Favorite Children's Books, part 1: Picture Books

My kids love books. They love being read to, they love "reading" to themselves and each other (cutest thing ever, see the photo), they love going to the library to pick out new books, they love it all. Parenting win, right?

My favorite part of this photo is that the 3-year-old is "reading" to her older sister. Love. It.

Last summer, I compiled a checklist of about 75 books kids' books recommended by other moms/bloggers/BYU Magazine, and as of this month, we've checked off all but a handful of them that the Provo/Orem libraries don't carry. This process was fun for three reasons:

1 - I really love marking things off of lists. Like, a lot.

2 - It gave me specific things to look for at the library instead of aimlessly browsing and hoping for a good find.

3 - We read a lot of really awesome books!

So in the spirit of paying it forward, and in no particular order, here are 25 of our favorite picture books! This is mainly for (but not limited to) kids ages 2-5, and some of these are geared more for girls than boys. This list has been thoroughly vetted by both children and adults, a.k.a., the kids loved them AND I didn't mind reading them multiple times. (There are many books left off this list that the kids loved but I wouldn't read more than twice. Sorry, Pete the Cat and Eloise.)

Journey by Aaron Becker - We love this book (and its sequels) with all our hearts. No words, only pictures, so it's perfect for any age. 

Nibbles by Emma Yarlett might be the kids' all-time favorite book ever. Note that this is an Usborne book. If you don't know what that means or you need a consultant, I've got a connection for you. :)

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty is another absolute favorite that I quote to the kids ("It was the perfect first try!") on a regular basis. Also makes me cry on a regular basis. A must-read/own.

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey is one that I remember reading this as a child and now my kids love it too.

Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett is a fun and silly story and we read it over and over and over.

Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor - We are BIG fans of Fancy Nancy around here. Start with the first book and then enjoy all of the sequels and easy reader books.

The Adventures of Beekle, the Un-imaginary Friend by Dan Santat is one of the first books we read off of my list and it was so sweet and fun!

The Big Book of Bugs by Yuval Zommer almost didn't make the list because I didn't want to read it more than once, but once was enough for the kids, too, because every page has a LOT to look at. This is a great one for reading once and then letting the kids peruse after that.

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt is really funny and silly! We never got sick of reading this one.

The Enchanted Wood by Ruth Sanderson - This fairy tale was surprisingly sweet and original. My kids stayed with it until the end, in spite of the large amount of text.

Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud - Everyone needs to read this book! It gave me a way to talk to my kids about kindness and empathy and even bullying in a very accessible way. Just this morning, Rosie told me I'd filled up her bucket when I helped her, so it's memorable too!

Good Night, Yoga and Good Morning, Yoga by Mariam Gates were fun ways to introduce my kids to yoga, and Georgie still asks to do yoga before bed sometimes. Winner winner.

When You Were Small and When I Was Small by Sara O'Leary have been favorites for a long time. Simple but magical stories.

What Do You Do with an Idea? and What Do You Do with A Problem? by Kobi Yamada are delightfully illustrated and creative in their approaches. I think I liked them more than the kids, but we will definitely be reading these again as they get older.

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig is a powerful story about the power of a friend. It was a great way to challenge my kids to notice who might be feeling invisible and to reach out.

Mrs. Muddle's Holidays by Laura F. Nielsen is a book that I'd like us to own at some point. The kids loved it and it made me excited to start more of our own family holidays and traditions. Very fun!

The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman was one that my kids brought me to read again and again. 

The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by Justin Roberts really caught my kids' attention, I think because they often feel so small too. It's a great story about the difference one person who pays attention can make.

Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman - My kids really liked this one, and even if they didn't quite grasp some of the deeper messages, they got the part about apologizing and forgiveness, so, excellent. 

The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth has some beautiful answers to the questions, though it was bit over my kids' heads. Another one we'll come back to later. 

Alice the Fairy by David Shannon is one that we've enjoyed for several years. It's one that has a couple of lines that made me and Tim laugh out loud the first time we read it. 

One Smile by Cindy McKinley was one of two books that we read (and the better of the two, I thought) about the power of simple acts of kindness. Always looking for ways to teach that so this was a great find.

Here's the full list without my commentary:

Journey by Aaron Becker

Nibbles by Emma Yarlett

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett

Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor

The Adventures of Beekle, the Un-imaginary Friend by Dan Santat

The Big Book of Bugs by Yuval Zommer

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

The Enchanted Wood by Ruth Sanderson

Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud

Good Night, Yoga and Good Morning, Yoga by Mariam Gates

When You Were Small and When I Was Small by Sara O'Leary

What Do You Do with an Idea? and What Do You Do with A Problem? by Kobi Yamada

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

Mrs. Muddle's Holidays by Laura F. Nielsen

The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman

The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by Justin Roberts

Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman

The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth

Alice the Fairy by David Shannon

One Smile by Cindy McKinley

And there you have it! We have many more books that we could recommend but this is a good start. Leave a comment with your favorite books to read with your kids so I can start my next list!

Welcome to 2018

Welcome back, little blog and any blog readers still out there. It's a new year and the perfect time for a fresh start, even if all previous attempts to do so haven't gotten off the ground. I've been kicking around the idea writing more this year and my forgotten blog seemed a good, structured way to start doing that. So here we are!

Last year was a mixed bag of good and bad, fun and struggle, good choices and tired ones, and while I initially felt like I/we ended the year pretty much where we started, I can see now that we made some progress. Both Tim and I became much more aware of some of the mental health challenges that have kept us in negative holding patterns, and just recognizing and naming those challenges has helped, albeit in small ways. As a result, I've learned to notice my patterns of thought and behavior and what affects them. I could write a whole lot more about this (and I probably will!), but for now, I'll just say that my intentions for 2018 are all about keeping me mentally healthy and positive. I wanted to be sure to write down my intentions for the first part of the year before they all fly out of my mind (a real danger at this point...I'm just so tired!). 

My personal focus for this first stretch of the year is self-care. Not the take a break, relax, do something nice for yourself kind of self-care - believe me, I do plenty of that - but the harder, more rewarding kind that is not about enjoying the moment, but enjoying the one that comes after it and because of it. 

This kind of self-care says, I will exercise not to lose weight, but because it gives me energy and makes me feel better about myself. 

I will get more sleep because it increases my patience and lets me enjoy my kids more.

I will read not to escape, but to expand and stretch my mind.

I will spend time every day in the scriptures, not because I am supposed to, but because it improves my mood and keeps me grounded.

I will make time to write on a weekly basis so my thoughts and feelings don't become toxic. 

And I will give myself the grace to forget, mess up, become distracted, lose focus, and try again. And again. And again. Life is forever tries, or so I've been told. 

Of course, there are more things I want to change and improve in my life (Floss more! Take vitamins!  Play with my kids! Scan old photos! Turn in work assignments on time! Create the perfect chore chart! Keep in touch with friends!) but that list gets overwhelming quickly. So I focus on what I know will make the other things easier to accomplish and try to be content with that. All I can do is try.

As a reward for making it this far, and the celebrate the return of my blog, here are some super cute pictures of my kids, because Why Not?