5 A Day Books: Our 1st Week

As many of you know I am a HUGE proponent of books. I have worked in public libraries and elementary school libraries almost all of my adult life. Books (especially children ones) are a passion of mine! With my oldest I remember reading to him the second day we were home from the hospital and I never stopped. We have a ritual that we read a MINIMUM of three books before bed every night. This is a good amount according to Mem Fox in Reading Magic, a great book on the importance of reading aloud to our children and babies. A can testify that children who are read to on a consistent basis have better language and vocabulary skills, are more likely to want to read, and tend not to struggle with comprehension as do children who are not read to.

Now that I have said all that I have to shamefully admit I hardly ever read to my newest babes. He is in the room when I read books to his big brother but I can honestly count on one hand how many times I have sat down and read books just to him. Oh my I seriously am feeling horrible right now!  Over at The Imagination Tree I found just the accountability I need, a 5 A Day Book Challenge. What the challenge purposes is that children need to be children and they need to develop " TALK and LISTENING skills, rather than going straight for the technically advanced skills of reading and writing." What the challenge entails: 1) choose 5 books a week from your library or home (they recommend short books with heavy repetition or rhyming), 2) read the same 5 books every day for atleast one week, and 3) then move on to another 5 books the following week. The challenge is recommended for ages 2-6 but my older one would HATE this! He loves hearing new stories and would grow bored easily. However, this would be perfect for my 10 month old. To include big brother, who is learning to read, I will choose one book each week that he can read to his little brother. 

Getting ready for his 5 Books to be read to him!

Our Picks For Week One: 

1)Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown: I am sorry but I could not have this NOT be on the first week list for books reading to my baby.  It was the book I read to "A" that first week and it is just such a old favorite and standby. What can I say...it's a classic for a reason!

2) Hello, Animals by Smriti Prasadam: This is my pick from "A" to read to little brother. Each page basically says "Hello, _______" and the name of the animal pictured. The pictures are beautiful black and white with one colorful shiny element to each page. "B" really liked this one (and he normally is too wiggly to notice)!

3) I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak: We got this book for "A" for his 1st Valentines day. It is so cute! Some of my favorite lines: "I love your happy side, sad side, silly side, and mad side. I love you running, walking, silent or talking." It also talks about loving body parts which is great to point out to baby as you read them. The last line finishes with, "I love you yesterday, today, and tomorrow to." What is not to adore about this book.

4) Jamberry by Bruce Degen: Another favorite classic! This book is great for ryhming and cadence. It's weird that a book all about berries could be so popular and well loved, but it is! It has a real magic/fantasy quality to it and yet at the same time feels like down home comfort! I don't know how Degen does it by he does.

5) Ten Tiny Babies by Karen Katz: This is a library pick and I have only read it once so far. It is cute and has a counting chanting rhyme that is endearing. Each page introduces a baby doing something adorably active and it takes turning the page and seeing a side bar to finish the rhyme. The illustrations are funky but I think "B" was surprisingly intrigued. I have to say I kinda like this one!

Pin It