Have you ever had a hard time finding an appropriate book for your child? One that will encourage the biblical values you are teaching at home? Check out our blog for edifying, educational, and entertaining books - most of which we found in our public library.
The kids don't often choose new books from the library shelves. They know exactly where to find all of the old favorites. I was glad when Hannah (almost 3 years old) brought this to me. I really like the illustrations. Do I say that a lot??? Perhaps I do, but most of my time is spent reading picture books. :)
When Hannah (nearly 3 years old) pulled this from the library shelf I wondered if it would be too wordy for her. It turns out that I was wrong. Both she and Joshua (4 years old) sat through this entire book more than once during the week. As always, I liked Gail Gibbons' clear and simple style of explaining how things work in the world around us.
Joshua (4 years old) loves this book! We check it out often and never get tired of it. There is a lot of information, but most of it can be skimmed for kids with a shorter attention span. A great book for the budding architect or construction lover!
"The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree" By Gail Gibbons
Age: 3-5 years, 7-10 years
I always like books by Gail Gibbons. I enjoy the simple illustrations, straight-forward text, and all of the information packed into a picture book that kids enjoy.
I didn't particularly like this book, but Hannah (nearly 3 years old) spent several days reading it to herself. It's very repetitive so after just one reading together she pretty much had this memorized.
"Apples, Apples, Apples" By Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Age: 3-5 years, 7-10 years
This is the second time we have checked out this book. It is also the second time we have enjoyed it! It is informative but not overwhelming. We had fun following the applesauce recipe in the back of this book. :)
We read A LOT about apples last week! Hannah and I played a couple of apple games - matching upper and lower case letters, and an apple tree counting mat. We had fun!
At the end of the week the kids and I made an apple pie. Yum!
You can find a book list and links to other fun apple activities here.
The goal is to read through the alphabet, week by week. We just finished "A is for Apple" so you won't be surprised to find a string of books all about apples. This week we're on "B is for Boat", but I'll admit that we haven't read any of the boat books yet. But there are still four more days this week - I have hope for us!
I hope to put a short post for each week with the list of books, a link to the original blog page where I got the ideas, and a picture of our special activity. The kids enjoyed last week, so Lord willing this will be a fun way to expand our book list.
I would like to be sure to clarify that I have not in any way developed this reading program, nor have I made any of the supplemental resources. Please see Walking by the Way for additional information and ideas. I'm just following along on a great idea!
Abby really liked this book. I think her attention was drawn to it because of the bright, contrasting colors and the cute mouse! Preschoolers might like this as well, but I did think it was a bit "baby" for kids older than 3 years old.
This is probably the twelfth time we have checked out this particular Byron Barton book. We love the simple, brightly colored illustrations and the just as simple text. Always a hit for little boys who love vehicles!
Our children are still young: Joshua (4), Hannah (nearly 3), and Abigail (11 months). Hence all of the board books and picture books posted!
You will find that nearly all of the current posts will range in age from 0-5 years. My apologies to anyone with older children. If I find any resources for older kids, I'll try to put some links here.
Also, my estimate of appropriate age is far from infallible. I'll do my best to be as accurate as I can, but please use your own discretion when searching by age.
"Alligator Alphabet"
By Stella Blackstone and Stephanie Bauer
Age: 0-2 years, 3-5 years
I really liked the colorful illustrations in this book. I didn't like that some of the animal names don't quite fit in with the phonics work we're doing at home. But it has helped Hannah (nearly 3) to solidify her letter identification (even though that pesky "G" introduced a mound of confusion).
"Honk Honk! Beep Beep!"
Words and pictures by Daniel Kirk
Age: 3-5 years
Bright illustrations. Enjoyable. Joshua (4) and Hannah (nearly 3) fought over this book all week...it spent a lot of time on the counter top for that reason. After reading this book a couple of times Joshua started reading the words "honk" and "beep" by sight. I was excited about that! There is a hint of impatience in the tone - we used that as an opportunity to talk about being patient. Overall it's a nice book.
This wasn't my favorite, but the kids liked the illustrations. I don't blame them, the colors are beautiful and I liked how the pages were nice and thick. There's just something about thick pages.
A neat concept to capture photographs that look like letters from the common city-scape. Joshua (4) liked it until I pointed out that you could trace the letter shapes with your finger. Now he won't read it even though I think he's intensely interested since he loves all things man-made.
"My Clothes/Mi Ropa" from the English-Spanish Foundation Series
By Gladys Rosa-Mendoza
Illustrations by Mary Collier
Age: 0-2 years, 3-5 years
We're always checking out books that introduce Spanish vocabulary and conversation. This is one of the better ones. I liked the simple, repetitive sentences to help learn more than isolated words. Joshua (4), Hannah (nearly 3), and Abby (11 months) all liked this book.
As I'm about to write this welcome post, my husband and I are in the midst of a conversation about the impact of media on our children. From TV to Teen Magazine, our kids are surrounded by the voices of this world. They are taught to think of themselves first, that disrespecting authority is cool, and that they must have the newest and best toys in order to be happy.
Sometimes families will turn to their local library to have better influences on their children. Because, of course, reading is a better sport than sitting on the couch in front of a video game. And while I would recommend reading and would turn to a book before a movie any day, I'm not so sure that just because it's a book means that the influences are always for the best.
My children and I love visiting our local library. It's one of our favorite outings (to this the librarians can attest). Two years ago I started searching the picture book shelves with a fine-tooth comb. Starting with A and moving to Z, each week I scoured the titles, turned many pages, and looked for books that wouldn't undermine what our children were learning at home about the Lord, about themselves, and about others. We found a lot of great books but we passed over about 9 for each "keeper". I'm glad our library has a large children's room. If not, we'd be reading the same 50 books until the cows come home!
The reason I've created "B is for Book" is to keep track of all the wonderful books that we have found and to provide a useful resource for other Christian families who are on the same quest as are we: to find media that will support the biblical values we are teaching our children.
So, have a look around. I'll be adding books all the time, but probably new posts will come weekly or bi-weekly depending on our library visits. Each book will have its own post and will be labeled according to subject. I will also endeavor to include the author/illustrator, subject, appropriate age range, and any other commentary from our own experience reading the books. I will not include books that we haven't read or that we will not read - meaning, no bad reviews. And I may even include some books for parents on subjects like cooking wither your kids, parenting, teaching, etc.
If you're looking for a specific genre of books, a particular author/illustrator, or needing some ideas to get started, just check out the side bar "I'm Goin' on a Book Hunt". Or use the search bar for more specific queries.
And just to clarify...these books are not all - not even nearly all - Christian books. Some will inevitably deal directly with character qualities, biblical principles, or godly values but I will not focus on such books. Hopefully this will be a resource where you can find books about trucks, telling the truth, and everything in between.
"Little House, Little Town"
