11-5-08. Madeline received this as a Halloween gift from a neighbor. Very touchy feely and perfect for babies. Nicholas helped read this one to Madeline.
28. Henry and the Hidden Veggie Garden, 11-5-08. Hidden Valley sent us this one and we both really liked it. You can read a more complete review here.
29. Foodie Babies Wear Bibs, 11-6-08. This is one of a very cute series that we read to Maddie. More complete review here.
30. Pirates Don’t Change Diapers, 11-6-08. We bought this one from a recent book fair at Nicholas’ school and this is the first one in awhile that I just didn’t care for. They can’t all be winners.
31. Atlantis Squarepants, 11-7-08. Another book fair purchase. Nicholas is a big fan of SpongeBob so he was eager for this one.
32. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, 11-8-08. Find out how a cup of sugar was the “real” reason behind the demise of the three little pigs.
33. What Would Mrs. Claus Do?, 11-9-08. Cute story on how the other half lives. Complete review can be found here.
34. eeBee Have a Ball Adventures, 11-11-08. Perfect soft book for Madeline. Review here.
35. The Day We Danced In Underpants, 11-12-08. Fun, very French drawings.
36. Twelve Terrible Things, 11-13-08. Just an eh for us, I’m afraid. Review here.
37. Looking for Miza, 11-14-08. Nicholas loved this one; we both did. Details here.
38. Ten Stinky Babies,11-15-08. Cute story, a new favorite with the baby. Reviewed here.
39. Busy Pandas, 11-16-08. Another one for Miss Madeline. Such cute pictures!
40. eeBee Have a Ball!, 11-17-08. The double bonus with the baby books we read Madeline is that Nicholas gets great reading skills practice too. My mom turned us on to eeBee, more details here.
41. True Green Kids, 11-18-08. A different kind of book for us, we read it and decided what small changes we could make together. Complete review here.
42. The Mighty Pigeon Club, 11-19-09. Love this one and really brings you back to hanging out in the neighborhood with your friends.
Tip
Jar
September 7th, 2008 at 8:38 am
If you give a mouse a cookie, if you give a moose a muffin, llama llama red pajama, if you give a pig a pancake, chika chika boom boom,
These are some of my kids favorites. Of course we read more, but those are the most requested by the kids.
Tyanne
September 7th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Hi Cate, I have recently read a few really good books. The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Nobody’s child by Michael Seed. All 3 are for adults, not recommended for kids :)
September 8th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Over the summer we hit the early readers section at our library and found that my oldest really loved trying to read the Dr. Seuss books on his own… also the Frog and Toad stores are favorites.
There’s also the Nate the Great series that’s fun kid versions of mysteries.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:07 am
My favorite when I was little was, “Dogs Don’t Wear Sneakers”. It’s the first book I was convinced I could ‘read’.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:47 am
What an awesome challenge!
Some of our favorite books:
The Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
The Sleep Book ~Seuss
Time for Bed
Guess How Much I Love You
These are just a few. I have a longer list on my blog if you want to check it out.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I bought Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type for my nephews. I personally loved it.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore
The Giving Tree
Harold and the Purple Crayon
anything by David Shannon
Parts by Tedd Arnold
Moosetache
Frog & Toad
and many many others.
Alissas last blog post..Broccoli Calzones
September 18th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Love you Forever…my kindergarten class did this book for our parents at the end of the year thing…my mom still loves it! And as to rainbows, you are SO right…we saw one at children’s choir last week and those 1st graders went crazy, jumping around yelling “a rainbow, a rainbow!!!!” I’ll have to ask my mom about more good books. She remembers them better than I do.
claires last blog post..A Party for SGCC
September 19th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
My boys really enjoy reading The Gruffalo, and I love reading it, too. Also Edwina, The Dinosaur who didn’t know she was Extinct, by Mo Willems. Cute book.
Thanks for posting all the books. It gives me ideas for when I go to the library!
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September 23rd, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Oooo…I just thought of a good one. The Giant (or Enormous) Tadpole…it’s by Steven Kellogg and was one of my favorite. Nicholas would really like it.
claires last blog post..Three Chips a Charm?
September 26th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Wemberly Worried is great! In fact, Kevin Henkes is our favorite children’s author in our household. Our very fave Henkes books are Chrysanthemum and Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, but they are all fantastic!
Alexander and the Terrible…is another all-time fave. In fact, when we are having a “terrible” day, we often use that phrase to to describe it.
One night last week, I read Caps for Sale to my 4-y-o for the first time. Couldn’t believe it had taken me that long to read that classic to her. She loved it!
Runaway Bunny has been my husband’s favorite with all three of our girls!
LOVE your blog!! I just discovered it, and will be back!! (I’m trying that Strawberry Wine–mom’s juice– drink this weekend!!! Yumm!)
Cheryls last blog post..
October 8th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Three of my personal favorites are Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sale, and Time of Wonder, all three by Robert McCloskey. The first two are easier to find than the last one, but Time of Wonder is so worth the search; the pictures are absolutely gorgeous. It’s a good book for fall, because the story is about two girls spending the summer in Maine, and then leaving in the fall of the year.
Tracys last blog post..Picture Perfect: Concord Grape Jam Tart
October 13th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
My kids are grown but we have a tradition that they STILL adore—we get a new Christmas kids book every year and now they fill an antique trunk that only gets opened in December. These stories are magic! Our favorite is “The Mole Family’s Christmas”, “How the Grinch Stole..”, “The Littlest Angel”—I can’t wait to start sharing these with grandkids!! Some books are adult Christmas books that are also wonderful reading. Another related tradition is a good friend (who lives across the country from me) send each other a Christmas book every Thanksgiving. After 25 years, we are running low on what to find, but thankfully new books come out every year—last year, I sent her Paula Deen’s Christmas cookbook!
October 15th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Some favorites include
books by author Mem Fox
the book Luigi the Lamplighter
the book Pink and Say
the book Baseball Saved Us
the book Suddenly!
any Henry and Mudge book
the book Bear in a Square
the book Going to Bed on the Farm
the book Time for Bed
December 29th, 2008 at 3:08 am
Did you reach your goal of 100 by Christmas? I think it’s a fantastic way to get your kids reading more. I don’t know how old your kids are, but here are some of our favorites:
Almost anything by Lois Ehlert– incredible illustrations
Commotion in the Ocean, by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz
Walter the Farting Dog
No Mirrors in my Nana’s House (has wonderful accompanying CD)
Tumble Bumble
Snowmen at Night
Guess How Much I Love You
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?
Toot and Puddle series
Ridiculous! by Michael Coleman
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney– my favorite
and our family’s favorite book:
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer– A riot!
Thanks for sharing with everyone.
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