Summer Storybook Reading
(Photo by the wonderfully talented Megelaine Images.)
Our boys have always loved reading books together. As they get older, I love hearing them “read” to themselves or one another. It’s one of those things that truly melts your heart as a mother.
This summer we’ve added several storybooks to our favorites. I’ve been venturing to our local library with the four of them this summer. I was a tad intimidated to take four “active” boys to a quiet library setting by myself, but I’m so glad I went for it! We’ve gotten some really good reads that the boys have fallen in love with.
You wanna hear some of our favorite storybooks?
*It’s a classic boy book with adventure, fantasy, and wildness. The story will “eat you up”.
Curious George Goes to the Movie *
George is simply lovable. And it’s always better watching someone else get into trouble.
Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business
My little monkeys could certainly relate to the mischievous monkeys in Caps for Sale. They’ve even reenacted this one several times – so cute!
*Have you read the Froggy books from Jonathan London? They are hilarious! The boys love them all!
*Eric Carle’s illustrations are captivating as always and the story makes even spiders enjoyable.
What should we check out next?
*Indicates an affiliate link to Amazon.com, where many of these books are listed at bargain prices. Or maybe you can find them at your local library to check out for free!
I love that picture of all your “guys”. You take really great pictures.
I want to try the library with mine, but he tends to be a bit rough with the pages. So I have been visiting our local Half Price Books, I check out their clearance section where I can pick up books for $1-$2. I rather not spend any money, but that is pretty cheap and I always end up scotch taping up pages! lol
Have you read “Llama, Llama, Red Pajama”? or “Sheep in a Jeep” and “Sheep in a Shop”? They’re some of our favorites.
My nephew, who is half American-half Hungarian and is about a year older than your quads, has loved Little Mole since last year. However, stories about this character are probably not available in English. The author, Zdenek Miler, is Czech.
We love our library and our weekly visits, too! We like all the Froggy books, too. And I agree with Erin – the Llama, Llama books are great (there are several).
Some of our recent favorites from the library include “The Circus Ship” – its about a Circus ship that crashes off the coast of Maine and all the animals float ashore and live in the town with the people. My son just picked out and loves “I’m Dirty” and “I’m Stinky” – both very cute for boys! “The Little Blue Truck” is another favorite recently. They checked out Elmer the Elephant this week and are enjoying that, too.
Another one that you might like to look for is “The Old Turtle.” It has BEAUTIFUL illustrations and a very special message.
We love all the Eric Carle Books too! Spencer, my three year old recently has loved Go, Dog, Go and Big Dog…Little Dog by P. D. Eastman. We especially read these when he was potty training last month and were trying to get him to sit on the potty longer.
“Stellaluna” by Janell Cannon is the story of a fruit bat and it is one of my all time favorites. My quads are now 13 and entering the 8th grade. Enjoy your little ones because they grow up fast!
My trio loved Caps for Sale – cute story. Check out the Jan Brett book – like The Mitten – loved those too. And Maurice Sendek’s Little Bear series. Other favorites at that age was Jamberry, ALL the Berenstain Bears books, the Franklin books, and AlphaBites – very cute along similar lines to the Hungry Caterpillar (may be out of print).
And of course great my my triplets, “You’re ALL My Favorites”.
I loved the childrens books as much as they did, and at 12, they are all great readers. Keep up the good work.
Jo
http://www.teensandtriplets.com
You should check out Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by: Mo Willems. My 5 year old cousin LOVES these books he laughs everytime 🙂 There is also Don’t let the pigeon stay up late; The Pigeon finds a hotdog; The Pigeon wants a puppy; The Pigeon loves things that go; and the list goes on and on. I think these are all favorites of children. 🙂 There are also some Thomas Kinkade children books out and I feel like he is a great Christian author. It makes my heart smile when I see children reading because I am working on my bachelors in Elem. Ed 🙂
Zoie enjoys the “Skippyjon Jones” books by Judith Byron Schachner. They can be tongue tying!! Our favorite bedtime story is “I Love You, Stinky Face” by Lisa Mccourt. We have read this one since she was 2. She is 6 1/2 now and it is still the favorite.
We love anything by Mo Willems or Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, Little Pea, Cookies: Bite Size Life Lessons, Elephants Cannot Dance, to name a few). Peter Reynolds is fabulous (LOVE The Dot) and Antoinette Portis’ Not A Box is classic childhood. Enjoy!
Cordoroy
Clifford
Other Eric Carle books
Dr. Suess
My favourite book as a child was The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and I was delighted to find tons of merchandise for it lately (pencil cases, keyrings, diaries etc).
I definitely recommend this one, my older sister teaches primary school children and they love this book as much as we did as kids.
My son has absolutely loves The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson-it has the extra bonus of being fun to read aloud! He also loves Kipper by Mitch Inkpen-very soothing for my very active little boy!!!
My kids loved Tacky The Penguin and It’s not easy being a Bunny. among some of the others mentioned.
Another thing they adored was when I read Bible Stories, they would act out the story. Initially, I had to help them…you be goliath…you be david…now you shout (whatever it was goliath said) and now you shout “I come in the name of LORD” …etc
They would do the same story over and over, “My turn to be David.” It really helps cement the story in their mind too!
Reading together is precious time spent!!
I Will Never, Not Ever, Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child
The books have been made into a tv series, but we were fans way before we ever saw the show. (In fact, I prefer the books) My girls have enjoyed moonsquirters and ‘cloud fluff from the pointiest peak of Mount Fuji’ and shared their enthusiasm with their cousins. Very very fun.
Another favorite is Wodney Wat by Helen Lester. A little guy with a speech problem overcomes a BIG problem by using his speech to his own advantage. I lovelovelove this book!
Libbie LOVES The Very Busy Spider. It’s great for learning animals and their sounds. I love Little Cloud by Eric Carle for slightly-older-than-her kids.