I’ve read to Oliver from the very beginning.  Books have been a major component in my own life and growth, and I want to pass on a love of reading and the ability to glean information and even wisdom from the words of others.

We started with well-loved board books for Oliver: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Goodnight Moon, The Big Red Barn, The Toolbox. We had several Sandra Boynton books, as well as a few from Dr. Seuss.

I’ve started buying used books for Oliver at Half Price Books as I find them, as well as borrowing from the library (now that I can trust he won’t rip the pages out or chew them up).  I keep a shopping list with me of recommended books, and I can quickly scan the shelves for our favorite authors.  Here are some of the things I look for:

  • Well-developed characters
  • Appropriately challenging vocabulary
  • Beautiful and engaging illustrations by true artists
  • Beautifully told stories, vividly written
  • Just for fun books should still be well written and illustrated
  • Simple non-fiction about real people, plants, animals, machines, etc.
  • Characters who model or develop the traits we are striving to instill in Oliver (obedience, kindness, selflessness, diligence, simplicity of heart, etc.)
  • Stories that inspire noble thoughts, deeds, and reverence for God and his creation
  • Books that promote intergenerational relationships
  • Books about life cycles and changing seasons
  • Books that revisit old stories, myths, and legends
  • Books that promote a sense of place
  • Books that promote growth in understanding of the world; in imagination; as a scholar; as a child of God, vs. Books that do not challenge Oliver’s mind.
  • No Licensed Characters or books that promote brand loyalty or create a “need” for a toy, movie, clothing, etc.  Let characters from books be characters from books. (I break this one by owning a Winnie the Pooh DVD and letting O watch Curious George from the library sometimes.)
  • One good book is worth far more than any number of cheap books with pointless generic stories and illustrations.  Quality over quantity.

Not all of the books we read are 100% representations of this list.  These are just considerations and preferences.

I love reading to Oliver.  LOVE love love it. I treat it like a paid job, like a performance for a live audience (because it is), and I go all out.  I shout, I cry, I whisper, I make up voices and dialects and accents (who cares if they’re terrible?), I enunciate as much as possible to make the words as clear as possible.

Sometimes I read books that are above his comprehension level as a whole, but I know he grasps certain parts of the story, and he gets used to listening and imagining.  We read Bambi over the winter– an adapted, illustrated version.  We read one page each night.  The beautiful illustrations kept his attention, and we explained what had happened in simpler terms after reading each page.

While we read, he often asks questions or makes observations that seem irrelevant to the story line, but I realized that the whole thing is the story to him– not just the plot.  What the characters are wearing or what the animals look like or what they’re doing is just as important as what they’re saying and where this thing is going to end up.

I’ve read a few books that have been helpful for me in choosing books to read aloud.  Of course there’s The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease.  Also The Well-Trained Mind, by Jessie Wise & Susan Wise Bauer, and A Charlotte Mason Companion, by Karen Andreola were of great help.

In no particular order, here are some that we own and both enjoy– (*Rachel’s Favorites)

Story Books
The Little Red Caboose, Marian Potter; Ill by Tibor Gergely
Animalia, Graeme Base
When the Moon is Full, Penny Pollock; Ill Mary Azarian
*Joseph Had A Little Overcoat, Simms Taback
Hedgie’s Surprise, Jan Brett
Trouble With Trolls, Jan Brett
Until The Cows Come Home, Patricia Mills
*Noah’s Ark, Jan Brett
Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type, Doreen Cronin; Ill Betsy Lewin
The Golden Egg Book, Margaret Wise Brown; Ill Leonard Weisgard
*A Farmer’s Alphabet, Mary Azarian
Llama Llama Mad at Mama, Anna Dewdney
Felix Salten’s Bambi, Adapted by Janet Schulman; Ill by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher
*Through Grandpa’s Eyes, Patricia MacLachlan; Ill Deborah Kogan Ray
*Amy’s Goose, Efner Tudor Holmes; Ill Tasha Tudor
*Over In the Meadow, Ezra Jack Keats
*Have You Seen My Duckling?, Nancy Tafuri
*The Quilt Story, Tony Johnston & Tomie dePaola
The Hat, Jan Brett
To Market, To Market, Anne Miranda; Ill Janet Stevens
Jack’s Garden, Henry Cole
*In the Night Kitchen, Maurice Sendak
*The Little House, Virginia Lee Burton
The Lonely Doll, Dare Wright
Whistle For Willie, Ezra Jack Keats
The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats
Richard Scarry’s Best Story Book Ever

Board Books
Harry the Dirty Dog, Gene Zion
Good Night, Gorilla, Peggy Rathmann
*The Toolbox, Anne & Harlow Rockwell
*The Big Red Barn, Margaret Wise Brown
*Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown
*Oliver Finds His Way, Phillis Root; Ill Christopher Denise
*The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle

Poetry
A Child’s Garden of Verses, Robert Louis Stevenson
*Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein

Non-Fiction
DK Eyewitness Books: Reptiles
DK Eyewitness Books: Farm
Snowflake Bentley, Jacqueline Briggs Martin; Ill Mary Azarian
Paint All Kinds of Pictures, Arnold Spilka

We love Ezra Jack Keats, Mary Azarian, Maurice Sendak, Tomie dePaola, Jan Brett, and the DK Eyewitness Books.

What are your must-have children’s books?