favorite books to read aloud

We were recently invited to participate in a book exchange. It's one of those chain types of things, where you send out one book to a specified child and email several friends with the letter who in turn send it out to several of their friends, and your kids are supposed to end up with 36 books. With how much we love books around here, I couldn't resist, even though I didn't expect to receive many. I figured if we even got 1 it would be worth it, and so far we've received 8. The girls love getting surprise packages, so it's been really fun.

Two of the books we received became instant favorites. Kapria and Mila both request them every day:

They especially love it when Trav reads them. He makes the best voices for each character.

Our other most-oft requested books right now are:

The girls of course didn't know that three of their five favorites were created by the same author/illustrator: Mo Willems. That man is a genius. He knows how to make kids laugh. And how to write something that adults can handle reading over and over. His books are funny and simple, without a ton of text. That's why Trav and I love them, too.

Here's the written list, in case you'd like to check them out for yourself:
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems
We Are In A Book by Mo Willems
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Bye-Bye, Big Bad BullyBug by Ed Emberley
Princess Hyacinth (the Surprising Tale of a Girl who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide

book parties

I want to throw book parties for my kids when we read good books together. So I'm starting to gather ideas. Please - send me links to your favorite ones!

I'll start. My friend Erin threw THIS Ella Enchanted party with her family once they finished reading the book together. Such fun food and activity ideas! I will for sure be using this one once the girls are big enough.

Now let's hear some ideas for book parties you've thrown or attended or ones you've seen others blog about!

in which mila reads a book

reading & rocking

Today Mila wanted to sit in the rocking chair and read a story. Then Kapria decided she'd like to sit with her and read to her. And Mila liked that idea too.

Reading another of their favorite books:

holiday fun #4: curling up with a good book

Shar's Recommendations

• See Nicole's list - she mentioned nearly all my top 10 books
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and Oliver Relin
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

Nicole's Recommendations

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
• The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
• The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Mariah's Recommendations

• Dinah and the Green Fat Kingdom by Isabelle Holland
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• Harriet Tubman biographies

Karen's Recommendation

• Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
• The Penny by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford
• The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

Shar's "What I Want to Read" List

• Hearing the Voice of the Lord by Gerald Lund
• Symbols and Shadows: Unlocking a Deeper Understanding of the Atonement by Donald W Parry
• Adeline Street by Carol Lynch Williams
• Notes Left Behind by Brooke Desserich
• Forest Born by Shannon Hale

What Must Reads would you add to these lists?

reading

Gigi-ma & Gigi-pa sent the kids some books. They love them!



Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

book orders

remember these cool things?

i remember how in elementary school my teachers would pass them out, and i would get so excited looking through all the pages and pages of books. i wanted to buy every single book.

if i was really lucky, i got to buy one.

then i would wait, day after day, hoping that ms. teacher would say a special box had arrived with the new books. when the day finally came, i could hardly sit still waiting to hold my new book. as soon as ms. teacher called me up to her desk to get the special order, i would hold it in my hands and carefully flip through the pages with my thumb. whrrr. mmm. the smell of new pages just waiting to be read is heavenly.

is it bad to admit that the same thing happens now?

one of my good friends is a teacher, and she lets me order books as if i'm part of her class. i love it. i am so excited when she says book orders have arrived. travis thinks i have way too many books. he's right, of course. but books are just what i like having too much of.

she dropped some off tonight.
i rifled through the pages. sniff. sniff. can you smell that? it is a lovely smell that means an adventure is waiting for me. i can't wait.

ps. if you'd like to join in the fun by ordering some books of your very own, send me an email.
sometimes it's great to feel like a kid again. and always it's great to read a good book.