Mama Loves BOOKS!

Mama Loves is a linky party where mamas can share anything that has made your life easier as a mama.

Maybe you've found:

• a toy or book that captivates your child(ren)
• gear you just can't live without
• a recipe your choosy toddler gobbles down
• a parenting book that you've found perspective changing
• an activity that wears your kid(s) out (these lead to good naps, which we all love)
• an outfit that flatters your post-baby body and makes you feel fabulous
• or anything else you're loving--creativity welcome!

To link your own Mama Loves post up, head on over to Julia's blog, Pontifications of a Twin Mom

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It's definitely time for a Mama Loves books post.  Just in time for holiday gift shopping, here are some books that would be a great addition to any child's book collection- Sam and Anna love 'em all!  

Sam and Anna are the children of a kindergarten teaching mama, so they have an abnormally large at home library.  Their bookshelf was stuffed full before they were born, and I continually bring books home from my personal school library to switch things up.  I get bored reading the same books over and over, because I'm used to reading a book once a year in my classroom, and then putting it away until 12 months later.  I admit I can be a little bit picky about children's literature too.

I did not, however, have a very large board book collection before Sam and Anna were born.  I've been working on that... mostly thanks to the monthly scholastic book order forms I send home with my students.  I'm a book junkie, and overflowing bookshelf or not, I just can't help it.

Sam and Anna have their favorite books, and they aren't necessarily my favorites.  BUT, if they love 'em, then I love them.  Whatever instills a love for reading in my young children, I will read a thousand times if they want me too.

These are some of the books that have been Sam and Anna's favorites lately:


Anna adores 5 Little Ducks by Jose Aruego.  She can identify this book from its spine and will pull it off the shelf multiple times a day.  She loves to tell us what's happening throughout the book (by saying "Mama quack!"  Then telling us when the seasons change by saying "leaves" or "snow" although telling us the "rain" part is probably her favorite.



Anna also loves Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathman.  If you do not have this book, add it to your holiday wish list for your child.  It is a must-have book for any young child.  I am not embarrassed to admit that I have 3 copies of this book- one small board book, one large board book, and one regular paperback in my classroom.  It has very few words, but tells a great story through the illustrations.  Again, Anna loves to retell the story to us on each page- she'll say "good night" in all the appropriate places, and adds a dramatic gasp or "uh oh!" on some pages (wonder where she got that from...).  Anna also loves to snore on the last page, as the gorilla slumbers in the zoo keeper's bed.

Sam's been very interested in non-fiction books with real pictures of animals.  He's always been our animal lover.  While the cutesy cartoony animal stories are a hit with small children, I think it is important to expose even the youngest children to different types of books.  If you don't have any non-fiction books at home (and I'm not talking about the counting/colors/shapes kind of books here), you might be surprised to see your child connect to the images they see, even if the words are less engaging for small children!



Sam's favorite is Deer by Emily Rose Townsend.  I got this through school and brought it home because Sam and Anna's daddy's job is an editor for a nationally published deer hunting magazine, so hey- it's important to us that both our children know about this animal.  Sam (and Anna too) love to watch their daddy's hunting show on tv, and love to see the deer mounts we have in our basement.  We also cycle through several other books in the same series about other woodland animals: Raccoons, Squirrels, and Wolves.


My mother-in-lave gave us Sam and Anna's first animal non-fiction books- Egg to Chicken  and Tadpole to Frog both by Camilla de la Bedoyere a while ago. They are great for Sam and Anna because they are board books, and also have flaps that can be lifted to keep them engaged as we read.  Although we have several books that have been forgotten in the last few months, these two have stood the test of time and keep getting re-read months later.

So those are Anna and Sam's book recommendations.


A new favorite in our home has been Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle.  While we have not had it long enough to see if it will stand the test of time, my guess is that it will be a favorite for many months.  Cute illustrations and although lots of words, fun sounds to keep little ones into the story. 

Here some of the books I think belong in every young child's home:


Chicka Chicka abc by Bill Martin Jr. This is the board book version of the classic.  While we have both versions, this seems to work better for Sam and Anna right now.  I like that lowercase letters are used, because too often only uppercase letters are shown to young children.


Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (another book we have multiple copies of)


Big Red Barn also by Margaret Wise Brown


Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney



Of course, no child should be without The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? by Eric Carle

(Hmmm... I'm just now realizing that I own multiple copies of all these must-have books, whether they be paperback, board book format, hardcover, or big books.  Good thing I have two children so they each can hold a book!)

And my number one favorite book to read to my children:


Time for Bed by Mem Fox.  I adore this book.  It's not one I read to my students, and I didn't discover it until Sam and Anna joined our family.  I love the illustrations, the words, the message.  LOVE it.