Hey Gals! My 3 1/2 yr. old daughter absolutely loves to be read to! She insists that I read her a bedtime story every night! I let her pick the book as part of our night time ritual. However I'm beginning to realize that she is ready for actual story books and all she really has is "toddler" books. You know books that take like 5 seconds to read and are very brief. She has the entire collection of the Disney Baby's First Books, and I just feel like she's older and doesn't really get much out of these books. I take her to the library and even the store and she still seems to lean towards picking out these simple books. So I need some good ideas of some great books to surprise her with. What are you moms out there reading to your kiddos? What are some favorites? I don't want something too long cause she might get bored but at the same time I want them to be long enough for her to get into it. Thanks so much! Oh and if you can please include Authors it will help me find them easier! Thanks again!
Hi
My daughter Sofia loves "Stella, Queen of the Snow" "Stella, Princess of the sky"...Stella books....it was in 4 book box set she got for xmas...she absoulutely loves them. http://www.amazon.com/Stella-Queen-Snow-Marie-Louise-Gay/...
I think she might like it b/c of the way it is written...is like a 3 year talking...and its has great illustrations as a well...
its very cute and fun to read.
take care bye K.
Dr. Seuss...fun to read, fun to say, fun to hear. Start with simple (Green Eggs and Ham) and work into more complex (Horton Hears a Who and The 500 Hats of Bartholomue Cubbins (sp?)) Fun, keep reading!!
We also recently discovered Fancy Nancy books which range from simple to medium. Lot of fun.
Keep on reading!
Three year olds aren't ready for chapter books, but she can get beyond first books. I know you'll get lots of suggestions, but one thing to try is Dr. Seuss! You could also look for some of the old Margaret Wise Brown books; she wrote for preschoolers and made the English language sing. My granddaughters have enjoyed the old "Frances" series by Russell and Lillian Hoban; these books have longer stories but not too long, and the illustrations are incredible. Hope this helps.
Hi, M.--
How great your daughter enjoys reading! I've been thinking about your question, and I think you've gotten some great answers.
Personally, I know some people say it doesn't matter what you read as long as you are reading to your children, but I respectfully disagree. I listened to an interview with Daniel Pinkwater a few years ago (he is the author of the "Blue Moose" children's books, and a generally brilliant and hilarious person) and he said that adults *must* like the books they are reading to their children, so they can read with sincere enthusiasm and interest. If you're trying to fake enthusiasm for a crappy book, he said, your kid will see right through it and start to suspect reading is not as much fun as everyone says. His comments changed my attitude and I no longer feel selfish in choosing children's books I love.
I think it's great is your daughter chooses some library books herself so she has a sense of autonomy with reading material, but you can add to whatever she chooses with some carefully-selected winners and you'll both have a great reading time together.
My family *loves* the book "Library Lion." I highly recommend it. Also "How to Heal a Broken Wing," which is amazingly tender and thought-provoking with terrific illustrations. "The Story about Ping" is a classic.
I often browse the Chinaberry catalog for excellent ideas--their inventory is very carefully chosen and always good.
Anything by authors David Shannon ("Alice the Fairy," "A Bad Case of Stripes," "The Rain Came Down," Too Many Toys," "Good Boy, Fergus," "How I Became a Pirate") Mo WIllems (do not miss "Knuffle Bunny," "Knuffle Bunny Too," "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus," "The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog," and any and all of the Elephant and Piggie books--they crack us all up), Mem Fox (all winners), Peggy Rathman ("Officer Buckle and Gloria" and "Good NIght Gorilla" are classics) and Kevin Henkes ("Julius, Baby of the World," "Owen," "Chrysanthemum," "A Good Day" (this is excellent for bedtime), "Kitten's First Full Moon" (a Caldecott winner, also a lovely bedtime choice) are also terrific.
The book you *really* need though is "The Read-Aloud Handbook" by Jim Trelease. It's a work of genius, and has been published in several, always-updated editions. It is a wonderful resource, and even though you'll be able to find it at your library, it really is worth owning a copy. I received it as a baby shower gift many years ago, along with a couple of board books to read to my coming baby, and it was an incredibly thoughtful gift. The first half of the book offers tips and details about how to create skill and enthusiasm for reading in your children and why that's so important, and the second half of the book is an encyclopedia of never-fail read-aloud book suggestions for various ages. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough--besides getting lists of recommendations from your local children's librarian, "The Read-Aloud Handbook" is the very best resource for helping you find excellent books you and your daughter will both love. There are no disappointing books listed in Trelease's book.
Congrats on raising a reader! Best wishes!
So glad you asked this question! My 3 1/2 year old loves If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and the other books like it. If you give a Moose a Muffin, etc. Also, any Dr. Seuss book is excellent and just the right length. Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Polar Bear, Polar Bear are excellent. Also, at my son's preschool they read Gingerbread Baby and he loves that one too. Also, The Mitten and finally he loves Is Your Mama a Llama and they're reading that one at school too. Barnes and Noble has an excellent section for children and often times they have perfect little books displayed as you walk into that section and it's so easy to choose new books! Best of luck!
I have always loved Richard Scary. His stories are usually short - couple pages. My 4 year old has "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie", "If you Give a Moose a Muffin" and Goodnight Moon and she LOVES them!
Also, Little Golden books - they are short and have pictures that capture the kids. We have Monster at the End of this Book - it's got Gover. Cat in the Hat, and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuess.
Good luck - but remember that your daughter may still want the toddler books - mine does sometimes.
Fancy Nancy!!!!! You can get whole series of them now. My 3 1/2 year old loves loves them. Go to your book store (used are great!) and just let her pick out a couple and you pick out a few...you might be surprised what you find! Her Papa picks out the greatest books and for Valentine's day gave her "Love, Splat" which I know he got at Target. Pick up any book that catches your eye and read it...chances are if you like it she will too. Don't be worried that the book might be too "advanced"....again, you might be surprised what she is ready for.
My 3 1/2 yr old absolutely loves Pinkalicious and Purplicious both by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann. She also loves the Berenstein Bear books and pretty much all of the Dr. Seuss books. Don't limit her to just girl books though, my older son has quite the library of books (mostly boy themed) and my daughter enjoys those books too. If you know someone who has access to a Scholastic Book Order it is a great way to expand your library. Craigslist is also a good resource.
Usborne Books (you can get them by age group) & Little Golden Books (Tawny Scrawny Lion, Saggy Baggy Elephant, Scuffy the Tugboat, Pokey Little Puppy, etc.) are favorites at our house. Usually, we'll go to the library and I pick out books that have cute pictures. I'll open up the cover & read the synopsis of the book, or thumb through it. If it appeals to me and my kids (girl 4, son 17 mos), then we check it out.
Good luck and have fun! Reading with my kids curled up on the couch next to me is some of the best times we've had as a family!
How great that your daughter has such a love of books at this age! Our 4 year old has so many books in her/our personal library that it takes up 2 full bookshelves (3 shelves each) and a full closet shelf, plus bins in her room and downstairs. Some of our favorite authors are: Dr. Seuss, Jan Brett, Eric Carle, Jane Yolen, Laura Numeroff, Karma Wilson, just to name a few. OUr favorite resource for books is our local library (www.ppld.og). I would highly recommend asking your librarians for suggestions, attending story times, participating in the summer reading program. If cost is an issue or you have books you would like to recycle (maybe the toddler books that she's too old for) chekc with your Friends of the Library - they buy and sell gently used books for fabuluos prices.
Good luck and keep reading to and with your daughter!
Anything by Julia Donaldson. I think the rhyming scheme in books like these give it a good pace.
Anything by Mo Willems. Really fun to read.
During our weekly trips to the library, I would always check out 10-15 books (I've got 2 kids though with different tastes). Just pick a section of the picture books and look for enticing illustrations and the right number of words per page. Every week we would find one or two that were the favorite that week and learned a LOT about what appeals. And that makes it easier to find where her limits.
I would also buy books at Salvation Army/Goodwill - in this age group, kids grow out of them after a couple of years so it's easy to find a great selection that's being handed on.
My daughter turned three a month ago and we got her the Goodnight Moon book she loves it she has to have it read before nap time and bed time and she can pretty much read it to us now!!
have you looked at Usborne Books? We love them. Some of the story books have just one line on them and others have more. my daughter surprises me and sits for the longer books even (with about 5 or 6 lines on the page) some of her favorites are thumbelina, and the princess and the pea
you can look them up by age and difficutly levels
we also buy books from scholastic through her preschool
and we take trips to barnes and nobel and we sit and read through books together before we buy them.
Two of my daughter's (just over 3)favorites are:
The Kissing Hand (adorable story)
Oliva books (like the TV show) - she goes to bed in each one!
My kids both love curious george books. 9 times out of 10 they pick those stories for bedtime. They also like Russell the Sheep. Have fun picking out some fun books!!
There are many young children in my house and if theres one thing I've learned is that the kids want a story with them in it. Lot of the time when there not in it I usually get the quition: Where am I in the story?
Google best books for 3-4 year olds.
Our favorites are:
Lori Lite - Boy and a Bear, Goodnight Caterpillar
Lynley Dodd - Hairy Mclarey, Schnitzel Von Krumm, Zachary Quack, etc.
Julia Donaldson - Room on the Broom, The Grafallo
Mem Fox - The Magic Hat
Dr Suess - Green Eggs and Ham, etc.
Tikki Tikki Tembo
(My daughter is almost 3 1/2 and my son is 2)
My son is 3 1/2 and totally loves the classics--3 little pigs, rapunzel, the frog and the princess, the gingerbread man, etc. We just found some at our library. My sister-in-law gave me great advice about books--get some for your personal library, but mostly just use the library. We go to the library every week. I look online for books that I think he will like or that have been recommended and then put them on hold so that I don't have to try to look for them with a 3 year old. Lots of times I'll just put things into the search engine things that he is interested in, like trucks, or things that I want him to learn about, like astronauts and the moon. Sometimes they are great books that we have to renew over and over and sometimes he reads them once and that's it, which is fine because I can take it back next week. Someone else once wrote that when they come home from the library they lay out all the books on the living room floor and then the kids just want to look at them. Good luck!
Where the wild things are, the velveteen rabbit, Guess how much I love you, the giving tree, chicka chicka boom boom, etc. are all beloved classics.
llama llama mad at mama, llama llama red pajama, how does a dinosaur say goodnight and i love you through and through those are on my sons reading list EVERYNIGHT
I'm a stay at home mom who was a first/second grade teacher for 5 years. Go to your local bookstore and buy whichever books look appealing to you and your daughter. As long as you are reading to her, she is building the love for reading and books as well. I have a huge collection of books thanks to my teaching and I have my favorites, which don't always go along with my two daughters' favorites. So go to garage sales, look on ebay, see if you can start a collection of a variety of different books. Scholastic book clubs are a great and often cheaper wa to start your library.
My daughters love books for girls, but are also crazy about books that are supposed to be 'for boys'. If you are reading a book that seems too old for her, put it away and save it for later, but you'll probably be surprised by what she will sit and listen to. Good luck and happy reading!
Have you tried books by Eric Carle? Not quite story books, a sentence or two on a page.
"Madeline" was popular with both my girls.
"Chick a chick boom boom" - not good for bedtime, but a fun book that helps learn the alphabet.
If she likes silly books... "If you give a pig a pancake" or "If you give a moose a muffin".
It's great that you let her pick out the books at the library. However, next time you go pick out a few yourself that you think she may enjoy. Try turning bedtime story into two books, one she picks and one Mommy picks.
Happy reading!
My personal faves are the Skippyjon Jones books - they're so cute! The author is Judy Schachner. Really cute website too - skippyjonjones.com. Other than that, dad reads to our son every night. They read books that are a little (ok, a LOT) older - usually a chapter or two per night. They've recently started the Borrowers, but also recently read James & the Giant Peach and Charlotte's Web.
Good luck!
Eric Carle, Robert Munsch, and the Franklin series. Have fun!
I like the "Elephant and Piggie" series by Mo Willems. It's silly, which 3 yr olds love. And the books talk about feelings, which is always good for 3 yr olds as well. I also like the "Frog and Toad" and "George and Martha" books. They have several short chapters so you can adapt to attention span or time limit. These were favorites of mine when I was little and my kids love them as well.
